A downloadable PDF version of this list is also available.
Earn community service for reading and reviewing the books on this list by joining our Tweens and Teens Best Books 2022 Committee!
Title links below point to the catalog entry for the standard print version of the book. Audio, eBook, and large-type versions may also be available.
February 2022
Operation Do-Over, by Gordon Korman (Grades 4-7) (Science Fiction)
When he is magically transported back to the seventh grade before he and his best friend had a falling out, science nerd Mason gets a chance to stop the chain of events that made his previous life implode.
Northwind, by Gary Paulsen (Grades 4-8) (Adventure/Historical Fiction)
When sickness decimates his fishing village, an orphan named Leif flees north in a cedar canoe, journeying along a brutal but beautiful coastline.
Riley’s Ghost, by John David Anderson (Grades 5-8) (Supernatural Fiction)
Constantly bullied by her classmates, seventh grader Riley Flynn is locked in the science closet by a group of girls at the end of the school day. After she escapes, she realizes the school is closed and she is trapped inside. As she searches for an exit, she begins to see visions of memories that are not her own.
The Lock-Eater, by Zack Loran Clark (Grades 5-12) (Fantasy)
Melanie Gate, a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable, agrees to accompany a gearling automaton named Traveler on his quest to find a home, only to be pursued by the most dangerous wizard in the land and, along the way, discover her true powers.
Waking Romeo, by Kathryn Barker (Grades 7-12) (Science Fiction)
In 2083, eighteen-year-old Jules Capulet is still reeling from the end of her romance with Romeo – which left him in a coma and her a social outcast – when Heathcliff Ellis arrives from another time, on a mission to revive Romeo and possibly rewrite the future.
The Bone Spindle, by Leslie Vedder (Grades 7-12) (Fantasy)
In this gender-swapped retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” 17-year-old treasure hunter Fi is bonded via dreams to the spirit of Briar Rose, a prince under a sleeping curse. In order to wake him with true love’s kiss, Fi teams up with huntswoman Shane to free the prince – and herself.
Ain’t Burned All the Bright, by Jason Reynolds (Grades 7-12) (Novels in Verse)
A smash up of art and text that viscerally captures what it means to not be able to breathe, and how the people and things you love most are actually the oxygen you most need.
Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America (Young Reader’s Edition), by Candacy A. Taylor (Grades 7-12) (Nonfiction)
This young reader’s edition of the critically acclaimed adult book chronicles the history of the Green Book, published from 1936 to 1966, that listed the places that were safe for Black travelers due to segregation.
Coming Back, by Jessi Zabarsky (Grades 7-12) (Graphic Novel)
Preet and Valissa live peacefully together in a magical village until they are soon divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, getting sent on separate adventures and trying to find their way back to each other.
Freedom! The Story of the Black Panther Party, by Jetta Grace Martin (Grades 7-12) (Nonfiction)
Chronicles the Black Panther Party, who used knowledge as magic to launch a revolution, in this brilliantly told and deeply researched book that is about Black nationalism, Black radicalism and about Black people in America.
At the End of Everything, by Marieke Nijkamp (Grades 8-11) (Suspense/Thrillers)
A group of teens at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center are shocked to discover their guards have abandoned them, but their joy turns to fear when they learn a catastrophic pandemic has occurred outside their walls, turning their new-found freedom into a fight for survival.
Lawless Spaces, by Corey Ann Haydu (Grades 8-11) (Novels in Verse)
Trying to find her place in the world and understand her difficult relationship with her mother, Mimi uses the journals of her grandmother, great-grandmother and beyond to learn about the unyielding bonds of family and the relentless spirit of womanhood.
Fools in Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales, by Various Authors (Grades 8-12) (Short Stories/Romance)
Featuring contributions from best-selling, award-winning and up-and-coming authors, this collection of genre-bending and original stories celebrates the power of love in all its forms.
Echoes and Empires, by Morgan Rhodes (Grades 8-12) (Fantasy)
Snarky seventeen-year-old Josslyn Drake gets infected by a dangerous piece of forbidden magic and teams up with wanted criminal Jericho Nox to remove the spell corrupting her soul.
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass, by Anna Priemaza (Grades 8-12) (Fantasy/Mystery)
When people she loves, as well as all memory of them, start to disappear from Vera’s life, leaving behind only a haunting sorrow, she and her best friend set out to solve a mystery they cannot remember.
The Midnight Girls, by Alicia Jasinska (Grades 8-12) (Historical Fantasy)
In a snow-cloaked kingdom, two rival servants – one who desperately wants to win the approval of the Red Jaga and the other who hopes to escape the Black Jaga – compete for the pure heart of a prince, only to discover they might be falling for each other instead.
The Year I Stopped Trying, by Katie Heaney (Grades 8-12) (Realistic Fiction)
In this novel of overachieving, existential crises, growing up and coming out, Mary, who always thought she’d find the meaning of life in a perfect SAT score, decides to stop trying so hard to see what happens.
Medusa, by Jessie Burton (Grades 9-12) (Mythological Fantasy)
In this illustrated reimagining of the famous Greek myth, Medusa is a lonely girl living with her sisters on a deserted island. After four years of isolation, a beautiful boy named Perseus arrives, unleashing both love and betrayal.
The Red Palace, by June Hur (Grades 8-12) (Historical Mystery)
In 1758 Joseon (Korea), 18-year-old palace nurse Hyeon works closely with a young police inspector to uncover the truth surrounding the murder of eight palace nurses when all the evidence points to the Crown Prince himself.
Anatomy: A Love Story, by Dana Schwartz (Grades 9-12) (Historical Mystery/Suspense)
Hazel Sinnett is a medical student in 19th century Scotland who, after being kicked out because of her gender, works with new attractive acquaintance Jack Currer to procure dead bodies to study, but they soon discover secrets buried in the heart of Edinburgh society.
Nightrender, by Jodi Meadows (Grades 9-12) (Fantasy)
The Nightrender, the only warrior who can save the world, sleeps in her castle, waiting for someone to summon her, while the three kingdoms of Salvation have been at war so long that they have forgotten to watch an even bigger threat: the Malstop which is weakening, and the incursion from the demon plane which it contains.