Madeline Landry’s role in life has always been made clear: As the eldest (and only) child in the leading gentry family in society, she must have a successful debut, marry and beget an heir. It doesn’t matter that Madeline wants a university education. Her father isn’t interested in her arguments that knowing business will make her a better owner of the Landry Park estate, that understanding science will allow her to appreciate her grandfather’s invention of the nuclear technology behind the Cherenkov lantern, or that appreciating history will give her insights into the Last War, when America lost all its land west of the Rockies to the Eastern Empire.

Madeline soon finds it almost impossible to change her father’s mind or the rules of this society where class is everything. At least her lot is better than that of a Rootless, who are condemned to poverty and early death after years of handling radioactive nuclear material in the lanterns that keep gentry homes bright. But all Madeline’s preconceptions about rules are about to be thrown into question when she meets and falls in love with a mysterious gentry boy named David Dana and gets involved in one of the most dangerous pastimes of this future America: revolution.

In Landry Park Bethany Hagen creates a fully realized dystopian setting that manages to weave together a believable nuclear future with costumes and customs reminiscent of “Downton Abbey.” Teens will be drawn to Madeline and her struggles to make sense of love, class, duty and ideals in a world where choices are never easy and actions have real consequences. In many ways, it’s a world not that different from ours.

Harbinger “Harry” Jones was in a childhood accident that left him externally scarred and broken inside. When he meets Johnny, their friendship leads to a spontaneous decision to form a band, which brings Harry out of his shell. Their burgeoning popularity is a pleasant surprise, but it opens up a subtle rift with his best friend. As The Scar Boys gain in popularity, their future grows ever less certain.

Author Len Vlahos wrote his own teenage band, Woofing Cookies, into the background of this smart, ambitious debut novel, and it’s clear he’s familiar with the rigors of the road, the triumph of a successful if tiny gig and the unfathomable miracle of a seven-inch record you cut with your friends. All these things give The Scar Boys richness and depth.

Harry tells his story to a faceless college administrator in an application essay, and his asides to this presumed audience are smart-mouthed fun. What makes this a standout, though, is Vlahos’ ability to capture the complex dynamics of male friendship. Harry and Johnny are best friends, but their trust is undermined by Harry’s insecurity. When Harry begins to stand up for himself, Johnny feels threatened and lashes out. It ultimately takes losing each other for them to see what they had.

With its song-titled chapters and an overload of firsts (kiss, tour, betrayal, vehicle) and lasts, The Scar Boys is a music-drenched, fast-moving story with a revealing male relationship at its core.

In Broken Tooth, Maine, the legend of the Grey Man tells of a spirit who haunts the old lighthouse on Jackson Rock. But the Grey Man is more than a ghost. He’s a cursed man who must gather the souls of those who die under his light. The Grey Man knows there’s a girl out there who might be his savior if only he can convince her to take his place.

Willa Dixon is the steadfast daughter of a lobster fisherman. Her greatest ambition is to captain her father’s boat. But centuries of lobstering also come with strife when Willa’s younger brother, Levi, is murdered aboard their boat. Not only could Willa lose her fishing license and any hope of the future she wants, but her brother’s killer could go free. With her family in shambles, Willa seeks refuge with the Grey Man and in a moment of desperation considers making the ultimate sacrifice.

What makes Mistwalker such a standout read is Broken Tooth’s atmospheric setting and Willa’s compelling daily struggles. To earn money, she gathers a rake and bucket and waits for low tide so she can dig for bait. She drops lobster traps in the Atlantic waters before school. Her high school is in an old converted mansion, and sometimes school is canceled because the fog is so thick that neither sunrise nor a streetlight can cut through it. There are moments when the reader feels like Willa doesn’t even live in a modern age. Sure, she texts and goes to parties, but how many teens know how to pilot a fishing vessel or locate bloodworms? Because Willa’s life is so unlike that of most teens, readers will be instantly drawn to her story, and Saundra Mitchell’s haunting narrative will keep them turning pages.

