The Best Young Adult Books

(according to 400+ really successful people)

These are the best books about Young Adult.

Sources include interviews, biographies, podcast transcripts, public online lists, and more.

Dune
Frank Herbert
14 recommenders
"If you haven't read it, just go read it. It is amazing!" - Adam Savage
View 13 More
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
8 recommenders
"I know it's cliche, but [this] is my favorite book ever." - Elon Musk
View 7 More
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
7 recommenders
"My favorite spaceship ever is in [this book]." - Elon Musk
View 6 More
Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling
7 recommenders
"Never a bad time to start them all over...... again." - Ariana Grande
View 6 More
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
6 recommenders
"My favorite book." - Bill Gates
View 5 More
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon
4 recommenders
"Great." - Donald Glover
View 3 More
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card
4 recommenders
On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.
View 3 More
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
3 recommenders
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
View 2 More
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
3 recommenders
List of books Bill Gates read in 2012.
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The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
3 recommenders
"It was an important book to me." - Jon Favreau
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The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
3 recommenders
"Must admit to liking [this book]. Sad, romantic and beautifully named." - Elon Musk
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Lord of the Flies
William Golding
3 recommenders
On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.
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His Dark Materials Trilogy
Philip Pullman
3 recommenders
Emma Watson recommended this book on Twitter.
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Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes
3 recommenders
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
View 2 More
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
3 recommenders
Daniel Pink mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
View 2 More
The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame
2 recommenders
"A classic I loved as a child." - Anthony Bourdain
View 1 More
The Neverending Story
Michael Ende
2 recommenders
"An amazing book." - Soman Chainani
View 1 More
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
2 recommenders
"As a child, they exploded my imagination." - Chris Anderson
View 1 More
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
2 recommenders
Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
View 1 More
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
2 recommenders
"Was written more than a century ago, but its message resonates today." - Hillary Clinton
View 1 More
I Capture the Castle
Dodie Smith
2 recommenders
"This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met." - J.K. Rowling
View 1 More
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
2 recommenders
Ryan Holiday mentioned this book on Twitter.
View 1 More
Charlotte's Web
E. B White
2 recommenders
"[My earliest memory of reading is] sitting in the back of the beat up old station wagon reading a paperback of [this book] while my mom was driving us to the mall." - Peter Attia
View 1 More
Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
2 recommenders
Naval Ravikant's answer to "first book which started your lifelong journey of reading?"
View 1 More
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
2 recommenders
Soman Chainani referenced this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
View 1 More
Wonder
R. J. Palacio
1 recommender
"An amazing book." - Gretchen Rubin
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
1 recommender
Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
1 recommender
Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
1 recommender
"I read the script first and then I read [this book]." - Emma Watson
The Legend Trilogy
Marie Lu
1 recommender
"If you like Hunger Games, you’ll like this. It’s a really fun three-book series." - Noah Kagan
The Dark is Rising
Susan Cooper
1 recommender
Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
Stargirl
Jerry Spinelli
1 recommender
"Some people call [the main character] weird, but no matter how much they make fun of her, she continues to be herself." - Taylor Swift
Holes
Louis Sachar
1 recommender
Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
Harriet the Spy
Louise Fitzhugh
1 recommender
Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl
1 recommender
Shah Rukh Khan mentioned this book on Twitter.
Anne Frank
Anne Frank
1 recommender
"I remember being a fourth grader [and] going so far as to have my parents take it to the school board and petition for me to be allowed to read this book." - Alice Little
A Separate Peace
John Knowles
1 recommender
"My second favorite book." - Bill Gates

See which books made our other lists