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YA Book Prize

ya book prize 2026
ya book prize shortlist 2026

The YA Book Prize launched in 2014 to celebrate great fiction for teenagers and young adults. The prize aims to get more teens reading and the ten books featured in this year’s shortlist are sure to lure lapsed readers back in! From the reimagined Greek mythology of Bea Fitzgerald’s A Beautiful Evil, to Harry Trevaldwyn’s hilarious, contemporary rom-com The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King, and Ravena Guron’s deadly thriller Mondays are Murder, there is huge variety in this impressive list.

For more information about the YA Book Prize click here, or check out the full shortlist below!

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YA Book Prize Shortlist

Chapter book
The Five follows a year in the interconnected lives of five very different teenagers who forge a singular bond at their secondary school in north-west Wales. As they navigate the joys and tribulations of what makes them different as individuals, their newfound community is both tested and strengthened. This boldly original and tender-hearted young adult novel is adapted by Mared Roberts from the multi-award-winning Welsh-language series Y Pump, which was co-created in an innovative authorship process.
Chapter book
A feisty enemies to lovers romcom from the YA Book Prize shortlisted author of This is How You Fall in Love. Perfect for readers of Jenny Han, Joya Goffney and Adiba Jaigirdar!HE BROKE HER BEST FRIEND'S HEART. NOW SAACHI PLANS TO BREAK HIS.MAY THE BEST HEARTBREAKER WIN . . .Saachi would do anything for her best friend. So when school bad boy Fahim breaks Mona's heart, Saachi is hellbent on getting revenge. It's time to put him in his place once and for all.And so begins Operation Heartbreaker: Saachi will make Fahim fall in love with her and then pull the plug on him - just like he does to every girl he's ever dated. Simple.Except as she spends more time with Fahim, against her better judgement, she finds herself falling for him. Unable to talk to Mona about her mixed emotions, and with the mission veering dangerously off course, Saachi will have to embrace her role as a heartbreaker or potentially end up with her own heart broken . . .
Chapter book
MARGO AND MOON WERE ON TWO DIFFERENT TRAINS, IN TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS. THEY NEVER SHOULD HAVE MET – BUT THEY DID. AND NOW THEY ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.A dazzlingly inventive sci-fi fantasy romance from the bestselling Irish author of The Rachel Incident and host of Sentimental Garbage, now available in paperback.WINNER of the Children's Books Ireland Judges' Special Award Shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Awards Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards---Margo is on a train when she slips into another dimension, passing from the height of Irish summer into the chill of an alien winter, from a 24-hour day to one that begins and ends in just six hours. From a stranger on the train – a travelling salesman by the name of Moon – she learns that New Davia is part of a world scarred by uprisings, travel bans and world sealings. Power is determined by time – who has it, who doesn’t, and who has the freedom to travel between time zones.Can Margo find a way to get back home – or will she choose to stay in a world where her youth is slipping away faster than ever before, but where she may have found the only person with whom she would choose to spend eternity?
Chapter book
THE NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA star-crossed lovers romance that spans a millennia, for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, They Both Die at the End and One DayThey've loved each other in every lifetime. They've killed each other in every one.Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday.The problem is that she’s quite fond of the one she’s in now, and more importantly, her sister needs her for bone marrow transplants to stay alive. So now she has to:find the centuries-old enemy who hunts her through each life and destroy them foreverfigure out exactly why she’s being hunted in the first place,try quite hard not to fall in love with them…again.This edition features an exclusive bonus chapter!Everyone's falling for Our Infinite Fates . . .
Chapter book
The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King is the hilarious YA rom-com debut from actor and comedian Harry Trevaldwyn, perfect for fans of Heartstopper.First there was Bridget Jones. Then there was Georgia Nicolson. Now get ready to meet Patch Simmons . . .Patch has decided that this is the year he will get a boyfriend. Fate finally intervenes when two new mysterious boys join drama club: Peter, who’s just moved from New York (very chic) and his best friend, Sam.Patch is confident that one of them will be his first boyfriend. So, armed with his over-supportive best friend Jean and an alarming level of self-confidence, Patch sets out to make his mission a success. Whether or not they actually like boys or him is a problem for later.

