Shared inspiration: 10 YA books to enjoy together

There comes an age when parents and children can start reading the same books together. Sure, you really loved The Green Sheep and the Tashi books, but we’re talking books you can immerse yourself in as you would any other adult novel. And school holidays are the perfect time to embark on some reading adventures together and discuss the books you’ve both enjoyed.

The Fowl Twins: Deny All Charges by Eoin Colfer

You can’t help but like Artemis Fowl. For all his bluster and conniving, he’s still just a 12-year-old boy dealing with the disappearance of his father and the manic episodes of his mother. Bestselling author Eoin Colfer writes a second Fowl Twins adventure that starts with a bang – literally. Artemis’s little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. They will be shot at, covered in spit, and at the receiving end of some quite nasty dwarf sarcasm. But will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand…?

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Hundreds of years in the future, after the Something that Happened, the world is an alarmingly different place. Life is lived according to The Rulebook and social hierarchy is determined by your perception of colour. Eddie Russett is an above average Red who dreams of moving up the ladder by marriage, until he is sent to the Outer Fringes where he meets Jane, a lowly Grey with an uncontrollable temper and a desire to see him killed. Through a whirlwind of events, Red discovers that all is not as it seems in a world where everything that looks black and white is really shades of grey. Jasper Fforde’s writes an eccentrically brilliant story that is beyond compare. 12+ years

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Four high school students put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel. They navigate coming-of-age hurdles such as reputation, college admissions, and trying to focus on what’s truly important in these crucial years of life. Can the future wait? It turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors become unlikely friends, Tommy Wallach makes readers feel as though they’ve joined this group of misfits themselves. This is best for older readers, with sexual references and swearing.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Follow the lives of Harry Potter and his friends for seven novels in this multi-award-winning series. If you’ve only watched the movies, get ready to go on a whole other adventure with the books! There’s so much detail in the series that is lost, not the least of which is Peeves the poltergeist, who provides much-needed comic relief. A favourite of children and parents the world over, this has quickly become a must-read for everyone over the age of 10.

We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad 

Sometimes it’s good to be wild. Sometimes you have to be wild. When the Russian Army marches into East Prussia at the end of the war, the Wolf family must flee. Alone and lost in a blizzard in the middle of a war zone, the family must learn to survive in dangerous circumstances. Katrina Nannestad shows that we are defined by our values, regardless of ethnicity. It is a story of hope, resilience and strength and though it was heartbreaking and harrowing I feel uplifted by the courage portrayed. 10 + years

The Cousins by Karen McManus 

The Storys are the envy of their neighbours: rich and beautiful. Until it all falls apart. The fours children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence: You know what you did, and never hear from her again. Years later, when eighteen-year-old cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story spend the summer at their grandmother’s resort, they meet the woman who’s been such an enigma their entire lives. This is a brand new thriller from Karen McManus, the internationally bestselling author of One of Us is Lying. 12+ years

The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCullough

Illumen Hall is a boarding school of tradition and achievement. But tragedy strikes when the body of a girl, a student, is discovered. On her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie. As an unlikely friendship develops between new-girl Audrey and her roommate Ivy, the two are drawn deeper into the mystery of this strange and terrible murder – discovering something dangerous at the heart of their school. Welcome to The Magpie Society. This is the first book in a modern gothic YA thriller series from start authors Zoe Sugg and Amy McCullough. 12+ years

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

You could pick this book up now and it would still be as relevant as the day it was written. Though Josie is your typical teenager, you can’t help but sympathise with her through her rebellion against her grandmother’s traditional values, her mother’s no-nonsense attitude, and the fraught relationships she has with her father and the boys her own age. Suggested for age 12 and up, as it deals with themes such as teenage pregnancy and romance.

Catch Me If I Fall by Barry Jonsberg

Ashleigh and Aiden are thirteen-year-old twins who promise to always look out for each other. Aiden is more dedicated to the task than Ashleigh, but when it comes to matters of life and death, they both exhibit a fierce protectiveness that will change the course of their lives. After Aiden suffers a terrible injury, he isn’t the same brother Ash always relied on. Something has changed, and it will lead to a discovery that will turn their whole world upside down. Barry’s choice to write from the perspective of privilege was a clever way to approach this coming-of-age story suitable for readers aged 10 and up.

Breathless by Jennifer Niven

For her last summer before college, Claudine Henry and her mother head to a remote island off the Georgia coast. There, amidst the wild beauty of the place, she meets the free-spirited Jeremiah Crew. Their chemistry is immediate and irresistible, and even though they both know that whatever they have can only last the summer, maybe one summer is enough. The much anticipated new novel from international bestselling author Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places comes this thrilling novel suitable for older readers due to its sexual references.