BookPage Top Pick in Teen Books, February 2014

The end of the world is coming, and it will start in the small town of Ealing, Iowa. While skateboarding and smoking in an abandoned alley they’ve nicknamed Grasshopper Jungle, best friends Austin Szerba and Robby Brees are accosted by neighborhood bullies. After a scuffle, the boys’ shoes and skateboards wind up on the roof of a dilapidated pancake house. When they sneak up to the roof later that night to retrieve their missing items, Austin and Robby have no idea that they’re about to witness a series of events that could result in the end of the human race.

Revealing any more details about the plot twists of this edgy, darkly funny work of magical realism would spoil the fun. Instead, readers—like Austin and Robby—can gradually learn what forces have been unleashed by a combination of teen curiosity, Ealing’s flailing economy and the legacy left behind by the town’s questionable past. As Austin narrates his escapades in hilarious, uncensored language, he also reflects on his family’s Polish ancestry, his confusing romantic attractions and the nature of history itself.

No author writing for teens today can match Andrew Smith’s mastery of the grotesque, the authentic experiences of teenage boys or the way one seamlessly becomes a metaphor for the other. Like Smith’s earlier novel The Marbury Lens, Grasshopper Jungle looks at the senseless violence, intense friendship and palpable sexual energy that come together when the world comes apart. Unlike The Marbury Lens, though, it also includes references to 1970s classic rock, bad science-fiction movies, pink lawn flamingos and—of course—giant, hungry, sex-driven, mutant praying mantises. What more could a reader want from contemporary YA fiction?

The Tyrant’s Daughter is the existential story of a teenage girl living on the periphery of war, where she straddles the blood-soaked country she’s always called home and the new American land of bittersweet promise where she has since been exiled.

Laila is 15 years old when her father—the iron-fisted inheritor of an unnamed Middle Eastern “kingdom”—is murdered in cold-blooded betrayal. Laila’s mother agrees to the amnesty offered by an American CIA agent in exchange for family and governmental secrets, and Laila’s family is whisked away to Washington, D.C. 

Laila is observant, analytical and introspective, regularly comparing American customs to her family’s old existence of royal restriction. She neither fully condemns nor endorses either one of her lives or the people associated with them, but rather walks the common ground between them and begins to understand them. She grapples with harsh truths of guilt, identity and freedom. Without knowing whom she can truly trust, she must tread quietly and cautiously if she hopes to avoid the destruction of her family and her country.

As a former undercover CIA agent, debut author J.C. Carleson has a firm grasp on the world of espionage and power plays. She is able to take her intimate knowledge of this secretive world, an often-avoided gray area of morality, and craft an amazingly gripping and honest tale. Carleson keeps her readers feeling as though they have just returned from traveling in a foreign land, making those faraway issues feel a little more personal—a feat few can achieve with words alone.

In the winter of 2001, the tragedy of 9/11 is still fresh, especially for 16-year-old Aidan Donovan. There’s something to fear everywhere, and with this fear comes isolation. Only charismatic and vibrant Father Greg offers certainty, and maybe even love, in a world that seems to be falling apart. As Aidan turns to drugs, alcohol and a new set of friends, he begins to question his relationship with Father Greg. Faced with the possibility of a girlfriend for the first time and a classmate who may share Father Greg’s dirty secrets, Aidan has more to ponder, including his own sexuality and his belief system.

This hard-hitting literary story propels Aidan’s problems even more when the widespread priest sexual abuse scandal hits the news. Author Brendan Kiely raises common questions of abuse victims as the teen wonders if everyone will read his face and know what happened, whether Father Greg’s attention was really love or abuse, and who is to blame. The Gospel of Winter speaks soundly to the current generation of YA readers, who will understand Aidan’s distrust, trepidation and desire for honest relationships.

Jenny Hubbard’s outstanding debut novel, 2011’s Paper Covers Rock, was set at a boys’ boarding school in the 1980s, where a young man struggled to find his poetic voice while overcoming a personal tragedy. Hubbard’s second novel, And We Stay, explores many of the same themes from a female perspective.

It’s early 1995, and Emily Beam has just started school at Amherst School for Girls, notable for its most famous alumna, Emily Dickinson. No one at ASG knows Emily’s whole story, which she begins to explore via poems, although she’s never before had any inclination to write poetry. As Emily attempts to fit in at ASG and strives to articulate her feelings about the events surrounding her boyfriend’s recent death, she begins to feel a real kinship with Dickinson, whose work proves “to other daughters of America, the ones who endure, who rise like rare birds from the ashes, that they are not alone.”

