In my younger hay days, I was just as a vicarious reader as I am now. Maybe even more so because the lack of responsibilities meant more time to read! Go figure, it was way easier to devour a series in a couple of days when I didn’t have to keep two kids, a dog, and a husband alive.
I have such fond memories of many of the series I read back in the day, I think it may be time to revisit them. I’ve found there is something magical about the age of young adult books on the cusp of responsibility and new challenges of growing up it opens up the possibilities of storylines.
Young Adult books can be read at any age!
I’ll say it again...
You do not have to be 17 to enjoy a Young Adult series!
The only requirement is accepting younger characters and the decisions that they may make may be more naïve than an older character would be.
Young Adult books can get a bad rap with older readers. However, most of the time it's because the reader forgets the characters are young - duh! Exploring boundaries, questionable decision-making, see-sawing emotions, and just generally learning about life through tough experiences is part of the gig of growing up. If older readers can keep in mind these characters are just starting off, young adult books open up a new genre that can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter how many birthdays you have celebrated.
Whether you have already read some of the series below or if you're looking to start a Young Adult series at any stage of life, here are a few of my favorites.
1. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses, but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"—but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?
Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission—falling in love.
2. Ruby Red
Author: Kerstin Gier
Series: Edelstein-Trilogie Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Although I had never seen him before, I recognized him immediately. I'd have known his voice anywhere. This was the guy I'd seen on my last journey back in time.
Or more precisely, the one who'd kissed my doppelganger while I was hiding behind the curtain in disbelief.
Sixteen-year-old Gwen lives with her extended - and rather eccentric - family in an exclusive London neighborhood. In spite of her ancestors' peculiar history, she's had a relatively normal life so far. The time-traveling gene that runs like a secret thread through the female half of the family is supposed to have skipped over Gwen, so she hasn't been introduced to "the mysteries," and can spend her time hanging out with her best friend, Lesley. It comes as an unwelcome surprise when she starts taking sudden, uncontrolled leaps into the past.
She's totally unprepared for time travel, not to mention all that comes with it: fancy clothes, archaic manners, a mysterious secret society, and Gideon, her time-traveling counterpart. He's obnoxious, a know-it-all, and possibly the best-looking guy she's seen in any century...
3. Born at Midnight
Author: C.C. Hunter
Series: Shadow Falls Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.
Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.
Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…
4. Breathe
Author: Abbi Glines
Series: Sea Breeze Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Sadie White's summer job isn't going to be on the beach life-guarding or working at rental booths like most kids her age. With her single mother's increasing pregnancy and refusal to work, Sadie has to take over her mother's job as a domestic servant for one of the wealthy summer families on a nearby island.
When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie hadn't spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house she might have been normal enough to be excited about working for a rock star.
Even though Sadie isn't impressed by Jax's fame, he is drawn to her. Everything about Sadie fascinates Jax but he fights his attraction. Relationships never work in his world and as badly as he wants Sadie, he believes she deserves more. By the end of the summer, Jax discovers he can't breathe without Sadie.
5. Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. In just a few weeks she'll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she'll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever....
6. Poison Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Series: Poison Study Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Choose: A quick death… or slow poison...
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...
7. Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
8. Marked
Author: P.C. Cast
Series: House of Night Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends (or Nerd Herd, as Aphrodite calls them).
...and one current young adult series you should check out as well!
Apprentice of Magic
Author: K.M. Shea
Series: The Fairy Tale Enchantress Series book #1
Category: Young Adult
Blurb
Angelique hates her magic.
Her time in the magical academy has been a long chain of criticisms, reprimands, and punishments. Her war-like ability to control any weapon has earned her nothing but the fear and scorn of fellow students and instructors.
And now, she finds herself before the highest council just one vote away from having her magic sealed forever.
Until Enchanter Evariste appears.
The mysterious prodigy is one of the few with the authority to go against the Council. Which is exactly what he does when he takes Angelique as his apprentice. Though his lessons are challenging and eccentric he shows her more kindness than she ever hoped to receive.
Everything seems perfect.
But things are changing in the world. Dark things. Evil things.
Once upon a time is about to become very real…
Apprentice of Magic is an epic fantasy fairy tale adventure mixed with clean romance and humor.
This new series is a companion to the bestselling Timeless Fairy Tales series.
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