For a reader who just finished
after The Hummingbird Killer by Finn Longman · ages 12–16
Young adult · grades 7–11 · 850L
A solid, fast-paced YA thriller that keeps the tension high without relying on graphic content or romance.
Same style
Young adult · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L · 2007
A genuinely spooky page-turner that doesn't talk down to its reader — Tom's apprenticeship earns weight through real menace and a protagonist who has to actively choose bravery.
Young adult · age 13+ · grade 8+ · 780L · 2023
Smart teen mystery that respects the reader's intelligence; Pip's forensic approach to a cold case teaches evidence-gathering without preaching, though the darker turns in the final act will test younger teens' tolerance for real peril.
by Lisa McMann
Young adult · ages 12–16 · grades 7–11 · 850L · 2022
A solid entry in the 'Magic for Normal People' series that balances mystery and magic without getting bogged down in romance or heavy angst.
Stretch them up
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 1050L · 2024
A genuine doorstop fantasy that respects teen readers' intelligence — ornate prose, deep worldbuilding, and a narrator whose unreliability becomes part of the pleasure.
by Rick Riordan
Young adult · ages 12–18 · grades 7–12 · 950L · 2025
Riordan’s best work — the humor is sharper and the stakes feel more personal than in Percy Jackson, making it a perfect bridge for readers ready to graduate from middle grade.
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 1050L
A dense, formally inventive sequel that trusts teens with historical ambiguity and moral complexity; Anderson's fragmented prose mirrors Octavian's fractured selfhood, and the sea-voyage setting carries genuine weight.
Complementing on observation evidence
by Jim Murphy
Nonfiction · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L · 2003
Gripping, historically rigorous account that models how evidence overturns expert consensus—kids emerge understanding both the horror and the intellectual detective work of epidemiology.
Verse novel · ages 8–12 · grades 3–7 · 620L · 1988
A Newbery Medal masterpiece that teaches kids how to listen to nature through the architecture of two-voice poetry — kids discover they can read these aloud *right now* with a friend and it immediately sounds like music.
Nonfiction · ages 8–12 · grades 3–7 · 720L · 2007
Macaulay's masterpiece — architectural history made visceral through illustration and narrative; kids who engage deeply will ask real questions about how things are built.
We'd skip — for now
by T.J. Klune
A step up — ages 16–18 · grades 11–12
Skip it if your teen is not ready for a slow-burn queer romance with explicit-enough content to confirm sexual orientation, or if they're sensitive to state violence and systemic cruelty as plot drivers (the gnomes' persecution arc is central).