Best Young Adult Books

Polly O'Keefe — daughter of Meg Murry — discovers a time gate near her grandparents' New England farm that opens into the world of three thousand years ago, where she becomes entangled in a conflict between two ancient peoples and a druid named Karralys.

Eragon travels to the elvish homeland to train with the Dragon Riders while Roran leads the villagers of Carvahall in a desperate flight from the Empire. The second Inheritance Cycle novel deepens its world's mythology and pushes Eragon's powers and understanding to new levels.

Lisa, sixteen, arrives in London from the country with her mother and younger sister, and tries to make sense of the city, boys, and her own desires. Esther Freud's second novel — a coming-of-age story set in Hackney.

On the night the seventh son of the seventh son is born to the Heap family, the baby is presumed dead — but Septimus Heap's story is only beginning, as a decade later a young girl with a mysterious past arrives to turn the magical world upside down.