I’ve really missed doing Friday Favorites, and since no one was currently hosting it, Cait @ Functionally Fictional decided to jump into the gap. Each week, she provides a prompt, and I get to talk about my favorite books that fit the topic. Feel free to join in – the more the merrier!

This week’s topic is YA books, and I think my biggest issue is going to be narrowing down the list to a manageable number. When I was actually a young adult, we didn’t have young adult books. We had the beginning chapter books, and then BAM! We just got thrown headlong into the adult section. And like every other Generation X reader I know, I found myself reading entirely inappropriate books, like Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews (or really anything by V.C. Andrews). So now that there are YA books available, I really enjoy reading them and feel cheated that they weren’t around when I was younger. Here are ten YA books I wish were around when I was younger:

1. The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros — this book spoke to my Jewish soul on a level I haven’t seen in a book before this, and definitely would have loved to see as a teenager.
2. This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke — this was one of the first Jewish YA historical fiction books that I’ve read that focused on a time period other than the Holocaust, and growing up, a book about any other time period would have been much appreciated.
3. Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli — a romance about a girl who is sure that she is straight only to realize that she isn’t … I’m not sure I would have seen myself in those pages as a teenager, but I’m sure I would have enjoyed the story, and it might have planted a seed earlier for me.
4. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace — this magical and lush fantasy could have been so cool to read as a teen, at a time when fantasy was dominated by old white men.
5. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen — I didn’t even know that fairy tale retellings were a thing until well into my adulthood, but I know that I would have loved them for sure as a teen.
6. When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao — reading this when I was younger (and more able-bodied) would most likely have encouraged me to attend more diverse events whenever possible, especially since I was so intrigued by the lantern festival in the story.
7. How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow — I fell in love with this story, and would have really found it helpful to read maybe not as a teen, but definitely in my earlier adult years.
8. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig — another fairy tale retelling that I would have absolutely loved to read as a teenager, just as much as I enjoyed it as an adult.
9. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson — when I was a teen, I loved reading but it was seriously not cool to read or like books or be nerdy, and I caught a lot of flak for it. I come from a family where no one reads like I do, so a fantasy book where loving books is central to the story would have been so helpful to me.
10. Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler — another book featuring Jewish identity that I’d have been able to see myself and my family in the pages of, as well as my bisexual identity, which I wasn’t quite ready to admit to myself.

Trust me, there’s a lot more out there, but these are the ones that came to mind first. Which YA books are your favorites?