28 Young Adult and Middle Grade Books: Gift Buying Guide Based on my Favorites

9:34 pm | | Comments 4

I usually crosspost my blog posts to r/fantasy, but this time I’m copying my comment from Reddit to the Blog because it took so long to write I thought it was worth it. Brought to you because of this post:

Unofficial YA and MG Recommendation List & Gift Giving Guide by Krista D. Ball (who’s many books I love)

 

Requirements: 

  • No books older than FIVE years old. Yes, FIVE years old. Not five decades. Five years. I will allow some flexibility, especially if it’s an ongoing series. If you have some outstanding reco from, let’s say, 10 years ago, include them, but make a note they’re a little older. Please don’t recommend outdated, genre classics, and nostalgia books from the 90s.

  • No generic recommendations, such as an entire publishing house’s list or an entire author. Instead of “all of Rick Riordan Presents,” say “Aru Shah And The End Of Time” (as an example).

  • If there is content warnings for a book, please make note. So, if you’re going to say The Court of Thorns and Roses, because I know someone is, please say there is significant on-page sex so that some poor uncle doesn’t buy that for his sister to read to her 10 year old precocious readers.

  • While I recognize the bulk of this thread will be SFF books, please feel free to include other genres, including non-fiction. Just make note of it. Edit: Comics and graphic novels are A-Ok!

  • If possible, add an age range, if ya or mg, or details about the ideal or target reader.

Note: I don’t usually give out content warnings, because my memory is so shoddy I know I’d leave stuff out, so these are my best aproximation and very clumsy

Young Adult Fantasy Books Gift Buying Guide

Young Adult

  • My truest love, Legendborn by Tracy Deonn – Conteporary Arhturian retelling, fast paced, lots of fun, deals very well with the gried of losing a parent, all interwoven with how the MC is affected by racism. I can’t remember anything sexual, some violence but nothing unsual

  • Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko – epic secondary world fantasy inspired by West African cultures. There might be some smooching cannot remember otherwise whether there is sexing or just attempted sexing

  • A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow – very contemporary book, anchored in the present, strong rec for the more activist teen. There was a bit where kids are preparing for a protest in case there’s police violence that hit hard.

  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton – excellent dark fairy tale, nails that “disturbing secret hidding under an illusion of perfection” vibe. Not gory or violent in the usual physical combat sense, but gory and violent in other creative ways.

  • A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney – often described as Alice in Wonderland meets Buddy the Vampire slayer, fun with a cool dark dreamworld, level of violence you’d expect from monster hunting

  • Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron – dark fantasy with Orisha and lots of betrayl/revenge sort of stuff. I don’t think there was anything sexual or above average violence wise.

  • Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer – contemp story all about the magic of online friendship, very heartwarming, gets surprisingly intense with the portrayl of an abusive family member

  • Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu (Artist), Joamette Gil (Letterer) – sooooo wholesome and queer, lovely, graphic novel

  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland – historical zombie novel, it’s not awfully gory for a zombie story but it is a horror book. I think we know sex has happened but not on page, I may be missrembering. Super fun main character, also deals with racism, it’s set after the US civil war

  • The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco – necromancy and bone magic in an Asian-inspired setting

  • Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown contemp. story about a protagonist growing up in a bad situation. CW for rape, violence, drug abuse. At it’s core it’s a beautifully optimistic story but it explores a lot of heavy themes.

  • The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow – a rare SciFi book, nearish future first contact with an optimistic character that balances out the grim setting.

  • Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas – fun contemporary fantasy about a Latinx boy living with his family in a cemetery and their death/ghost magic. He’s trans so getting acceptance from some of his family members is a big theme.

  • A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott – older (2009) but it does have a more recent sequel and I never see it mentioned anywhere. It’s a time travel novel, with strong links to Octavia Butler’s Kindred, about a modern day Black girl that ends up during the Civil War. Deals with racism, slavery, war, riots and such.

  • Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce – a magic school book, for the kid that loved Harry Potter and wants more hard magic. Great found family. Violence in the usual combaty sense, dragon v. dragon at times even. Nothing on page beyond smooching

  • The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang – graphic novel, super wholesome, I don’t think it’s really spec fic though

  • Season of the Witch (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan – Sabrina TV show tie-in prequel, lots of fun if you’re a fan. Not sure I’d gift this to a very religious household.

  • The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones – pretty small scale story, about just saving a village, dealing with the loss of family, zombies and a goat

Middle Grade Fantasy Books Gift Buying Guide

Would work for younger YA and older MG:

  • Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger – contemporary YA that uses Indigineous myths

  • A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher – MG novel with a surprisingly high body count and very creative bread related magic

  • Pet by Akwaeke Emezi – future sort-of utopian YA about monsters, mentions of child abuse

Middle Grade

  • Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston – super fun MG about a girl that goes to magic/men in black sumer camp, much shenanigans and all sorts of wacky magic stuff

  • The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith – graphic novel, wholesome and with pretty art

  • Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee – science fantasy inspired by Korean mythology with ghosts and fox spirits

  • Riverland by Fran Wilde – a portal fantasy about two sisters from an abusive household

  • Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron – contemporary fantasy with Orisha

  • The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste – (possibly) horror MG, carribean inspired, lots of fun, great monsters

  • Root Magic by Eden Royce – historical fantasy with Black Girl Magic set around the 60s, pretty creepy and with some focus on racism

Comments

  1. I might use this post to buy something for myself, haha. Thanks for including younger YA/older MG. I have a niece and nephew who are right between those ages and shopping for them can be tricky as publishing doesn’t always have books that cater to them. Great post!

  2. Looks like lots of great titles on this list! I see a few I still need to pick up for myself, like Root Magic.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.