As the end of the year approaches, I like to share the books in our YA fiction collection that have been most popular during the year. I've gathered the top ten most popular books in our collection that were published in 2022. After that, you'll see a few older titles that were also very popular among White Plains readers this year.

YA Fiction's most popular titles published in 2022:

Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

“Wren Greenrock's parents were the king and queen of Eana before they were murdered. While infant Wren was spirited away by the very witches who were blamed for that murder, her twin, Rose Valhart, was brought up in the palace without any knowledge of her sister. As Rose's coronation approaches, Wren enacts a plan to kidnap and impersonate her, hoping to be crowned queen in her place and reclaim the kingdom for the witches. As Rose wakes to find herself headed toward the witches she's been taught to fear, Wren navigates palace intrigue, attempting to fool people who have known Rose all her life.” –Booklist

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / Libby
The first book in the series is We Were Liars: Library Catalog / Libby

“Lockhart's prequel to the wildly popular We Were Liars reunites readers with the wealthy Sinclair family and another summer of ominous drama and haunting memories. The action takes place on the Sinclairs's private island off Cape Cod, 27 years before the events of We Were Liars. The youngest child of Harris and Tipper Sinclair, Rosemary, drowned on the island the previous year and Carrie, her oldest sister, is taking the loss especially hard. In addition to feeling like she is the only one truly mourning Rosemary, she constantly feels like an outsider among her sisters: never the prettiest nor the smartest…. As the summer wears on, tension builds among the islands' teen inhabitants, ending with an unpredictable, multi-layered twist conclusion.” –School Library Journal

Fine : A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing
Grades 11 and up
Library Catalog

“Ewing's series of interviews about gender, the basis of this graphic novel, began as a summer project to better understand their own relationship with gender and perhaps create a small zine. Over the next decade, it grew into a wondrous tapestry of personal reflections and meditations on how people view subjects like gender, masculinity, femininity, and community, as well as how they navigate societal obstacles and oppression. Woven around the interviews is Ewing’s own account of coming out as nonbinary, ending with their wedding and how this project was instrumental to discovering how to be comfortable in their own skin.” –Booklist

Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney
Grades 10 and up
Library Catalog

“Seventeen-year-old Black Texan Monique is a Baptist preacher’s daughter and the prime example of a “good girl” who doesn’t curse and never parties. Despite her conservative upbringing, however, Monique craves intimacy with longtime boyfriend Dom, 17. But after two years of trying, intercourse still proves too physically painful for her to endure, and Dom dumps her, leaving Monique feeling like “damaged goods.” … Safe spaces composed predominantly of Black women, discussions regarding sexual health education’s importance, and tender, healthy depictions of romance that exhibit respect for personal boundaries populate this sex-positive read, a compassionate novel that encourages teens to prioritize the control, safety, and comfort of their own bodies.” –Publisher’s Weekly

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog / Libby
The first book in the series is The Gilded Ones: Library Catalog / Libby

“In this follow-up to The Gilded Ones (2021), a 17-year-old young woman must defeat divine beings to save the lives of her bloodsisters. This second entry in a West African–inspired fantasy series continues the journey of Deka, who is now known as the Nuru, or the only divine, full-blooded daughter of the mother goddesses she awakened six months earlier. Now these goddesses, the Gilded Ones, rest and gain strength from the devotion and worship of those who believe in them. Meanwhile, Deka travels with alaki and deathshrieks to fight the jatu, male worshippers and warrior descendants of the god Oyomo. Gifted with the ability to control those with divine blood, Deka is rattled when a rescue mission turns into a trap and she is unable to use her powers to subdue the jatu as she usually can. Eventually she is led down a path that makes her question everything she knows about the goddesses—including how and why she even came into being.” –Kirkus Reviews

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog

“Shortly after moving from Seattle to his father’s hometown of Merritt, Florida, Virgil Knox, 15, is attacked by a monster. Barely clinging to his sanity and bleeding copiously from his injuries, he makes his way to a parking lot and collapses. In spite of his wounds, however, people either don’t believe him, laugh at him, or say he asked for it by walking alone in a deserted area at night, and when he starts school, the pranks and teasing are nonstop. Virgil relives the attack at the slightest trigger, but all anyone tells him is to get over it. Virgil has more to worry about, however; he wonders whether he will become a monster as well. Hutchinson is known for offbeat, edgy books, and this is no exception.” –Booklist

