5 Must-Read YA Books from Top 50 Kids 2025

The Better Reading Top 50 Kids & YA Books are here! This year’s list is packed with exciting must-reads for young adult fans. We’re excited to share some of our absolute favourites with you!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?

Buy a copy of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder here.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Buy a copy of The Hunger Games here.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

HALF BOY – HALF GOD – ALL HERO. Look, I never asked to be the song of a Greek god, I was just a normal kid. . . until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Percy Jackson is having a bad week. His life has gone from totally normal to monsters-from-Greek-mythology-randomly-appearing kind of strange. Worse still, the king of the gods thinks Percy has stolen his all-powerful lightning bolt – and it seems making Zeus angry is a very bad idea. Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to catch the true lightning thief and stop all-out war from erupting on Mount Olympus. What could possibly go wrong?

Buy a copy of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief here.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

She came from nothing. Avery has a plan: keep her head down, work hard for a better future. Then an eccentric billionaire dies, leaving her almost his entire fortune. And no one, least of all Avery, knows why. They had everything. Now she must move into the mansion she’s inherited. It’s filled with secrets and codes, and the old man’s surviving relatives – a family hell-bent on discovering why Avery got ‘their’ money. Now there’s only one rule: winner takes all. Soon she is caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing.But just how far will they go to keep their fortune?

Buy a copy of The Inheritance Games here.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

Somewhere out there Ellie and her friends are hiding. They’re shocked, they’re frightened, they’re alone. Their world has changed, with the speed of a slamming door. They’ve got no weapons – except courage. They’ve got no help – except themselves. They’ve got nothing – except friendship. How strong can you be, when the world is full of people trying to kill you?