Chapter book
From the bestselling author of This Book Kills comes a deadly new YA thriller of murder, mystery and mind-blowing twists. Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus.Seventeen-year-old Kay left her sleepy hometown after the devastating death of her friend, Ivy. But when Kay is forced to come back, she receives an anonymous letter that turns her life upside down.The letter tells her that there will be a thrill on Tuesday, a wreckage on Wednesday, treachery on Thursday, a fire on Friday, sabotage on Saturday, a stabbing on Sunday - and her murder on Monday.And if Kay can't figure out who is behind the threats, the worst day of the week is about to get deadly...
Chapter book
Lyrical, tender, and incredibly moving. William Hussey masterfully balances brutal realism with pockets of sincere hope and joy - Becky AlbertalliIt’s a tale from the past, with a message for today. A stunningly poignant, devastating, and ultimately beautiful tour-de-force - Simon James GreenAt just nineteen, Stephen has already survived a year at the front. Now he is returning to the trenches to lead a platoon, despite his wounds. Broken-hearted from the loss of his first love, Stephen wonders what he's fighting for. Then he meets Private Danny McCormick, a smart, talented young recruit. From their first meeting, there's something undeniable between them – something forbidden by both society and the army. Determined to protect Danny, Stephen must face down the prejudices and ignorance of his superiors as well as the onslaught of German shells and sniper fire. As the summer of 1916 ticks down to one big push on the Somme, can Stephen and Danny stay together – and will their love save them – or condemn them?
Chapter book
HEIR OF STORMS is an epic romantasy in the style of TWIN CROWNS and early Sarah J. Maas with a touch of THE HUNGER GAMES.I am the girl who wove the storm that shook the world. And I’m coming for my crown.When Blaze came into the world, she almost drowned it.Blaze, a Rain Singer, is born into one of the most powerful fire-wielding families in the empire. Her birth summoned a devastating storm that resulted in the deaths of thousands, and she has spent her life as an outsider, reviled and feared.When Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, are selected to compete in the Choosing Rite, the trials which decide the future rulers of the empire, she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight – and into battle.Threats abound at the Golden Palace, where intrigue and romance await with not one but two handsome suitors: the enchanting Crown Prince and a dangerously alluring newcomer at court.As her powers strengthen and her fellow competitors fall, the throne is suddenly within her grasp. But in order to take the crown, she’ll have to leave behind the stories that others have told about her and find the courage to write her own.
Chapter book
The eagerly anticipated new YA Greek myth re-imagining from Bea Fitzgerald, TikTok superstar and Sunday Times bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen.Pandora is the first human woman – made by the gods on Olympus for one simple purpose: to love and be loved by her new husband, the titan Epimatheos.The only problem? He wants nothing to do with her.Hurt and confused, Pandora struggles to find meaning in her new life. What's the point of being given all these gifts by the gods, if she can't get this infuriating, awful, frankly very rude man (with an admittedly quite nice face) to love her? Maybe she's failing at her life’s purpose. Or maybe she's destined for an entirely different one . . . ?As Pandora and Matheos work to uncover why she was created, that fated connection between them feels increasingly difficult to ignore. And with that comes terrible risk. Because Matheos’s traitorous brother, Prometheus, is a seer – and before the gods captured him he issued a final warning: that Pandora and Matheos’s love will be humanity’s doom.So . . . what do you do when faced with an all-powerful love . . . that just happens to threaten the end of the world?Pandora’s about to find out.A glorious sunshine/grumpy romantic re-imagining of the Pandora myth, from the bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen and The End Crowns All
Chapter book
The deliciously dark new thriller from award-winning YA author Josh Silver, perfect for fans of Black Mirror and Holly Jackson.Welcome to TraumaLand. You are now Jack.Your story will start in 3... 2... 1...Eli has been in a near-fatal accident, which has left him with no memory and no emotions. According to his therapist, he suffers from an Overwhelming Emptiness.Desperate to feel something again, Eli winds up at TraumaLand, an underground club where crowds of emotionally numb party-goers seek a new thrill. Through hyper-real virtual reality simulations, they can experience nightmarish events happening to other people.But when Eli immerses himself in Jack's story, he starts to suspect there may be a darker - more dangerous - truth to the club.

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YA Book Prize

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