“I kind of got the idea from Rotten Tomatoes, creating an aggregate of various review sources to find out what the consensus is, just with books instead of movies,” explains Bateman. “I try to include as many lists of possible, with the only hard criteria being the inclusion of books for young adults. I consider the standard book review sources (SLJ, Booklist, Kirkus, etc.) to be top-tier, along with public libraries’ lists, but I’ll consider any list that seems legit. Most of the titles of the 350 charted so far this year are only on one list, so the process itself pushes the cream to the top.”
This year’s “Best Of” document includes some new lists. Among them are Indigo and BookBub, as well as YALSA’s Excellence In YA Nonfiction finalists.
What could be an endless process, though, thanks in large part to compiled “best of” lists that appear throughout any given year, has a hard stopping point for Bateman.
“I’d like to include more from [the American Library Association’s lists] – especially Best Fiction for YAs, but my cut-off date is 1/1/26,” Bateman explains. “The Bank Street College of Education publishes a great list of best children’s books, including YA, but we probably won’t see that until May.”
Of note for 2025? There’s a lot of realistic fiction bubbling up to the top, as well as a good showing for diverse YA. When asked about what of his own 2025 YA reading he thought should land on his personal “best of” list for the year, Bateman passed the question on to one of his colleagues, as she’s a bigger YA reader. Reilly Figenscher, who teaches at Bateman’s school and talks about YA on her TikTok channel, noted that her personal top four for 2025 include Oathbound by Tracey Deonn, Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, and Sisters in the Wind by Angelina Boulley.
So what’s rising to the top of the “best ofs,” per this megalist? As of December 15, 2025, there are a total of 29 of lists included in the count. One title has landed in more than half, while two other titles have emerged on at least 11 of them.
- #4 (tie): Fake Skating by Lynn Painter, Oathbound by Tracey Deonn, The Leaving Room by Amber McBride, and The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum, all on 9 lists.
- #5 (tie): The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson, Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout, (S)kin by Ibi Zoboi, and Under The Same Stars by Libba Bray, all on 8 lists.
- #6 (tie): Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr, The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor, and White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History by Ann Bausum, all on 7 lists.
There are numerous other titles which are on four, five, and six “best of”s.
Dive into the rest of this incredible list, and mark your calendars for the first week of January. You’ll want to come back and see the final roster of “best of” lists and what titles may rise even higher.
One of the reasons looking at such a vast array of “best of” lists is fun, especially as we prepare for a new year, is that it can give us some ideas of what books we might see bubble up on awards lists. The American Library Association will bestow its honors on the best in youth literature virtually on January 26, 2026, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. You can watch it live here.
