The Hottest YA Books of Summer

Scream all night looks interesting. I'll look to see if my local library gets it in cuz I'm a fan of horror films like old slasher films and classic universal studios monster movies and stuff like Vincent price and stuff.

Do I detect a gender theme here? YAF? Where are the YAMs? Maybe they're not as common?

I'm Not Missing by Carrie Fountain! That's what I can't wait to read this summer.

The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara!

The History of Jane Doe by Michael Belanger! Male protagonist, realistic YA fiction, funny but so, so heartbreaking!

There seems to be an assumption here that only girls are going to be reading over the summer. This is a pretty disappointing list.

Amber wrote: "Scream all night looks interesting. I'll look to see if my local library gets it in cuz I'm a fan of horror films like old slasher films and classic universal studios monster movies and stuff like ..."
If you love monster movies and especially old Vincent Price type stuff, you will adore Scream All Night. It's a love letter to those kinds of movies, and it's just so much fun.

One of my favorite young adult books is “Ellen and the three predictions” by Alayne Smith. It features an old soothsayer and the Pedro Pan movement in Cuba from years ago. So interesting!

Anonymole wrote: "Do I detect a gender theme here? YAF? Where are the YAMs? Maybe they're not as common?"

I was just thinking this. I'm mom to a 13 year old boy who doesn't like to read. I came to this list feeling hopeful of finding something, however, none of these books would interest him.

Justsane wrote: "There seems to be an assumption here that only girls are going to be reading over the summer. This is a pretty disappointing list."

Yes! Nothing wrong with girls, but boys need to read, too.

Scream All Night is a great book that will definitely appeal to boys. The main character, Dario, is a seventeen year old boy who is dealing with strong family conflicts, and a rivalry with his older brother, and the pressures of deciding whether or not to follow in his father's footsteps. Also, it's really funny and the humor is the kind that will appeal to teenage boys.

Boys can’t read books with female protagonists? There’s one about Catwoman on this list, grown men read comics featuring her as the main character. The list isn’t disappointing, these reactions to female driven novels are.

Amy T. wrote: "Anonymole wrote: "Do I detect a gender theme here? YAF? Where are the YAMs? Maybe they're not as common?"

I was just thinking this. I'm mom to a 13 year old boy who doesn't like to read. I came to..."

It's become kind of an unfortunate chicken-or-egg situation (and argument). As lopsided as this list is, it's pretty much reflective of what's being published in YA. Go into any bookstore, and you'll find that 80 to 90% of the YA titles on the shelves are written by females about females.

Should boys read them? Sure. Will they? Unlikely. Like most of us, they'll look to the cover and the cover blurb for guidance. Girls featured? Right or wrong, these prospective readers will make inferences: girl stuff, coming-of-age in a rocky world, unstable relationships, romance gone bad, sick-lit, angst, drama, blah, blah, blah.

Most boy readers won't take the time to seek out titles by women writers with female protagonists that they would not only enjoy but move to the heights of their "favorites" list. Because they're definitely out there, but maybe not as prominently promoted as they should be. Books like SALT TO THE SEA, CODE NAME VERITY, and WOLF BY WOLF, to name just a few, are as exciting, entertaining, engaging, and universally themed as any "boy" book.

Still, getting those books into the hands of boy readers takes dedicated promotion or a knowledgeable librarian or bookseller who has the time to get to know books and readers. So typical boys look for something else. But their choices are limited, because publishers, despite claiming they want to publish more "boy books" on one hand, don't, on the other hand, publish them. "Boys don't read," they say, and they're in the business of selling books. Lots of books. And making money.

So, do boys not read because there's a scarcity of books that appeal to them? Or do publishers not publish books that appeal to boys because they go unread? Chicken, or egg?

Bob wrote: "Message to anonymole and all others seeking YA books for boys: Have your 13-year-old read "Out of Bounds," my sports mystery that was a national finalist in the Reader's Favorites Awards. I really ..."Looks good. I'll have to check it out. I love most books about baseball!

Waiting for One Small Thing by Erin Watt. Love everything these 2 ladies write.

Why can’t boys read books with female protagonists? Almost all of the books I read growing up had male protagonists, and I enjoyed them?

