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 38 of our fave New Zealand YA titles, 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 October 2021

• Draw me a hero / Ashworth, N. K. (2020)
• I am not Esther (sequels) / Beale, Fleur (1998)
• Genesis / Beckett, Bernard (2006)
• In the dark spaces / Black, Cally (2017)
• Earth dragon, fire hare / Catran, Ken (2012)
• The 10pm question / de Goldi, Kate (2009)
• Because everything is right but everything is wrong / Donohue, Erin (2017)
• Alex : the quartet / Duder, Tessa (2019)
• The tomorrow code / Falkner, Brian (2008)
• Salt (series) / Gee, Maurice (2007)
• The severed land / Gee, Maurice (2017)
• These violent delights / Gong, Chloe (2020)
• The crossing (series) / Hager, Mandy (2010)
• When we wake / Healey, Karen (2013)
• Legacy / Hereaka, Whiti (2018)
• Coastwatcher / Hill, David (2021)
• The bone people / Hulme, Keri (1983)
• Juggling with mandarins / Jones, V. M. (2003)
• The raging quiet / Jordan, Sherryl (1999)
• In our own backyard / Kayes, Anne (2021)
• Red rocks / King, Rachael (2012)
• The pōrangi boy / Kino, Shilo (2020)
• Mortal fire / Knox, Elizabeth (2013)
• Evie’s war / Mackenzie, Anna (2015)
• The magician of Hoad / Mahy, Margaret (2008)
• The tricksters / Mahy, Margaret (1986)
• Flight of the fantail / Matuku, Steph (2018)
• Invisibly breathing / Merriman, Eileen (2019)
• The tattooist of Auschwitz / Morris, Heather (2018)
• Ursa / Shaw, Tina (2019)
• Dawn raid / Smith, Pauline Vaelua (2018)
• Cuz / Van der Laarse, Liz (2018)
• The traitor and the thief (series) / Ward, Gareth (2017)
• The telegram / Werry, Philippa (2019)
• Night vision / West, Ella (2014)
• Aspiring / Wilkins, Damien (2020)
• Telesā (series) / Young, Lani Wendt (2011)
• Afakasi woman / Young, Lani Wendt (2019)