2014 BEST YA BOOKS

Here's the best selling Young Adult lit for 2014 (as reported by the New York Times). This list will grow as the weeks pass.

Updated September 2014

******All ratings from GoodReads (not updated monthly)
***** a new feature shows Weeks on NYTimes Best Seller List in blue
**** Note that in alphabetizing, we ignore 'the' in titles
*** Bold = Are books on the Best Seller list this week
** Bold/RED = new books on the Best Seller list this week
*You can find the original NYT list here

AN ALPHABETIZED SUMMARY LIST:

1. 13 REASONS WHY weeks - 51
2. ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN  weeks - 10
3. ALLIANCE   week - 1
4. AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES weeks - 46
5. ASYLUM  week - 2
6. BEING A TEEN  week - 2
7. BOOK THIEF  weeks - 93
8. CONFESSIONS OF A MURDER SUSPECT (Confessions #1) 10 weeks
9. DANGEROUS CREATURES   week - 1
10. ELEANOR AND PARK weeks - 41
11. FAULT IN OUR STARS weeks - 94
12. HOLLOW CITY weeks - 17
13. IF I STAY  weeks - 24
14. ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER  week - 1
15. THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY 1 week
16. INDEPENDENT STUDY 1 week
17. LOOKING FOR ALASKA weeks - 94
18. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN weeks - 69
19. PANIC week - 1
20. PAPER TOWNS weeks - 80
21. PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER weeks - 71
22. SEA OF SHADOWS  week - 1
23. STEELHEART 13 weeks
24. THE RULE OF THOUGHTS  week - 1
25. THE SELECTION  2 weeks
26. THE TREATMENT  week - 1
27. THIS STAR WON'T GO OUT  3 weeks
28. UNCAGED   week - 1
29. WE WERE LIARS  week -13
30. WHERE SHE WENT   weeks - 14
31. WHITE HOT KISS  week - 1

13 REASONS WHY
by Jay Asher

4.07 avg rating — 240,960 GoodReaders 

Before she commits suicide, a girl sends recordings to 13 people. A compelling read.

(see Jay Asher's reading information page)

Reading Information:
Word Count: 62,496
Page Count: 336
Accelerated Reading level: 3.9 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 119218
Lexile: 550L


ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
by Sherman Alexie

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** HornBook
**Starred Review** VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates )

4.11 avg rating — 95,563 ratings

A boy with a flare for art leaves his reservation to live in an all-white community. (Ages 12 and up)

Word Count: 44,275
Page Count: 228
Accelerated Reading level: 4.0 / points: 6.0
AR quiz: 117771
Lexile: 600L

AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES
by John Green

Michael L. Printz Award
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** HornBook

3.82 avg rating — 119,172 ratings

Having been recently dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to try to find a new direction in life.

(see reading info for other John Green books)

Word Count: 61,412
Page Count: 272
Accelerated Reading level: 5.6 / points: 10.0
AR quiz: 108588
Lexile: 890L

• sample pages
• audio also available

ALLIANCE
(The Paladin Prophecy, #2)
by Mark Frost

4.05 avg rating — 676 ratings

Middle Grade.  Book #1 was at the AR 5.1 level.

In book #1, Will West loses his parents but discovers that he has amazing abilities that might be needed in the upcoming battles between titanic forces.  In this book Will seeks to develop his skills and find out more about the Knights of Charlemagne.

Word Count: 89,254
Page Count:  352
Accelerated Reader: 6.0 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 163573
Lexile: 850L

ASYLUM
by Madeleine Roux

3.18 avg rating — 235 ratings 

A 'photo-novel', ASYLUM has Dan and his friends, Abby and Jordan, spending their summer at a place that used to be an asylum.  As the description goes, "they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried."

Word Count: 60,307
Page Count:  320
Accelerated Reader: 5.1 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 162491
--sample pages and available
--other reviews available 
--currently 1.99 for Kindle

BEING A TEEN
You, Your Body, Your Life: Everything You Need to Know About Being a Teen: Relationships, Sex, Love, Identity, Empowering Yourself & More
by Jane Fonda

3.90 avg rating — 10 ratings 

This one is bound to be controversial. As a mom I suggest you check this out of the library first to see if sounds reasonable to you and your family.

Page Count:  288
no reading information available yet


THE BOOK THIEF
by Markus Zusak

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** School Library Journal
**Starred Review** HornBook

4.37 avg rating — 519,144 ratings

In this tale Death tells the story of Liesel, a young German girl who begins stealing books as she struggles to survive Nazi Germany/WWII.

Word Count: 118,933
Page Count: 576
Accelerated Reading level: 5.1 / points: 18.0
AR quiz: 106101
Lexile: 730L


CONFESSIONS OF A MURDER SUSPECT
by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

3.88 avg rating — 9,954 ratings

On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone--maybe not even herself. Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous-and revealing-game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of?

Word Count: 58,257
Page Count: 384
Accelerated Reading level: 5.4 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 154425

DANGEROUS CREATURES
(Dangerous Creature #1)
by Kami Garcia and  Margaret Stohl

 3.98 avg rating — 501 ratings

A return to the world of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.  This story begins with Link heading to New York City to start a rock group. Ridley tags along and the pair find that things are complicated. Especially since Link has a price on his head and his band mates are full of secrets.