Hubbard is an accomplished poet as well as a novelist, and Emily Beam’s poems are remarkably good. Writing these poems leads Emily out of the darkness of a New England winter and into a fragile spring—out of tragedy and into something resembling hope.

The Promise of Amazing poses a question: What is the promise of love worth? For 16-year-old Wren Caswell, that’s not a question she’s considered much. Her last relationship ended when her boyfriend dumped her before he went to college. But then Wren meets Grayson Barrett at her parents’ medieval-themed banquet hall and saves his life.

Grayson is a notorious player whose term paper broker business got him kicked out of a prestigious private school. Wren is the quiet, good girl who feels her mediocrity is keeping her from the more exciting life she craves. Grayson and Wren are complete opposites, and yet they are drawn to each other. After nearly choking to death, Grayson feels like Wren did more than save his life. She is genuine and challenges him to be a better man. Wren feels like Grayson is the only person who truly understands her. He doesn’t see her as quiet and unassuming, and he awakens in her a sense of passion and adventure.

But as Grayson’s unscrupulous past comes to light, Wren has to reconcile how much of his misdeeds she is willing to forgive in order to be with him—especially when Grayson’s former best friend is adamant Grayson returns to his old ways.

Told in alternating voices, Robin Constantine’s debut novel is, quite simply, a love story. Grayson’s first-person narrative is singularly important; without it, readers might assume Grayson is an unredeemable player instead of a complex, sympathetic hero. Like many teenagers, Grayson has made mistakes that have endangered his future plans. If not for Wren’s love, he might’ve continued in his downward spiral.

For Grayson, true love is worth the emotional pain of living honestly. For Wren, love is worth forgiveness. Fans of Maureen Johnson and Jennifer E. Smith will devour this romantic read.

Quick question: If you could have any super power, what would it be? OK, quick second question: What would you do if you had that super power, but it was illegal to use it? That’s the question that plagues Marvin, the protagonist of Hero Worship. Marvin and his friends Yvonne and Kent all have powers (Marvin’s is incredible speed), but they’ve been classified as “dirties” and therefore can’t use their powers—for good or evil—without running afoul of the law.

Unlike Yvonne and Kent, Marvin genuinely tries to avoid breaking the law, although sometimes he just can’t help himself if he knows he can save someone who’s afraid and in danger. Secretly, though, Marvin dreams of using his powers as a member of the Core, the exclusive circle of “clean” superheroes charged with upholding the safety and security of Loganstin’s citizens. But when beautiful Core member Roisin offers him just that opportunity, Marvin gradually realizes that his idols might not be quite so heroic after all.

Debut novelist Christopher E. Long is a veteran comic book writer, and Hero Worship reads much like a novelized version of a comic book, with plenty of action, deception, secret identities and sexy situations. The novel’s fast pace sometimes comes at the expense of exposition—readers will likely find themselves asking how Loganstin became such a violent, unstable place, and why “cleans” and “dirties” are defined as they are. But this same breakneck pace also means that Hero Worship is the perfect novel for comics fans ready for something a little more substantial but still lots of fun.

Emma Lazar has laid claim to the title of “Emma the Good” for years. She has always been determined to be the perfect daughter to her widowed dad as he pursues his psychiatric career from city to city. Now a junior, Emma can think of nothing better than to land in sunny L.A and begin school at the prestigious Latimer Country Day. But something happens to Emma’s reliable moral compass from her first day in her new life: The more she seeks to make the transformation to the California girl of her dreams, the more she begins to lose her way.

The lies start almost immediately and soon become a way of life. Emma teams up with Siobhan, an intense, sophisticated and bored classmate who loves to skip class, party and flirt with increasingly risky behavior. Siobhan believes in pacts and lists, and she comes up with a list of experiences for Emma to check off before the infamous year-end Latimer Afterparty, guaranteed to put fear into a father’s heart: “Make out. Do shots. Get stoned. Climb out windows. Go to many many parties. Hook up. Hook up all the way. Finish and we go to Afterparty.”

But even as Emma crosses off the milestones on her list, and strays from the “Good Emma” of the past, she begins to gain confidence in setting her own course and making the decisions that are right for her. What she doesn’t anticipate is Siobhan’s violent reaction to what she perceives as Emma’s betrayal of their friendship pact.