Doesn't mean they can't. I read many books with male AND female protagonists. However, I find that, in my reading to boys in an inner-city grammar school, in order to get them excited about reading, I have to read them books about subjects they enjoy. Then, when they're reading on their own, I can introduce them to new things.

I love this book for summer YA: The Art of Escaping

There are authors I can recommend, Robin. I've enjoyed their books, and boys I know have also. Your son is probably aware of some of them, but maybe there are a few unfamiliar ones here: Patrick Ness, Phillip Pullman, Andrew Smith, M.T. Anderson, Neal Shusterman, Neil Gaiman, Walter Dean Myers, Markus Zusak, Carl Deuker, Mike Mullin, Conrad Wesselhoeft, Kwame Alexander, Ransom Riggs, Chris Crutcher...I'm leaving off a lot of good ones, hundreds, maybe. A lot of them I haven't read. Check out the ALA lists for YA. Good luck!

Robin wrote: "It looks promising! Pre-ordered for Kindle release on the 19th. Thank you. I've actually found a couple books through these comments! It's so difficult to feed his voracious appetite for books, but..."
Robin--I just got a great review from a young man on LitPick for my book, "Empty Seats." I can send it to you. It's supposed to be posted tomorrow. LitPick is a good resource as well. I specifically had middle schoolers in mind when I wrote the book because my daughter teaches middle school, and I wanted her to be able to use it with her students.

re: all the people whining about not having male-centered YA books for their boys: put yourself in the opposite perspective. How often are girls forced to read books with male protags in school. Rarely do girls get to read the female perspective in their own class setting, only cis-boys have the luxury of personally connecting to a book in that regard. What's so wrong with boys reading books with female protags anyway? Absolutely nothing, no excuses. In fact, they SHOULD, maybe it it'll teach them how to respect women and think of them as people instead of objects. And can I just add that the sheer amount of male protags in fiction largely outweighs female protags, so if you don't like this list, look around; it is way too easy to find male protagonist in books.

My boys would recommend the nick chronicles, Michael vey books, the eragon series, the magisterium series, the novice series, etc. my boys are 13 and 16. Hope that helps for reading material. I would also recommend letters to the lost. It has lots of good life lessons. As an adult I enjoyed it too. Good luck!

April wrote: "Boys can’t read books with female protagonists? There’s one about Catwoman on this list, grown men read comics featuring her as the main character. The list isn’t disappointing, these reactions to ..."

Thank you for saying this! I getting annoyed with how everyone was saying that there weren't any books on this list for boys. A boy could want to read any book on this list, no matter if it has a female author or not. I know I want to read a ton of the books on this list and guess what? I'm a teenage boy! I personally love to read, so far this year I have even read over 50 books, I also know that 90 percent of my favorite authors are women and that 90 percent of my favorite books have female MCs. Whoever is commenting that none of these books are for boys must not actually know any real boys so instead they assume that all boys are sexist stereotypes.

Why can't boys read books with female protagonists? I'm a girl and many of my favourite series have male protaganists: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Hardy Boys, Artemis Fowl, Alex Rider and many more.

So want to read Grace and Fury!!!!Grace and Fury

Louie wrote: "April wrote: "Boys can’t read books with female protagonists? There’s one about Catwoman on this list, grown men read comics featuring her as the main character. The list isn’t disappointing, these..."I have been reading to first graders in an inner-city school. I have come to the conclusion that anything that can convince them to read is successful, whether it's the girls or the boys. I don't really like the "Pinkaliscious" series (remember, these are first graders), but the girls love them, so I look for those books for the girls. They eat them up. Next year, when they're in the second grade, I'm hoping that they'll be ready for something else. A couple of them are actually reading chapter books, and they're pretty much ready for anything. The boys like the Tedd Arnold "Fly Guy" books. A couple of the girls like them as well. I am almost 70 years old. I have four male grandchildren and one female grandchild. I do not "stereotype" boys and girls; I'm just telling you what I observe. My grandchildren are voracious readers because that's what they get at home. With the children I read to (whom I'm going to miss all summer), I'll do anything to encourage them to read. They're not getting such encouragement at home.

Anna wrote: "Amber wrote: "Scream all night looks interesting. I'll look to see if my local library gets it in cuz I'm a fan of horror films like old slasher films and classic universal studios monster movies a..."


Awesome Anna! Yeah I read YA books and more so this one would definitely be up my alley.

