Celebrating 50 Years of Young Adult Novels

2017 marks the fifty year anniversary of the young adult novel. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, was published in 1967 and is widely considered to be the first young adult novel.

In celebration, here are my top fifty young adult novels. I created the list based on the books I've given four and five-star ratings to on Goodreads, and I narrowed that list down to the books that have had the largest emotional impact on me over the years. This list will change over time, of course, as more YA novels are published.

Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

The Siren by Kiera Cass

The Reader by Traci Chee

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Along for the Ride, Saint Anything, The Truth About Forever, and What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Bright Young Things, Beautiful Days, and The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen

None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

Golden, In Honor, and Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

Boy Meets Boy by David LevithanTwo Boys Kissing by David Levithan

When We Collided by Emery Lord

I Hunt Killers, Game, and Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos

The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin

The Beginning of Everything and Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, and Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Bonus: After I made my list, I read a young adult book that should absolutely have been in my top 50.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

What books are on your list? Let us know in the comments!