The forty best YA novels

In 2014 Rolling Stone tagged forty "classic staples and overlooked gems" from the mountain of YA novels. One title on the list:

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

In a dystopian version of the United States, 15-year-old Nailer is forced to scavenge for materials to help him and his father get by. It is while doing this that he rescues the wealthy Nita, sole survivor of a recent shipwreck. Bacigalupi tells a fast-paced, exciting story without sacrificing substance.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Ship Breaker is among Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick's top nine YA dystopian novels with fresh twists and Helen Grant's ten best books with settings that are strikingly brought to life.

--Marshal Zeringue