Knockout 2025 YA Debuts, Excellent Nonfiction, and More YA Book News

It’s the final day of 2025, and what better way to bring things to a close than with a look at some of the biggest YA book news from the past few weeks. At least, there’s no better way to end the year right here than through talking YA news–you might have other ways you’re celebrating the bigger picture of the closing of this (very long) year.

We’ve got some future award-winning YA books here, alongside news and updates on some upcoming YA adaptations. Something you’ll notice here: there aren’t links to the various publications’ “best of” lists. There are many of them, but I’m going to talk about those lists early in the new year–it’s fun to look at them as a whole to see trends and themes that emerge. In many ways, waiting until the new year allows them to be a little bit fresher because there are simply so many to take in during the busiest time of the year. (Plus, it’s a great opportunity to begin thinking about those big YA book awards we’ll see rolling in from the American Library Association in late January!).

That said, grab your TBR and prepare to add some new reads to it for 2026.

• Here is the short list for the YALSA Morris Award, which honors the best debut YA novel of the year. It’s a pretty great collection of titles here!
• Another YALSA award short list dropped this month, and it’s the Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Again, a stellar list, including one of my favorite books of 2025. It is worth noting that this list is particularly white in terms of authorship, and I am pretty sure that’s because this year’s slate of YA nonfiction was not especially diverse. This is something to keep an eye on in the coming year, as YA nonfiction has historically been among the most diverse array of titles.
• Take the time to read this fantastic piece from Malinda Lo about the necessity of sex in YA fiction and where/why it’s necessary to read the whole of a book before deciding material is “pornographic” or “inappropriate” for teens.
• Read your way into all of the new YA science fiction and fantasy releases from December.
• Speaking of science fiction and fantasy (and horror!), Alex Brown picks their most notable books in speculative YA from 2025.
• The two books that won this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards in the YA categories aren’t especially surprising ones, as both have been wildly popular this year and had nice marketing budgets to boot. Check ’em out here.
• According to the Hollywood Reporter, YA shows are booming on streamers. These aren’t all adaptations of YA novels, but they’re shows which reach that teen audience.
• While we’re on the topic of YA and streaming, there’s a bunch of adaptation news to share. First: Finding Her Edge will hit Netflix on January 12. It’s an adaptation of Jennifer Iacopelli’s YA novel of the same name and is about an elite ice skater who finds herself torn between two different romantic partners.
• Amazon scored the rights to adapt the YA book Repeat After Me, written by Jennifer Warman in fall 2024.
• Over at Disney+, there’s an adaptation in the works of Melissa de la Cruz’s 2014 series The Ring and the Crown. This linked story is weirdly obsessed with comparing this YA book to Game of Thrones, which makes no sense since there’s no necessity to compare them.
• And for the oldheads, here’s some news you’ll be excited about. There’s an adaptation in the works for Christopher Pike’s Die Softly.
• Nearly a year out from its theatrical release, there’s already a teaser trailer for the adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping.
• Reviews for the adaptation of I Wish You All The Best have been overwhelmingly positive. I cannot wait to check this one out!
• A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts is a 2009 short story collection that’s being adapted into a film (and it’s a really interesting one!). Here’s a little more about the book and how it’s being adapted. Expect to see it sometime, hopefully, in 2026. If you haven’t read the book, it’s worth picking up, and maybe we’ll see a reissue when the adaptation is here.
• How about some information about season two of We Were Liars and a spin-off series?
• This Is Not a Test will get a limited theatrical release beginning on February 20, 2026. You can read an excerpt from the repackaged and updated zombie novel in anticipation.
• And finally in terms of adaptation news, Wendy Wunder’s The Probability of Miracles was picked up by Amazon studios.
• Earlier this year, I had the chance to write this really fun piece for School Library Journal about Jane Austen’s 250th birthday and where and how Austen is a perennial favorite to remix in the YA space. If Jane Austen in YA is your jam, here’s another great roundup of retellings and remixes from Publishers Weekly.
• Good Morning America’s YA book club’s latest pick is the fun romance There’s Always Next Year by Johnson & Johnson (that is, George M. and Leah!).
• A new YA fantasy from Roshani Chokshi is on deck for 2026. You can check out the cover and an excerpt here.
• This is a lovely ode to S.E. Hinton and The Outsiders, one of the first YA books to ever be published.
• In an exciting update, Liz Prince’s awesome graphic memoir Tomboy is being reissued, and we’ll be getting a second memoir from Prince as well.

And with that, the 2025 season of “What’s Up in YA?” comes to a close. We’ll see you next week with the first batch of new YA releases for 2026, followed by a look at the books that were among the most popular “best of” picks for this year.