Looking for a great book by a New Zealander, for business (NCEA) or pleasure (it just makes you happy to read a good book)? Look no further than this very list, with approximately 44 of our fave Aotearoa YA titles (sorry, there were so many good ones we just couldn’t choose!). These books have been hand-selected for their delicious use of language and gripping, yet relatably Kiwi, narratives. You can find a much deeper exploration of Māori authors over on this list, so be sure to check it out as well.

Last updated December 2023

• Tonight, I burn / Adams, Katherine J. (2023)
• Draw me a hero / Ashworth, N. K. (2020)
• I am not Esther (sequels) / Beale, Fleur (1998)
• Juno of Taris (series) / Beale, Fleur (2008)
• Zombabe / Belle, I. S. (2022)
• How to get a girlfriend when you’re a terrifying monster / Cardno, Marie (2022)
• Eddy, Eddy / de Goldi, Kate (2022)
• The 10pm question / de Goldi, Kate (2009)
• Because everything is right but everything is wrong / Donohue, Erin (2017)
• The sparrow / Duder, Tessa (2023)
• Andromeda Bond in trouble deep / Falkner, Brian (2023)
• Between the flags / Fenton, Rachel (2022)
• Salt (series) / Gee, Maurice (2007)
• These violent delights / Gong, Chloe (2020)
• Singing home the whale / Hager, Mandy (2014)
• When we wake / Healey, Karen (2013)
• Legacy / Hereaka, Whiti (2018)
• Glimpse / Higgins, Jane (2023)
• Flight path / Hill, David (2017)
• The whale rider / Ihimaera, Witi (2007)
• Lucy Bee and Soline / Ingram, Anne (2022)
• Juggling with mandarins / Jones, V. M. (2003)
• The raging quiet / Jordan, Sherryl (1999)
• The pōrangi boy / Kino, Shilo (2020)
• Mortal fire / Knox, Elizabeth (2013)
• Miracle / Lane, Jennifer (2022)
• The Rarkyn’s Familiar / Lee, Nikky (2022)
• Evie’s war / Mackenzie, Anna (2015)
• The tricksters / Mahy, Margaret (1986)
• Wildwood dancing / Marillier, Juliet (2006)
• Falling into Rarohenga / Matuku, Steph (2021)
• Here upon the tide / McMillan, Blair (2023)
• Indigo Moon / Merriman, Eileen (2022)
• Catch a falling star / Merriman, Eileen (2023)
• Hello strange / Morrow, Pamela (2020)
• Gideon the ninth / Muir, Tamsyn (2019)
• Before George / Robertson, Deborah (2023)
• Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas / Sang, Ant (2018)
• Ursa / Shaw, Tina (2019)
• Dawn raid / Smith, Pauline Vaelua (2018)
• Tim Te Maro and the subterranean heartsick blues / Valley, H. S. (2021)
• Iris and me / Werry, Philippa (2023)
• Aspiring / Wilkins, Damien (2020)
• Afakasi woman / Young, Lani Wendt (2019)