YA Best Books of 2022

YA Best Books of 2022

Check out the Ground Floor Staff's favorite books from 2022! Here you will find the best books, graphic novels, and manga that we read this year!


Compiled by:
Tyana H.
Edie in Between

Laura Sibson
(Young Adult - Y Sibson)

It's been one year since Edie's mother died. But her ghost has never left. According to her GG, it's tradition that the dead of the Mitchell family linger with the living. But Edie, whose pain over losing her mother is still fresh, has no interest in her family's legacy as local "witches." When her mother's teenage journal tumbles into her life, her family's mystical inheritance becomes once and for all too hard to ignore.


Five Survive

Holly Jackson
(Young Adult - Y Jackson)

Red Kenny is on a road trip for Spring Break with five friends: Her best friend, the older brother, his perfect girlfriend, a secret crush, a classmate, and a killer. When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident; they've been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead. With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or figure out which of them is the target. 


Gearbreakers

Zoe Hana Mikuta
(Young Adult - Y Mikuta)

In an age of 100-foot-tall mechanical deities run by a tyrannical regime, two teenage girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose—and falling for each other.


I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Casey McQuiston
(Young Adult - Y Mcquist)

Since Chloe Green's moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she's spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that's kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal's perfect progeny. But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes. On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she's not the only one Shara kissed—there were two others. Working together, they must untangle Shara's trail of clues and find her. It'll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square. Thrown into an unlikely alliance, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe, probably not, but maybe, more to Shara, too.


Lord of the Fly Fest

Goldy Moldavsky
(Young Adult - Y Moldavs)

Rafi Francisco needs something really special to put her true crime podcast on the map. She sets her sights on River Stone, the hearthrob musician who rose to stardom after the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend. Rafi lands herself a ticket to the exclusive Fly Fest, where River will be the headliner. But when Rafi arrives on the Caribbean island location of Fly Fest with hundreds of other influencers and (very minor) celebrities, they quickly discover that the dream trip is more of a nightmare. Soon, Rafi goes from fighting for an interview to fighting for her life. 


Skyhunter

Marie Lu
(Young Adult - Y Lu)

The Karensa Federation has conquered a dozen countries, leaving Mara as one of the last free nations in the world. Refugees flee to its borders to escape being transformed into mutant war beasts known as "Ghosts." The legendary Strikers, Mara's elite fighting force, are trained to stop these monsters. But as the number of Ghosts grows and Karensa closes in, defeat seems inevitable. Still, one Striker refuses to give up hope. Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. After another devastating battle, Mara seems ready to fall. But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses there's more to him than meets the eye. 


There Will Come A Darkness

Katy Rose Pool
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Pool)

For generations, the Seven Prophets guided humanity with their visions, ending wars and uniting nations—until the day they vanished, leaving behind the promise of a looming Age of Darkness and the birth of a Prophet who could be the world's salvation...or the cause of its destruction.


They Both Die at the End

Adam Silvera
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Silvera)

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: they’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: there’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.


This Poison Heart

Kalynn Bayron
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bayron)

Teenaged Briseis, who possesses a supernatural power over plants, including poisonous ones, inherits a dilapidated estate in rural New York and must protect herself and her family from centuries-old secrets that threaten their lives.


A Thousand Steps into Night

Traci Chee
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Chee)

When a girl who's never longed for adventure is hit with a curse that begins to transform her into a demon, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life, but along the way is forced to confront her true power within.


Valiant Ladies

Melissa Grey
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Grey)

In Potosí, a silver mining city in the new Spanish viceroyalty of Peru, two teen vigilantes set out to expose corruption and deliver justice after Kiki's brother is murdered and the prostitute he loved disappears. 


The Way Back

Gavriel Savit
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Savit)

A historical fantasy that follows Eastern European teens Yehuda and Bluma on a journey through the Far Country, the Jewish land of the dead.


Manga for All Ages

Spy Family

Tatsuya Endo
(Manga - MANGA Spyxfam v. 1 Endo)

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head. Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn't know is that the wife he's chosen is an assassin and the child he's adopted is a telepath.


Whisper Me a Love Song

Eku Takeshima
(Manga - MANGA Whisper v. 1 Takeshi)

Himari's never been in love. Then, another girl's rock performance awakens feelings she doesn't understand...but her new idol, Yori, does. Bubbly, energetic first-year high school student Himari falls head over heels for her senpai Yori after hearing her band perform on the first day of school. Himari tells Yori she's fallen in love at first sight, and, to Himari's surprise, Yori confesses that she has as well. But when Himari realizes that she and Yori are feeling two different kinds of love, she begins to ask herself what "love" really means.


Graphic Novels

Another Kind

Trevor Bream
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Bream Another Kind)

Tucked away in a government facility nicknamed the Playroom, six not-quite-human kids learn to control their strange and unpredictable abilities. Life is good—or safe, at least—hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world. That is, until a security breach forces them out of their home and into the path of the Collector, a mysterious being with leech-like powers. Can the group band together to thwart the Collector's devious plan, or will they wind up the newest addition to his collection?


The Deep and Dark Blue

Niki Smith
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Smith Deep And Dark Blue)

After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who spin the threads of reality to their will. As the twins learn more about the Communion, and themselves, they begin to hatch a plan to avenge their family and retake their royal home. While Hawke wants to return to his old life, Grayce realizes she wants to stay in the one place that will allow her to finally live as a girl.


Mamo

Sas Milledge
(Graphic Novels - GN Milledg Mamo)

Orla O'Reilly, the youngest in a long line of hedge witches, returns home after the death of her grandmother, Mamo. In the wake of her Mamo's passing, seas are impossible to fish, crops have soured, even Jo Manalo's attic is taken over by a poltergeist! And to make matter worse, it appears that the cause is Mamo, or her mislaid bones that is. Can Orla shoulder the responsibility of quieting her Mamo's spirit and saving her hometown? Will she have to step up as the new witch of Haresden like Mamo always wanted?


Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales

Melanie Gillman
(Graphic Novels - GN Gillman Other Ever Afters)

In this new feminist, queer fairy tale collection, the princesses, mermaids, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories take center stage to fulfill their own dreams and find the love, power, and happiness they deserve.


Strong Female Protagonist

Brennan Lee Mulligan
(Graphic Novels - GN Strong Female Protagonist v. 1)

With superhuman strength and invulnerability, Alison Green used to be one of the most powerful superheroes around. Fighting crime with other teenagers under the alter ego "Mega Girl" was fun until an encounter with Menace, her mind-reading arch enemy. He showed her evidence of a sinister conspiracy, and suddenly battling giant robots didn't seem so important. Now, Alison is going to college and trying to find ways to help the world while still getting to class on time. It's impossible to escape the past, however, and everyone has their own idea of what it means to be a hero.


The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories (Cautionary Fables and Fairytales)

Kel McDonald
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN 398.208 Wom)

This fifth volume of the Cautionary Fables and Fairytales anthology series features updated takes on ancient stories from tribes spanning the continent, bursting with bedside tales that are thrilling, chilling, and most of all, inspiring.