The teen staff favorites from 2022 are here! All of the books on this list were nominated and then voted on by library staff. To find more of the best teen books of 2022, make sure to check out our Teen After Hours event on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 7 to 8:30 PM. The Cookies & Cocoa Book Tasting is a great way to discover new things to read. Sign up for a spot on our Eventbrite.

Top Teen Fiction Picks

I Must Betray You

By Ruta Sepetys
Fiction

In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer, but he decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country.


Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade

By Nancy Springer
Fiction

Enola Holmes, Sherlock Holmes’s younger sister and self-declared finder of lost persons and things, is determined to find her friend, Lacy Cecily, a confused young Baronet’s daughter on the run from her father’s devious schemes.


All My Rage

By Sabaa Tahir
Fiction

Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds’ Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.


Anatomy: A Love Story

By Dana Schwarts
Fiction

Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry. Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die. When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets, and the dreaded Roman Fever, which wiped out thousands a few years ago, is back with a vengeance. Now, Hazel and Jack must work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.


The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

By Axie Oh
Fiction

In this retelling of the Korean legend “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” sixteen-year-old Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where, assisted by a motley crew of demons, gods, and lesser spirits, she sets out to awaken the sleeping Sea God and save her homeland and family from deadly storms.


Runner-up : Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Top Teen Nonfiction Picks

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales

By Melanie Gillman
Non-Fiction

In this new feminist, queer fairy tale collection, the princesses, mermaids, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories take center stage to fulfill their own dreams and find the love, power, and happiness they deserve.


Twelfth Grade Night

By Molly Booth
Non-Fiction

New student Vi finds herself falling for Orsino, even though he wants Vi’s help asking Olivia to the school dance.


Fangirl 2

By Sam Maggs
Non-Fiction

Cath just wants to hang out with her twin sister and write fanfiction. But now that they’re in college, her sister doesn’t have time for her. And life keeps pulling Cath further and further out of her shell. For the first time ever, Cath has her own social circle, like Nick, her handsome classmate who wants her to write short stories with him, and Levi, who keeps showing up when she isn’t looking for him.


Demon in the Wood: A Shadow and Bone Graphic Novel

By Leigh Bardugo & Dani Pendergast
Non-Fiction

A prequel to the “Grisha Trilogy” takes the reader into Ravka’s mysterious past, when Grisha lived as a fugitive and the Darkling took his first steps on the path to power.


Squire

By Nadia Shammas
Genre

Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It’s the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. Ravaged by famine and mounting tensions, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again, so Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program. It’s not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu background. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the “greater good” that Bayt-Sajji’s military promises might not include her, and that the recruits might be in greater danger than she ever imagined. In this breathtaking and timely story, Aiza will have to choose, once and for all: loyalty to her heart and heritage, or loyalty to the Empire.


Runner-up: Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford