A Blast From YA Past: YA Book Talk, January 8, 2024

A Blast From The Past

What were the big books from years gone by? This is always one of my favorite things to look back at when we change calendar years, as it really shows what changes and shifts in our preferences for reading, as well as what stays consistent. Not to mention, it’s a fascinating look at trends.

It won’t surprise you that most of the books on this list of top books from 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago are going to be primarily written by white authors and men. We’ve, of course, gotten better, and even though they dominate these lists, there were women and people of color writing, too—they didn’t get the same marketing or publicity as more privileged colleagues.

This list comes from perusing bestsellers for 2014, 2004, 1994, 1984, and 1974. These were the big books, some of which may have topped the bestseller list for months and others that won big awards (The New York Times Bestseller list for YA is only 11 years old—you can take a peek at its evolution in this piece written for its 10th anniversary).

The books below are not in any order. I did not include books that were in the middle of a series, like those by Marissa Meyer or Cassandra Clare. Know, too, that because a book is listed here, that’s not necessarily an endorsement. Many of these books were firsts in some capacity and cultural perceptions, as well as a more diverse publishing industry, have changed what we understand of some earlier titles. Another caveat to add here is that earlier YA tended to be on the lower range than what we see now, and some of it might, were it published in today’s market, be middle grade.