America by E.R. Frank
America is a troubled fifteen-year-old who has spent years "lost in the system" and is now confined to a psychiatric hospital. His harrowing life story unfolds in a brutally honest, challenging tale that is both horrific and hopeful. .

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
Meet Kate Malone--a straight-A student, science and math geek, minister's daughter--who tries to do too much until she feels her life spinning out of control. Then something happens that blows her well-organized life apart.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Haddon
Christopher Boone is taking his A-level mathematics exams, does not tell jokes, will not eat any food that is yellow or brown, and creates flow charts to make decisions. He is a typical fifteen-year-old, but one diagnosed with autism. Finding a murdered dog in his neighbor's front yard prompts him to begin investigating and writing a book as if he was Sherlock Holmes..

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
Feisty 19-year-old Elena Klovis seems destined to be an Ella of the Cinders (Cinderella), at the mercy of her wicked stepmother and greedy stepsisters. To escape their clutches, Elena tries to get work as a maidservant, but her fairy godmother, Madame Bella, has other plans for her.

Feed by M.T. Anderson
For Titus and his teenaged friends, having transmitters implanted in their heads is as normal as going to the moon or Mars on vacation. Everyone's "feed” tells them everything they need to know. Talking out loud is rare because everyone "chats" through the computer implants. Then Titus and his friends meet a girl named Violet at a party on the moon, and a hacker attacks them and damages their feeds. Everyone is OK except for Violet.

Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian
Vahan Kenderian is living a life of privilege as the youngest son of a wealthy Armenian family in Turkey during World War I. His world is shattered when some family members are whisked away and others are murdered before his eyes.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
A fictional account of how the Dutch artist Vermeer painted his masterpiece of the same name. It is seventeenth-century Holland, and 16-year-old Griet is obliged to take a job as a maid for the artist Vermeer. She is the girl in the painting. The relationship between her and Vermeer is elusive.

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier
It's the beginning of summer vacation after seventh grade for Jason when his neighbor and friend, seven-year-old Alicia Bartlett, is murdered. Even though there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Jason is a suspect because he is thought to be the last person to have seen her alive.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Best friends Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen are preparing to spend their first summer apart since they were born. Before leaving to visit her father, Carmen buys a pair of second-hand jeans on a whim, and when the others discover that the pants fit all of them, they create the sisterhood of the traveling pants.

Stone Garden by Molly Moynahan
Matthew went off to Mexico, intending to break up with his needy girlfriend and come back home to be with Alice. But he never returned, and a year later, his bones are discovered in a mass grave. Alice, a senior in high school, has been feeling the loss, the absence of Matthew, every day since he went missing.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Rae “Sunshine” Seddon is a twenty-something baker who lives in Old Town ten years after many humans were killed by vampires during the Voodoo Wars. After escaping to a lake to relax, she is abducted and held captive in an abandoned house by the evil Bo's gang of vampires.

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks
Seventeen-year-old Noreen may seem like a heartless girl, but who could blame her? A tough childhood has left her untrusting and untrustworthy. Noreen steals her boyfriend's money and car. She ends up in Pembina Lake, Manitoba, stranded by a storm. Lynda, a café owner, takes Noreen in for the night, even though she senses the girl is trouble.

Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
Because of a fight, Wendy, 13, didn't speak to hear mother that fateful morning before she left for school and her mother went to work on the 84th floor of the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of the disaster, Wendy, her stepfather, and her four-year-old half brother go about in a daze until she is picked up and moved to California by her father.

.For more suggestions of Best Books for Young Adults check out this website:
www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/bestbooksyoung.htm