Robin wrote: "Thank you for your suggestions! And yes, my son has read many of the authors you named! Out of my 9 children, he is the only one that shares and understands that special feeling that comes with imm..."

Hey Robin if your son likes Superheroes, I would recommend the Reckoners trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, That was an awesome series with a boy as the main character. It starts with Steelheart and it is about a world where the superheroes turn bad and there is a team of freedom fighters who want to stop them.

My friend DS Brown also wrote an amazing book about a black superhero (well before Black Panther, by the way). It's called "Champion." Just a thought. BTW, I LOVE this thread!

Well, I would recommend for boys these books for their summer reading:

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King which is about two princes and one of them is placed in jail due to an evil wizard's plan to take over a Kingdom. It's a pretty good YA dark fantasy.
The Reckoners trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Name of the Wind
C.J. Redwine's new novel The Traitor Prince has a boy as the main character and this is her take on the Prince and the Pauper fairytale and there is tons of action in it with a small bit of romance.
The Evil Genius book series is great too and features a boy as the main character who finds out his real father is a real life evil villain.

A World Without Heroes is pretty good too and the main character is a boy. It's a trilogy I'm currently reading and enjoying too.


I love to recommend books that are awesome reads to others as I love to read for pleasure and I run a book club for adults on here for 18 and over whose sole focus is reading for pleasure called The Reading for Pleasure book club. Feel free to look us up at the groups section and check us out and join us if you want to as everything we do there is done at our own pace and our members read YA, thriller, horror, scifi, fantasy, non-fiction, classics and more there.

Grace and Fury It seemed interesting read or a nice story, until they revealed the main twist-of-plot in the so-called "Intro". Anyways, my next pick will be "Wildcard" Hopefully i shall complete the book i'm reading now to finish by the time it releases....

Robin, I'm not talking to just you and I don't understand your childish response but that's okay. It's great your son reads books with female protagonists, but you're not the only one on here with problematic thinking, in fact, I hadn't even seen your response so I wasn't directly talking to you but since you replied I might as well...

You didn't get the point of my post, which was: it's okay to have lists that Just have female protagonists, lord knows just 10-20 years ago it was all male protagonists. It's okay if this One particular list for the Summer of 2018, doesn't have anything that interests your son (although I could argue that he may enjoy quite a few of them.)

Do you truly feel that entitled to have male leads in every article? You didn't have to complain about it. You could simply looked at the list, noticed they were all female protags and gave Goodreads a pat on the back for celebrating women and move on. There are PLENTY of new books with male protagonists, you don't need a list to tell you that.

It's disturbing that there are people who look at this list and immediately think: "Where are the stories for boys?" All YA stories are for boys and girls. Our society raises boys to believe anything that has to do with girls is not for them, and that's unfortunate, but can be changed; however, it is understandable that as someone who identifies as male would want to read about a male. The problem is that you feel entitled to it, in all spaces.

Anyway, some of your really funny quotes: "It's so wrong to ignore our young male readers", "We should be encouraging all genders to read" NOWHERE did anyone say that males shouldn't read. Girls have been reading and enjoying male protagonists for as long as they've been written without much an issue, I mean look at Harry Potter (which, by the way, the author's name was altered to look like a male author so that boys would read the story, another pointer to the problems we have.)

TLDR: Robin, and other's: Your gross assumption is that none of these can appeal to boys. And your problem is that you feel entitled to have male protagonists as an option in any space, article, ect, even when females and LGBTQ+ people have been long ignored in favor of your average androcentric stories.

Goodness, Anna, I didn't view this as "entitlement to have male protagonists as an option in any space, article, etc., even when females and LGBTQ+ people have 'long been ignored in favor of your average androcentric' stories." I viewed this thread as an exchange of ideas; I have no "gross assumptions."

I started reading in the early 1950s, and almost everything was geared toward boys, but, as a voracious reader, I read just about anything I could get my hands on. When I had my own children (one of each), they too were voracious readers. One of them (my daughter) teaches middle school. My son began reading Shakespeare when he was in the second grade. What I learned from my daughter in her 15-plus years of teaching inner-city middle school is that no one size fits all. Whatever can convince a child to read is what is what is enticing. If a boy wants to learn about sharks, then find him a book about sharks. That may be the stepping-off point to other things. If a girl wants to learn about how dolls are made, find her a book about that.

