GUYS! I’m so excited to be kicking off FYA’s 2023 Reading Challenge with y’all! You can find the full challenge list here, but each month we’ll also be posting some suggestions for that month’s challenge too!
For January, we’re making this super easy for you: a book from our Required Reading list. If you’re unfamiliar, books that we tag as Required Reading are the MVPs. The All-Stars. The Crème de la Crème. The Best of the Best. Top Tier. Basically, the books that you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ ASAP OMG.
Here are a few suggestions, but we highly recommend that you peruse our full Required Reading list at this link. There’s not a bad book on it, in our opinions!
Required Reading Recs
Let’s throw it allllll the way back to this 2009 classic from the FYA Archives. Natalie Standiford’s How to Say Goodbye in Robot explores a transcendent and heartbreaking friendship.
In E.Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Frankie’s attempts to take down a boys-only secret society will have you pumping your fist in solidarity.
Beautifully written in verse, The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is a coming-of-age story that will have you clutching your chest from the EMOTIONS.
Required Reading Recs
Ruta Sepetys writes lots of stand-out YA novels, but Out of the Easy is the one that converted us into Sepetys swimfans(TM).
A poignant look at what it means to be a Black teenager in America, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys will invigorate and challenge you in the best possible way.
Fair warning: Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief comes with both TEABS and DNRIP warnings, but sometimes, you just need a good cry, ya know?
What book will you be starting our FYA Reading Challenge with? Tell us in the comments!
