These Young Adult Novels Should Be On Every Adult's Reading List

Who Says Young Adult Novels Are Just For Kids? Reading YA offers adults a world they don't often find in more adult novels. The settings can be more fantastic and the emotions can feel downright nostalgic. Whatever your reason for diving in, here are some YA reads that could be easily appreciated by an older audience.

The Conference of the Birds

by Ransom Riggs

With his last words, H - Jacob Portman's final connection with his grandfather Abe's secret life entrusts Jacob with a mission: to deliver newly contacted peculiar Noor Pradesh to an agent known only as V. Er is hunted for Noor. She is the subject of an ancient prophecy, one that foretells an impending apocalypse. Save Noor - Save the future from all details. With just a few mind-boggling clues to follow, Jacob must figure out how to find V, the most enigmatic and powerful of Abe's former companions. But V is in hiding and she never, ever, wants to be found.

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Turtles All the Way Down
by Kim Johnson

Every week, 17-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X asking the organization to help her father, an innocent black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time - her father has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive at night, and Tracy's older brother, Jamal, turns from a bright, promising trackstar into a "crook" on the run, accused of murdering a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive uncovering the skeletons of their Texas town's racist history that still haunts the present?

Watch Over Me
by Nina LaCour left

Mila just graduated from high school and has the foster care system. So when she's offered a teaching job and a place to live on a remote part of the Northern California coast, she immediately accepts. She may finally find a new home - a real home. The farm is a refuge, but it is also haunted by the past. And Mila's own memories are starting to surface.

The Cousins
by Karen M. McManus

Milly, Aubrey and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each other, and they have never met their grandmother. Rich and withdrawn, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to come and work on her island resort for the summer, they are surprised. . . and curious. Their parents are all clear on one point: not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother's grace. But when the cousins ​​arrive on the island, it's immediately clear that she has other plans for them.

Everybody Looking
by Candice Ilohfreshman

When Ada leaves home for heryear at a Historically Black College, it's the first time she's ever been so far from her family - and the first time she's able to make her own choices. and seek its place in this new world. As she stumbles deeper into the dance world and explores her sexuality, she also begins to grapple with her past - her mother's struggle with addiction, her Nigerian father's attempts to make a home for her. Eventually, Ada discovers that she must fend off the fate others have chosen for her and claim full ownership of her body and her future.

Dear Justyce
by Nic Stone

Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Wynwood Heights neighborhood of southwest Atlanta. But years later, Justyce wanders through the illustrious halls of Yale University. . . and Quan is behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center.through a series of flashbacks, vignettes and letters to Justyce - the main character of Dear MartinQuan's story takes shape. Problems at home and misunderstandings at school lead to meetings with the police and difficult decisions. But then there's a dead cop and a gun with Quan's prints on it. What leads a smart kid on his way to a murder charge? Not even Quan is sure.

The Sun is also starred
by Holly Jackson The

beautiful and popular high school Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who subsequently committed suicide. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how tragedy still haunts her town. But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to it that day. She knew Sal when she was a kid, and he was always so nice to her. How could he ever have been a murderer? Now a senior herself, Pip decides to re-examine the closed case for her graduation project, initially only to cast doubt on the original investigation. But someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip to look for answers, and now her own life may be in danger.

American Royals
by Katharine McGee

When America won the Revolutionary War, the people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington is still on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a reserve. A future frost and a backup battery. Every child knows exactly what is expected of him. But these are not just any royals. They are American. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen of government, the duty she has embraced all her life suddenly feels suffocating. No one cares about the reserve except when she breaks the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything either. . . except for the one boy who is clearly off limits to her. And then there is Samantha's twin brother, Prince Jefferson. Had he been born a generation earlier, he would have been first in line for the throne, but the new inheritance laws make him third. Most of America loves their terribly handsome prince. . . but two very different girls compete to conquer his heart.

Lovely War
by Julie Berry

They are Hazel, James, Aubrey and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British future architect turned soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the US military and a Belgian orphan with a beautiful voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by the goddess Aphrodite, who must turn the story or face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, revealing that while war is a formidable force, it no match for the transcendent is the power of love.

They Wish They Were Us
by Jessica Goodman

Freshman Year Jill's best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was murdered by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham admitted, the case was closed and Jill tried to move on. Now is Jill's senior year and she is determined to make the most of it. After all, she's a senior and a player - a member of Gold Coast Prep's exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. But when Jill starts getting lyrics proclaiming Graham's innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year begin to crumble. If Graham didn't kill Shaila, who did? Jill promises to find out, but digging deeper could put her friendships and her future in jeopardy