I made the point above that I'm a volunteer reader in an inner-city school. It bothers me that the girls only seem to want to read "Pinkalicious" books. They're very stereotypically frilly, and, as an almost 70-year-old feminist, I think they should be broadening their horizons. But it's such a joy to see them read! The boys tend to choose Tedd Arnold's "Fly Guy" books, and the girls like those as well, if that's what I'm reading for the day. The program for which I volunteer gives kids books to take home so they can read at home as well.

When I showed them the book I wrote (all words, no illustrations), they said, "Ms. Wanda, how did you learn to spell all those words?" and "Some day maybe I could learn to write a book." These kids don't have the benefit of parents at home to read to them. Most of their parents are too busy working two or three part-time, minimum-wage jobs to pay the rent and put food on the table.

The point is, in my mind, not whether it's male, female, or androgynous, but rather, what will entice a child to read. Once the child is older, then he or she can broaden horizons. I didn't see sexism in Robin's request. Instead, I interpreted her request (and responses from others) as genuine dialogue from a mother who wants her child to be interested in what he reads.

I understand your concerns, and I'm not trying to gloss over anything you expressed. I'm hopeful you will consider that I do not consider male dominance as an "entitlement" in any way, shape or form, and that I continue to encourage dialogue. Thank you for expressing your point of view.

Hi all! Just a gentle reminder that we don't allow self-promotional comments on our blog posts. As this is against our policy, we’ve gone ahead and removed them.

I wasn't that way either. Robin just asked for book recommendations for books for her son to read and I gave them and I read anything that I get my hands on too. and I'm not androcentric, I focus on awesome reads no matter who the MC is. Just had to look up what androcentric meant cuz I am not familiar with new fancy words like that .


have a great day of reading for pleasure everyone!

Wanda, thank you for your response to my reply. People seem to be misconstruing what I'm trying to say, and honestly, maybe it's because I'm not being clear, so I'll try to be.

I don't think Robin's request for other books was the problem, if she truly felt her son wouldn't like any of the mentioned books. I actually hadn't been directly talking about Robin. There were a lot of offhand comments I had initially been referring to, but I do think her first comment and comments afterwards have a sexist undertone.

Wanting to find books that interest your son is fine, I understand he might not be into those titles. But her words "nothing but female main characters over and over and over." and then asking for books her son would like, is basically saying her son is unable to even handle a female protagonist, let alone enjoy one. And that is a part of sexism, the idea that boys can't at all relate to a female POV. That's the very reason there were predominately only male protagonists in books, movies, TV, ect. for so long.

Really, what I was trying to get across, is that a lot of people see male protagonists as gender neutral; everyone can read about a boy, but female protagonists, no matter the type of story (even high action, adventure novels), are only for girls. But that isn't the case, that's just what parents have been inadvertently teaching their kids because there are layers and layers of misogyny built up over many years, as I'm sure you know.

I also want to say, I loved reading everything you wrote about your life, thank you for sharing! I just wanted to make a quick comment, food for thought: I understand girls are nearly always reaching for very frilly, more stereotypical "girly" books, but we can't really blame them. From an early age most parents are putting frilly, pink dresses on their daughters, handing them barbies, and showing them Disney movies that teach them the stereotypical way of the "woman." That stuff really does affect your future interests. Most girls cling to very feminine things because it's their comfort zone, it's what they've been taught. We live in a very binary society that forces girls to stay in their lane and it's usually not until they're older that they can break that mold and explore other interests. Though I want to make a point to say there is nothing wrong with femininity and wanting to be feminine, for both girls and boys.

Thank you, again!

Amber wrote: "I wasn't that way either. Robin just asked for book recommendations for books for her son to read and I gave them and I read anything that I get my hands on too. and I'm not androcentric, I focus o..."

Amber, I was using androcentrism in reference to the books, not as a person. It's a word that's been used since the early 1900's.

Terrific discussion. Thanks, everyone. You're all amazing. Keep reading and writing!

Just like we want to see more protagonists and main characters in YA reflect diversity in terms of race, culture, ability/disability and sexual orientation, so too should they ideally be diverse in terms of sex.

