Hey everyone! Ok, let me be upfront and say that I am a Millennial with a limited income (*waves* hi, teacher here), so I don’t often “buy” books unless they’re deeply discounted or I have a gift card.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have authors I will race to the library to get copies of their books. I have far too many of those. So those are the ones I’m going to focus on for this post because, dollars to donuts, I’ve purchased at least one of their books previously and I’ve read many more.
Top Ten Auto-Buy Authors
1. Libba Bray
I’ve been following Bray since I was in the 7th grade and first read A Great and Terrible Beauty. I was reading her as a senior in high school while I carried around Going Bovine to my classes–and subsequently got the strangest looks. (Google the cover. I dare you.) And now, as an adult, I’m in love with the Diviners, which is saying something considering I hate the Roaring ’20s. Throughout the years, no matter what she’s written (though it tends to have a magical bend to it), she’s written books that have spoken to me. And as long as she’s writing them, I’ll keep reading them.
2. Morgan Matson
When looking for contemporary romance, Matson is the one I turn to more so than Sarah Dessen. (I know, it’s blasphemy.) Dessen is amazing and I love her, but Matson is closer to my age and I feel like she and I are more on the same wavelength. Matson has her finger on the pulse of pop culture a little better, I feel. I fell in love with Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and I’ve hung around ever since.
3. Maureen Johnson
Oh, Maureen. Auntie MJ is a character herself and I love her. I think the first book of hers I read was 13 Little Blue Envelopes, which I read so long ago I honestly don’t remember what happens in it. But I adored The Name of the Star and the Truly Devious series has some very strong writing. MJ is a little quirky, very funny, and, as a person, very driven toward empowering teens to be themselves in a world that pushes back. I love her both on and off the page.
4. Francesca Zappia
While still fairly new (with only two books currently released), Zappia has done so much to further the discussion of mental health in YA. She’s done amazing research to show the effects of anxiety/depression and schizophrenia in her characters. Her writing is stunning. And the thing is, she is almost literally my age. She’s fantastic and if you haven’t read her books yet, you desperately need to. I highly recommend Made You Up.
5. Rae Carson
Carson has an interesting way of writing fantasy, whether it’s more of a high fantasy feel or whether it’s more like historical fiction with a taste of fantasy. I like the way she develops her characters and always inserts someone who has been targeted by society at large and needs to prove to themselves that they are better than that. Her writing is clever and, in the case of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, captivating. I fell into that world head first and never really emerged. This was the writer who got me interested in fantasy and I’ve never looked back.
6. Ally Carter
I was a little hesitant at first about adding her to the list because I haven’t finished the Gallagher Girls series–nor do I plan to. But the Embassy Row series won me back over. While I’ll be the first to say that Carter tends to write the same story over and over again, they’re so darn entertaining! They’re exciting and full of colorful characters (spies, ambassadors, professional thieves) whose internal conflicts are usually as interesting as the external conflicts. The aforementioned Embassy Row series also deals with mental health, which I definitely liked. Her books are fast-paced and so easy to get through. Whenever I want action, I go to her.
7. Kimberly Derting
Derting has recently made the switch to adult romance (nothing wrong with that, I read plenty in that genre), but if she ever comes back to YA, she’s a go-to for me. Much like Carson or Bray, she tends to write stories with an element of fantasy if not a higher fantasy itself. She’s a lot like Victoria Aveyard in some ways. I have a lot of good memories from her books, though the Body Finder series started to go the direction of Criminal Minds and I can’t do that super creepy stuff anymore.
8. Stephanie Perkins
Obviously Anna and the French Kiss is the pinnacle here. But even as she’s jumped YA genres and gone into horror, she’s still a great writer. Even though I don’t really see the appeal of horror, I did like There’s Someone In Your House. And I keep hoping she’ll write another amazing love story, but I’m open to anything from her.
9. Cynthia Hand
I think Hand is most well-known for her Unearthly series (which is about angels and is so good), but she rose in my rankings with The Afterlife of Holly Chase, a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. I still have at least one of her other books to read, but trust me, it’s on my radar. She knows how to put emotion and internal conflict into her stories very well. I love characters dealing with internal struggles.
10. Miranda Kenneally
Kenneally is another contemporary romance novelist I often turn to. Her stories are unique because they’re about girls who play sports. Her first, Catching Jordan, was one that spoke to my soul because I was also a girl who grew up playing backyard football and had more male than female friends for a long time. But other books deal with other sports (softball, soccer, long distance running, swimming, etc.) and deeper issues (relationships with creepy older men, abortion, unexpected death of a friend, etc.). It’s about representing real teens with real issues that don’t always get talked about in YA. And I love that.
This was unintentional, but let’s give it up for the Ladies of YA. Every single one of these is a fabulous author who deserves respect and recognition.
Belle of the Library 