This was a year with much to celebrate in YA literature. Horror lovers were delighted (and terrified) to see that the genre continued to flourish. Romance and fantasy, perennial favorites, also made strong showings. Graphic literature and nonfiction featured real innovation, too. But one trend stood out, transcending genre and format: More books than ever dove into the glorious, messy complexities of real teens’ lives—lives that don’t fit into neat boxes when it comes to any aspect of identity. The arrival of stories that offer genuine nuance and repudiate simplistic stereotypes is truly something to applaud. The six books below are just a few of the many titles from our list of the Best YA Books of 2023 that are deserving of special attention.
One widely held misconception is that teens care nothing about older people; in fact, anyone who works with adolescents knows how much they crave and benefit from authentic, mutually respectful relationships with elders. These stories celebrate priceless intergenerational bonds.
The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, Oct. 3): The death of the matriarch of a Black Hollywood dynasty is deeply felt by her beloved great-granddaughters in this resonant story that explores fame, socioeconomic divisions, and the tough choices ambitious women face.
Throwback by Maurene Goo (Zando Young Readers, April 11): A Korean American teen who adores her immigrant grandmother but clashes with her assimilationist mom develops profound insights after traveling back in time to her mother’s teen years in this deeply touching story.
Books about pivotal social themes have long been at the heart of YA literature, but recently we’ve seen approaches and subjects that are far more subtle and insightful than before, often addressing topics in ways that adult readers would greatly benefit from understanding.
Invisible Son by Kim Johnson (Random House, June 27): In this searing novel, a Black teen attempts to keep a low profile after a juvie sentence for a crime he didn’t commit—but he’s derailed by the suspicious disappearance of his best friend, a transracially adopted Black boy.
The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy (Little, Brown, March 14): Two Syrian girls who are thrown together—one from a wealthy Detroit family and the other a traumatized refugee—slowly find common ground in a tale that treats both their struggles with remarkable compassion.
Historical fiction can get a bad rap due to pitfalls such as infodumps, erasures of large segments of the population, and limited subject ranges, but we’re lucky to be in a time of flourishing creativity, with authors writing books with broad relevance and strong reader appeal.
Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, May 9): Tracing three generations of boys and men in an Iranian family across continents and decades, this unforgettable novel delves into the ambiguities of cross-cultural lives and the impact of well-intentioned but misguided activism.
Pedro & Daniel by Federico Erebia, illustrated by Julie Kwon (Levine Querido, June 6): This extraordinary, movingly illustrated work, spanning the 1960s through the 1990s, was inspired by the author’s life. The book explores deeply painful, personal topics—among them abuse, homophobia, and grief—with care and sensitivity.
Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.