Word Count: 75,056
Page Count:  368
Accelerated Reader: 4.1 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 166857


ELEANOR AND PARK
by Rainbow Rowell

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** Kirkus

**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

4.22 avg rating — 88,423 ratings

Cute cover but this is a YA book suitable for adults. 

The setting is 1986 and this story covers two star-crossed teens, bullying, and families.

Word Count: 78,179
Page Count:  336
Accelerated Reading level: 3.8 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 157569

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

by John Green

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** Kirkus

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

4.49 avg rating — 660,161 ratings

Sixteen year old Hazel has cancer. At a support group she meets Augustus. The teens fall in love. They wonder what their legacy will be after they are gone. Profanity and sexual references.

(see reading info for other John Green books)
Word Count: 65752
Page Count: 386
Accelerated Reading level: 5.5/ points: 10.0
AR quiz: 148461
Lexile: 850L

HOLLOW CITY
(Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, # 2)
by Ransom Riggs

4.09 avg rating — 10,962 ratings

At the end of book #1, the children's island home was destroyed, and Miss Peregrine was left in her bird state.  In this book, Jacob and the others flee to London (remember this is during the war) and they seek help for Ms. Peregrine.

Word Count: 95,667
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reader: 5.7 / points: 15.0
AR quiz: 163783
Lexile: 850L


IF I STAY
(If I Stay series)
by Gayle Forman

**Starred Review** Booklist
**Starred Review** School Library Journal
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

While in a coma following an accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.

Word Count: 49,653
Page Count: 272
Accelerated Reading level: 5.3 / points: 8.0
AR quiz: 129747
Lexile: 830L

THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY
by Laurie Halse Anderson

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** ALA BookList

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** Kirkus

3.98 avg rating — 4,550 ratings

Another striking book from Ms. Anderson.  In this one she examines the lasting effects of war, as a father and daughter struggle with his Post Traumatic Syndrome.

Word Count:  83517
Page Count: 321
Accelerated Reading level: 4.7 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 163323

INDEPENDENT STUDY
(The Testing, #2)
by Joelle Charbonneau

4.03 avg rating — 2,711 ratings

Middle Grade.  The TESTING was at AR 5.6

The world has been destroyed by war, and now it must be rebuilt.  In book #1, Cia Vale was chosen as a Testing candidate.  To her surprise her father tells her to trust no one.   Enter Tomas.

In book #2, enter Will, plus a series of revelations that expose the dark side of the government.

Word Count: 89,814
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reader: 5.8 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 164208

ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER
(Anna and the French Kiss #3) 
by Stephanie Perkins

Book #3 in this cute Contemporary Romance featuring Isla (eye-la) and the boy she's had a crush on forever, Josh.

Word Count: 78,536
Page Count: 339
Accelerated Reader: 4.1 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 167612


LOOKING FOR ALASKA
by John Green

• An ALA Best Book for Young Adults Top 10
• An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
• A 2005 Booklist Editors’ Choice
• A Kirkus Best Book of 2005
• A 2005 SLJ Best Book of the Year

4.23 avg rating — 298,652 ratings

Another brilliant book by John Green. This one takes place in a school academy in Alabama.

Word Count: 69,023
Page Count: 256
Accelerated Reading level: 5.8 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 86391
Lexile: 930L

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

(Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, # 1)
by Ransom Riggs

3.76 avg rating — 194,607 ratings

An island, an abandoned orphanage and a collection of curious photographs.  This book is being revisited since book #2 is out and on the NYTimes Best Seller list.

Word Count: 84,898
Page Count: 352
Accelerated Reading level: 5.7 / points: 13.0
AR quiz: 145802
Lexile: 890L

PANIC
by Lauren Oliver

3.65 avg rating — 6,159 ratings

In a dismal small town teens contribute money to a prize that will allow one winner to escape and have a chance at a better life. The contest consists of a set of challenges which have become increasing dangerous over the years.

Oliver delves into the minds of the teens desperate to escape. 

Word Count: 77,339
Page Count:  408
Accelerated Reader:  5.2 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 164557

PAPER TOWNS  
by John Green

**Starred Review** ALA BookList 
 **Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

4.10 avg rating — 168,742 ratings

Quentin Jacobsen has had a thing for Margo Roth Spiegelman for ages.   So when she appears at this window one night he follows her on a romp, only to find out after she disappears that she was extremely unhappy.  Typical John Green Genius.

(see reading info for other John Green books)
Word Count: 81,739
Page Count:  320
Accelerated Reading level: 5.4 / points: 13.0
AR quiz: 125323
Lexile: 850L


PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
by Stephen Chbosky

4.19 avg rating — 465,520 ratings

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. MTV books.

