2024 is at a close, and Iowa City Public Library Staff reflected on some of the literary highlights of the year, voting for new favorites in a variety of genres. In this list, you'll find the staff picks for Young Adult released in 2024. "Heir" by Sabaa Tahir was the standout title among staff, earning the greatest number of votes for this genre.
Heir
Tahir, Sabaa, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Tahir Sabaa
Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with power, treachery, love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed, on a journey that may cost them their lives--and their hearts. Literally.
Icarus
Ancrum, K. (Kayla), 1991- author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ancrum K
Icarus Gallagher is a thief. He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father's impeccable forgeries. For years, one man--the wealthy Mr. Black--has been their target in revenge for his role in the death of Icarus's mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don't let anyone close. Don't let anyone touch you. And, above all, don't get caught. Until one night, he does.
Not like other girls
Adamo, Meredith, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Adamo Meredith
When Jo-Lynn Kirby 's former best friend--pretty, nice Maddie Price--comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked--and since everyone decided she deserved it. There's no way Maddie would actually come to her for help. But then Maddie is gone. Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can't shake the feeling there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind--and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo's with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she'd rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie's disappearance, she's left to wonder who she's really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.
This book won't burn
Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer), author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ahmed Samira
I'm Noor. And I read banned books. After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them far from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation. But things aren't so simple. At school, Noor discovers that hundreds of books have been labels "obscene" or "pornographic" and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors. Noor can't sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics -- and small-town love -- be her downfall?
Shut up, this is serious
Ixta, Carolina, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ixta Carolina
Belen Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She's at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant--by the boyfriend she hasn't told her parents about because he's Black and her parents are racist.
Sheine Lende : a prequel to Elatsoe
Little Badger, Darcie, 1987- author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Littleba Darcie
Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back. Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent, who isn't to be trusted, set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world, or this place in time. Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.
Everything we never had
Ribay, Randy, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ribay Randy
Set in the 1930s to today, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships.
Twenty-four seconds from now... : a love story
Reynolds, Jason, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Reynolds Jason
In a series of moments spanning two years, seventeen-year-old Neon navigates the progression of his relationship with Aria, culminating in a case of the jitters as the two intend to take the next big step in their relationship.
Most ardently : a Pride & Prejudice remix
Novoa, Gabe Cole, author.
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Novoa Gabe
Oliver Bennet, trapped by societal expectations to live as female, discovers the possibility of love and freedom when he forms a connection with Darcy, but is faced with the choice of living a secure but inauthentic life or risking everything for true self-expression and love.
"Heir" was ranked the Best of Young Adult by ICPL Staff for 2024.
- Becky