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

“Inspired by a Georgia school whose first integrated prom was in 2014, Jackson's nod to Stephen King's Carrie incorporates racially charged social justice themes into a narrative featuring her signature twisty suspense. Madison Washington is biracial, but her uber-religious abusive father passes her as white since her mother is dead. He insists that “no one can ever know” about her natural hair that he hot combs weekly. After she's caught in a rainstorm and her secret is exposed, she is bullied and harassed by her classmates for being Black. This viral video incident awakens an energy within her; desks in the classroom levitate but the incident is reported as an “earthquake.” White classmate Wendy tries to merge the school's white and Black proms into an integrated prom, so she can attend with her Black football star boyfriend, Kenny. She later encourages Kenny to take Maddy to the prom—but she doesn't count on Kenny developing feelings for Maddy. Meanwhile, the mean girl crowd arranges sinister plans for prom night, and Maddy's telekinetic powers emerge again as the prom erupts in fiery, bloody chaos.” –School Library Journal

We Weren’t Looking to Be Found by Stephanie Keuhn
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

“Two girls from different backgrounds meet in a mental health treatment center and, after a rocky start, become supportive friends in this compelling psychological drama. Colombian American Camila has finally been accepted into her dream dance academy, only to learn that her parents spent her tuition money. As dancing is her reason for living, this leads Camila to attempt suicide. Wealthy, high-achieving Dani is sick of living up to her politician mother’s performative vision of Black excellence. She relaxes with drugs and alcohol and, after taking things too far, lands at Peach Tree Hills, where she rooms with Camila. Neither believes therapy will help—Camila is convinced she’s broken, and Dani doesn't think she has problems with addiction—but that changes as they learn to undo the toxic patterns that led them to this point.” –Booklist

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

“Brimming with energy, rapid-fire banter, and affectionate theater references, this memorable Mamma Mia! retelling by Lord (Tweet Cute) explores the meaning of family. Passionate and focused, 16-year-old New Yorker Millie Price, a presumed-white vocalist and actor, has big Broadway dreams. When her single father, who has raised her since he was a Tolkien-loving 20-year-old, pushes back on her plan to attend a competitive musical theater program in Los Angeles for senior year, despite her landing a partial scholarship, she decides it’s time to seek out her birth mother, who left when she was a baby. With the help of her father’s early aughts LiveJournal, Millie determines that her mother could be one of three women and teams up with her geocache-obsessed best friend, Teddy, who reads as white, to locate them.” –Publisher’s Weekly

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Grades 7 and up
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

“In this gorgeous fantasy novel, Oh gives a spin to the classic Korean folktale of Shim Cheong, the devoted daughter. When Shim Cheong is to be sacrificed to the sea god in an attempt to end the woes of their land, a young girl named Mina jumps into the water instead—her brother, Joon, is Shim Cheong’s beloved, and Mina, the devoted sister, cannot bear to see her brother’s heart break. After descending into the sea god’s spirit realm, she is relieved of her soul and, with it, her voice, as she is left to find a way to bring the world to rights…. A perfect fit for readers who love Spirited Away.” –Booklist

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

“Sabreen’s debut novel is a powerful exploration of sisterhood and standing up for oneself. Sabriya is an aspiring dancer in Virginia, whose world is turned upside down after a bomb is detonated in Washington, D.C. After the suspect’s name is revealed, there is a rise in nationwide Islamophobia and microaggressions. Tired of being silent in the face of bigotry, Sabriya starts a blog with two other American Black Muslim teens, where they create community for other Muslim teens and address the uptick in racism and bigoted violence. While their blog, You Truly Assumed, proves to be a successful platform for building community, they are soon targeted by a hateful right-wing extremist group that threatens to take them down. Through the perspectives of three Black Muslim girls, Sabreen paints a beautiful coming-of-age tale as each girl must navigate relationships, school, and friendships while also moving through the world as a Black Muslim.” –Booklist

And, some older titles that were popular this year:

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Library Catalog / Libby

Reached by Allyson Condie
Library Catalog / Libby
The first book in the series is Matched: Library Catalog / Libby

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
Library Catalog / Libby

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby
The first book in the series is The Lost Hero: Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

Girl in Pieces by Katherine Glasgow
Library Catalog / Libby

Displacement by Kiki Hughes
Library Catalog

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Library Catalog / Libby

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Library Catalog / Libby