Word Count: 62,376
Page Count: 213
Accelerated Reading level: 4.8 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 32374
Lexile: 720L

SEA OF SHADOWS
(Age of Legends, #1)
by Kelly Armstrong

3.63 avg rating — 412 ratings

Sort of a horror/fantasy.  Twin sisters Ashyn and Moira are the Seeker and Keeper in the world of of the dead. They talk to spirits and their jobs are to keep the spirits of the dead happy and contained. Only now. Suddenly. The dead won't be calmed.

Word Count: 91,859
Page Count: 416
Accelerated Reader: 4.8 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 166171
--sample pages available


THE SELECTION
(Selection - Trilogy #1)
by Kiera Cass

4.13 avg rating — 108,320 ratings

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Word Count: 80,248
Page Count: 336
Accelerated Reading level: 4.7 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 151515

STEELHEART
(Reckoners, #1)
by Brandon Sanderson

4.12 avg rating — 25,438 ratings

When "Calamity" struck, certain humans became "Epic".  Which is to say that they miraculously acquired super abilities.  Unfortunately, ethics were on the lists, and the Epics want to dominate normals.

Opposing the Epics are the Reckoners.  And David wants to be one of them, because an Epic named Steelheart murdered his father, and he wants revenge.

Word Count: 107,599
Page Count:  384
Accelerated Reader:  5.0 / points: 16.0
AR quiz: 161310
Lexile: 680L
--sample pages and reviews available

THE RULE OF THOUGHTS
(#2 Mortality Doctrine)
by James Dashner

YALSA Teen Top Ten Pick
4.17 avg rating — 204 ratings

Book #1 was  The Eye of Minds.  In this book the danger escalates as Sarah's parents are kidnapped by Kaine and Michael, Sarah and Bryson) are accused of murder.

Page count: 336
Lexile: 750L

THE TREATMENT
(The Program #2)
by Suzanne Young

 4.06 avg rating — 8,357 ratings

The follow up book to The Program, The TREATMENT picks up with Sloane and James in possession of one of “the treatment” pills.  They are on the run and soon meet up with some of Michael Realm's rebels.

Page Count: 352
no reading information available yet

THE PROGRAM  was at Accelerated Reading level: 4.3 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 160847 
Lexile: HL660L

THIS STAR WON'T GO OUT:
The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl
by Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

4.55 avg rating — 1,929 ratings

Esther Grace Earl was only 16 when she passed away in 2010.  This book is filled with her insight, wisdom and humor.  She was inspiration for John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.  John wrote the introduction.

Word Count: 68,323
Page Count: 432
Accelerated Reader: 6.4 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 165474

UNCAGED
(The Singular Menace #1)
by John Sandford and Michele Cook

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
3.83 avg rating — 211 ratings 

NOT for the Squeamish. Animal torture and human torture.

Kids versus corrupt companies.  Shay and Odin are orphans living with foster parents.  Oden is older and when he turns 18 he joins a radical animal rights group.  The group breaks into a lab and finds some horrific stuff.

Odin, who is a high autistic, makes a frantic call to Shay and tells her he's scared and needs to hide. Shay takes off to find him, knowing that nothing will stop her from saving her brother.

Word Count: 106,743
Page Count: 416
Accelerated Reader: 6.1 / points: 17.0
AR quiz: 167315
 Lexile: 870L
--other reviews available
--audio version available
--sample e-chapters available

WE WERE LIARS
by E. Lockhart

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** HornBook
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

4.03 avg rating — 3,916 ratings

We Were Liars is a suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Cadence is recovering.  She washed up on the shore with no memory of how she got there, nor if it's connected to her Grandfather's house burning down. But hopefully coming to her rich family's private island and hanging with 'the Liars' will help.  Or will it only make matters worse?

This appears to be one of those love/hate books that divide readers.

Word Count: 50,189
Page Count: 240
Accelerated Reader: 4.4 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 166195
Lexile: HL600L

WHERE SHE WEN
(If I Stay #2) 
by Gayle Forman

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

 4.17 avg rating — 64,621 ratings  

Do they have a second chance at love?  After 3 years, cellist Mia runs into Adam the rocker in NYC.  

I've come to realize there's a world of difference between knowing something happened, even knowing why it happened, and believing it. Because when she cut off contact, yeah, I knew what had happened. But it took me a long, long time to believe it.  Some days, I still don't quite believe it.

Word Count: 55,415
Page Count: 288
Accelerated Reading: 5.1 / points: 8.0
AR quiz: 143768
Lexile: 800L

WHITE HOT KISS
(The Dark Elements #1)  
by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.23 avg rating — 4,983 ratings

New Adult Romance: Seventeen-year-old Layla is half demon and half gargoyle which makes life difficult enough. But her kiss kills. At least it kills anyone with a soul. 

She tries to live normally until she meets a red hot demon named Roth.  Things heat up with him, and the demon uprising...

Word Count: 107,765
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reader: 4.7 / points: 16.0
AR quiz: 1645
--sample pages available


You Might Also Be Interested In...
------------------------------------------------------------------
► 2013 BEST YA BOOKS

► 2014 BEST YA SERIES
► 2013 BEST YA SERIES
► 2012 BEST YA SERIES

ALL NY TIMES BEST BOOKS...
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compiled by Pam
updated September 2014