Readers will root for Emma as she negotiates difficult choices and a first romance, and grapples with finding her moral compass. But in her heartbreaking portrayal of Siobhan, a young woman spinning out of control with no one able to catch her—not even her best friend—author Ann Redisch Stampler reminds us that losing a friendship can be just as painful as a failed romance.

After four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and an injury that ended his military career, veteran Andy Kincaid “could turn into a werewolf even when the moon wasn’t full,” according to his daughter Hayley, a high school senior. Hayley and Andy have just returned to Andy’s hometown after several years on the road, with Andy driving trucks in an attempt to chase away his demons and Hayley home-schooling herself from the front seat. Now Hayley is attending high school for the first time, theoretically to prepare for college. But she’s not entirely sold on the idea of classrooms and homework, let alone college applications. What’s the point, she wonders, of trying to build a future when she’s constantly rescuing her father from drowning in his past?

Between checking to see if Andy has gone to work that day (or even if he’s gotten out of bed to take a shower) and attempting to manage her own sense of constant panic, Hayley appreciates being aloof. But she can’t help becoming friends with her neighbor Gracie, and then becoming more than friends with attractive but enigmatic Finn. And just as Hayley and Finn are sorting out their feelings for each other, Andy’s former girlfriend Trish—whom Hayley hates for a reason that no one else knows—comes back to town.

Margaret A. Edwards Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson doesn’t shy away from difficult subject matter, as with rape in Speak and anorexia in Wintergirls. In The Impossible Knife of Memory, she applies her considerable talent for writing intense, authentic narratives to the timely and moving topic of a teen coping with a parent’s post-traumatic stress disorder. And like Speak, The Impossible Knife of Memory interlaces its serious content with threads of dark humor. (For example, Hayley’s high school is, according to her, populated exclusively by zombies and freaks, interacting with each other according to a well-defined and completely absurd social order.)

Longtime Anderson fans won’t be disappointed, and readers newly discovering her work will understand why she’s earned a reputation as one of the most honest authors writing for teens today.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Laurie Halse Anderson for The Impossible Knife of Memory.

The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen is the survival story of an orphaned boy who learns to rise above tragedy, poverty and urban evils using only his cleverness, his sense of justice and the mysterious powers of his magical clarinet.

In the year 1714, Nicolo’s village is stricken by a vicious outbreak of malaria, and the plague quickly claims his entire family. Alone at 14, Nicolo deserts his disease-ridden home for Venice, taking with him only one item—his enchanted, ivory clarinet. He hopes for nothing more than survival as a beggar, but he quickly learns that he can collect far more coins by playing his clarinet and relying on his cunning. Nicolo is soon dressing up in girls’ clothes, mimicking his deceased sisters’ mannerisms and trying to convince the maestro of the local girls’ orphanage orchestra—Master Antonio Vivaldi, Venice’s greatest musician—of both his musical talent and his feigned gender. He gradually learns to better wield his charmed instrument, which transforms him into a musical prodigy and the subject of much attention, praise and jealousy.

Fate takes Nicolo to the doorstep of Massimo Magnifico, a magician who can explain the supernatural ability of his clarinet. And once they talk, Nicolo’s life is never the same.

Author Nicholas Christopher’s debut YA novel envelopes the reader in a world where anything—be it tragic, beatific or mystic—can happen to anyone.

Here’s a neat trick: a dual-authored story about two prospective college roommates who never meet over the course of the novel. Roomies tells Elizabeth (“E.B.”) and Lauren’s stories through the emails they send during their last summers at home. For E.B., the move is cross-country, away from her single mom and soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, and toward the gay dad who abandoned her after coming out. Lauren is just moving across the San Francisco Bay, but her family is so large it’s like leaving a small island nation. She really wanted a single room for just this reason.

The emails between the girls offer a gentle contrast between how we present ourselves online versus who we are IRL, and how much we try to read into correspondence when there’s nothing else to consult for clues. E.B. and Lauren are both going through changes common during the last summer before college, but they sometimes fail to empathize with one another because their surface differences seem so vast. Before they even lay eyes on one another, the girls come close to opting out of the shared dorm. Roomies is a bittersweet and hopeful story of change.