A Blast From YA Past: The Hits of 10, 20, 30+ Years Ago
One of my favorite annual traditions is to look back at the YA books that were hits in the past. There’s still a belief by many, including YA fans, that YA as a category began sometime in the 2000s. That’s far from true. Though there are plenty of debates to be had about the first “true” YA books—perhaps it’s The Outsiders or Seventeenth Summer or even the career novels of the 1930s and ’40s—young adult literature has been around for a good long time.
Young adult literature is not the same, of course, as middle grade literature. Though many times the two categories overlapped or were collapsed in the past, they reach different audiences and have their own distinct voices and perspectives. But as you’ll see in this retrospective, several of the books noted as popular YA books of the past would, were they published today, be more readily slotted as middle grade. Your perspective is not wrong, though, if you think that YA of the past more frequently had younger teen characters than it does today. There are plenty of “younger” YA titles in today’s YA world, but they are not marketed as strongly as those that feature older characters (who are often more appealing to adult consumers—the people who have more access to money to purchase the books).
That said, it’s fascinating to look back at some of the biggest titles of decades gone by. What were the trends of those eras? Who were some of the breakout authors? Are there common themes or genres that stood out? I’ve pulled a little bit from bestseller lists, from award lists, and from other information available about the books of the time.
You will likely not be surprised to note that the vast majority of the most popular YA books of the past were not as inclusive as YA is today. I’ve also done my best to highlight diverse titles because it is untrue that books by and about people of color simply did not exist in older YA. They did, but they did not get the attention or championing that their more white peer titles did.
2015–10 Years Ago
Did you read any of these books when they hit shelves in 2015? Perhaps you read them as the hype train began or you held off and picked them up after they proved themselves. Maybe you grabbed them thinking they’d win a big award, or you were encouraged to pick them up once they earned a nice medal. There’s no judgment in any of these scenarios. We all read for different reasons.
- Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
- Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
- Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
2005–20 Years Ago
It hurts a little bit to think about how many books that have been bedrocks of modern YA are turning 20 this year, y’all. Apologies for the passage of time. A couple of notes about 2005. This was the year that middle grade giant The Lightning Thief was published and the year that The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was published—in Australia. It would not be released in the US until March 2006.
- Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers
- Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes
- Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
- Looking For Alaska by John Green
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- A Wreath for Emmitt Till by Marilyn Nelson
1995–30 Years Ago
If 2005 were a rich year in the world of YA, then 1995 was one of the drier years for YA. That doesn’t mean there weren’t big or important books, but there simply weren’t as many. It doesn’t help that there were also not many major awards for YA books at this time, as the Printz—arguably the biggest YA-specific award—did not launch until 2000. One award that was around and thriving? The Coretta Scott King Awards. It’s no surprise that the award winners from decades ago are not only still relevant but are still publishing to a wide audience today.
- Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer
- Don’t Die My Love by Lurlene McDaniel
- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
- Ironman by Chris Crutcher
- Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Sabriel by Garth Nix
1985–40 Years Ago
The line between YA and middle grade is blurrier the further back in time we go. Middle grade and YA were frequently lumped together as junior novels (or similar terminology indicating they were novels for children who were beyond early readers). It also doesn’t help that the award fields and scholarly work around these two categories of literature were not as robust in this era. Again: not a ding on anything, since these are all matters of growth and evolution. If you’re familiar with older titles or long-time writers in either YA or middle grade, it’s easy to see the differences between the two categories. I’ve stuck to titles from 40 years ago that are tried and true YA titles and thus, some may be on the less popular/less familiar side of youth literature of the time.
- The Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy
- A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson—this one was originally published in 1985 as an adult romance but was repackaged later on for YA readers. The main character is 19.
- Don’t Care High by Gordon Korman
- Family Secrets by Norma Klein (check out this deep dive into the YA work of Norma Klein)
- I Stay Near You: One Story in Three by M.E. Kerr
- It’s An Aardvark-Eat-Turtle World by Paula Danziger
- Locked in Time by Lois Duncan
1975–50 Years Ago
As mentioned in the introduction, YA stretches back further than 50 years. But for the sake of this piece, we’ll keep this retrospective to a tidy 50 years. Maybe one of my favorite things about looking back at YA is getting the opportunity to visit or revisit some of the names of legendary authors in the field whose reputations have led to newer awards and honors being named after them. One example? Virginia Hamilton, whose 1974 M.C. Higgins The Great won the 1975 Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature.
- Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
- Forever . . . by Judy Blume (check out the cover retrospective on this one!)
- The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck
- Noah’s Castle by John Rowe Townsend
- Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton
YA Book News
Let’s return to 2025 for a moment and catch up on the latest in YA news for today.
- Amazon Prime has ordered an adaptation of Julie C. Dao’s “Rise of the Empress” series.
- We now know who will be starring in the adaptation of The Children of Blood and Bone and we also now know it is slated for January 2027.
- Here’s an excerpt from the forthcoming new Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping.
- Dive into the most anticipated science fiction and fantasy for YA readers hitting shelves in January and February.
- Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee talk about working together on their new book Breath of the Dragon.
- Jennifer Iacopelli’s Finding Her Edge has been optioned for adaptation by Netflix and The Family Channel.
- Underrated YA books about revolutions and rebellions.
- Gayle Forman’s After Life was selected as the second title in the GMA YA Book Club.
- RL Stine revealed that there are three more Fear Street film adaptations in the works.
- And while this piece came out at the end of last year, it’s worth a share so you can bulk up your TBR: Nerd Daily highlights 72 most anticipated YA books of 2025.