So while yes, I would hope every boy would be fine reading a book with a female protagonist, I can also imagine how I would feel as a girl if there were no protagonists who looked like me. I feel like this is a valid point worth considering.

"You didn't get the point of my post, which was: it's okay to have lists that Just have female protagonists, lord knows just 10-20 years ago it was all male protagonists."

I would politely counter with the argument that just because society did something wrong 10-20 years ago, that doesn't make it somehow "okay" to repeat that mistake now, aimed towards the other gender. To do so will keep us from ever making forward progress.

Just finished reading Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong; excellent Y.A. book that I think would appeal to boy and girl readers.

The Not So Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis is also a great read! Good combination of modern-day school life and Civil War history. My own two boys really enjoyed the genre of historical fiction growing up. Teenagers now, and they still read history books for pleasure. And my eldest is a history major in college and wants to be a professor. Says he wants to teach his students things that are not found in the textbooks!

Stephanie wrote: "Just finished reading Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong; excellent Y.A. book that I think would appeal to boy and girl readers."

This one is on my list. Really looking forward to it!

Do they think boys cant read?

katwiththehat wrote: ""You didn't get the point of my post, which was: it's okay to have lists that Just have female protagonists, lord knows just 10-20 years ago it was all male protagonists."

I would politely counter..." True, katwiththehat. Point taken. My 40-year-old daughter, who teaches middle school in a large city, once only read Babysitters' Club stories herself when she was in middle school. As a feminist, I cringed. But as she grew older, her horizons broadened, and she's been able to impart that on her students.

The world of literature is so broad and available to kids now. I owe so much to a tenth-grade summer reading program that focused on the immigrant experience in the early 1900s. My teachers from 55 years ago found books that have made in impression on me that has remained with me to this day.

Thanks for your input. Very valuable.

Why oh why all of this book is so Lit???
Can't wait to translated into Bahasa!

Wonderer wrote: "Anna! wrote: "TLDR: Robin, and other's: Your gross assumption is that none of these can appeal to boys. And your problem is that you feel entitled to have male protagonists as an option in any spac..."
Thank you.

So excited for Wildcard, Sea Witch, and Mirage!

Also I'd like to add into this debate as a teenaged boy myself. When i started reading more i felt like people would judge me for reading a book that seems like a "girls" book. I now feel like that's not true and you can read whatever you like after reading some "girl" looking books and really enjoying them. And what's so wrong with reading a book by a female author? After all JK Rowling is a woman and boys and girls love Harry Potter. Now for everyone who want more books with male protagonists i recommend

And here's some multiple pov ones that might expand their taste
note Legend is what really opened up the door to YA for me.
And some female led ones that also might expand their taste

Note these may not all be okay for a middle grader depending on their maturity level.
Also while we're on this subject there may be more female leads in YA but did anyone notice there seems to be more male leads in MG?

Approximately 20 years ago (or more), Lois Lowry was winning awards for her books with female protagonists, as were Karen Cushman, Karen Hesse, Nancy Farmer, Franny Billingsley, Gail Carson Levine, Madeleine L’Engle, Katherine Paterson, and Susan Cooper, among many others. These fantastic authors and their books are only the tip of the iceberg of what was being done then. In 2001, Phillip Pullman published the His Dark Materials trilogy, which began with The Golden Compass and featured as its main character Lyra Belacqua, who has had few equals in the hero-as-survivor world of young readers’ fiction. Nineteen years ago, Laurie Halse Anderson published Speak, a book that featured a teen girl facing an unbelievably brutal but too common conflict and provided an honest, gut-wrenching, contemporary experience to readers, girls and boys, women and men. It solidified the idea that girl protagonists are a force to be taken seriously. Nearly ten years ago, Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games took that idea in a different direction, attracting readers (and movie-goers) of every stripe.

You’d have to go back much farther than 20 years to get to a place where “it was all male protagonists.” And this statement implies that the current situation is a temporary trend that will soon (or at least eventually) reverse itself. But with today’s predominance of women in kid-lit agencies and editorial offices making initial acquisition decisions, and the publishing houses’ marketing departments, with their eyes on the bottom line, having the final say in what gets published, there are reasons to doubt that will happen. Which is unfortunate. Robin’s son should be able to read books with girl main characters because he wants to, not because publishers are limiting what’s available to him.

Not much there to interest teenage boys. I can recommend the John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells.