Naming just 100 titles as the best YA books of the century is daunting. How to weigh literary execution, cultural impact, authorial significance, and other factors? Lists such as these—like library collections—are meant for readers other than those who compile them; they can’t be simply a self-indulgent gathering of personal favorites. But there’s value in applying individual expertise to guide readers beyond the (many fabulous) bestsellers, celebrity book club picks, and award winners they already know. In that spirit, here is a spotlight on six surprisingly original, beautifully written, emotionally devastating books that appear on the list and deserve to be much better known.

Written before the Covid-19 pandemic, both of the following titles feel eerily prescient as they show the differing ways people react to extreme events.

The Road to Winter by Mark Smith (Text, 2017): Combining riveting, page-turning action with deep humanity and insight, Smith presents a lawless, chaotic Australia in the aftermath of a deadly pandemic. What becomes of the most vulnerable? How do we hold on to hope and the best of what makes us human?

Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron (Roaring Brook Press, 2018): In this magical, awe-filled Scottish novel, a girl feels responsible for her mother’s death. As angels inexplicably crash to Earth and die, fueling conspiracy theories and cults, her father becomes obsessed with capturing one alive. When she finds and rescues an angel herself, she faces tough decisions.

If we hope to do better, we must look squarely at the uncomfortable parts of history; these books highlight the impact of inhumanity and inequality.

Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem by Marilyn Nelson (Front Street/Boyds Mills, 2004): This unflinching, deeply affecting work honors Fortune, a Black man who died in Connecticut in 1798; his white enslaver hung his skeleton in his house, where Fortune’s widow cleaned. The author proclaims, “You are not your bones. / What’s essential about you / is what can’t be owned.”

Beyond the Blue Border by Dorit Linke, translated by Elisabeth Lauffer (Charlesbridge Teen, 2021): Linke, who grew up in East Germany, plunges readers into an unforgettable nail-biter as teen refugees try to swim through the freezing Baltic Sea to the West. Vivid flashbacks show the traumas of life in a corrupt, stratified country that spur them to risk all.

Who we are within our families—and who we become as we grow to understand them differently—shapes us profoundly, as these titles show.

The Letters by Kazumi Yumoto, translated by Cathy Hirano (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002): This contemplative, bittersweet novel from Japan will linger in readers’ minds. Chiaki reflects on her childhood, especially her hardworking single mother and the gruff landlady who told young Chiaki that she could deliver letters to the dead, offering catharsis and helping her navigate a disorienting loss.

All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri (Norton Young Readers, 2023): This exquisite jewel from Zimbabwe has a gut punch of a surprise ending that maintains its power even with multiple rereads. The humor and lightly fantastical elements balance the exploration of stories and perceptions as grieving family members reconnect and heal during a road trip.

Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.