The shelf
Recommended reading
Five books that earn their keep on a YA writer’s desk. Each is linked on Amazon.co.uk, and on Amazon.com where the same edition is sold. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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01
Juliet Mushens
Teach Yourself
Get Started in Writing Young Adult Fiction
Juliet Mushens
A leading literary agent’s field guide to how the genre actually works — the do’s, the don’ts, and the difference between a manuscript that feels like Twilight’s cousin and one an editor will fight for.
Best for. Beginners who need the map before the marathon.
02
Coming-of-age craft
Writing craft
Write Young Adult: Short Coming-of-Age Fiction
Coming-of-age craft
A compact handbook aimed at the heart of the category: the coming-of-age turn. Use it to practise the shorter forms — scenes, stories, and the emotional beats — that a full YA novel will later have to sustain.
Best for. Writers who want to drill voice and change in a smaller frame.
03
Jessica Brody
Ten Speed Press
Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel
Jessica Brody
The fifteen-beat sheet, translated for teen fiction, with worked examples from Six of Crows, The Fault in Our Stars and The Giver. If your draft has a great voice and a soggy middle, start here.
Best for. Plotters, re-plotters, and anyone stuck between catalyst and finale.
04
Evelyn Page
How To Write…
How To Write YA Fantasy
Evelyn Page
World, quest, and identity — the three plates a YA fantasist has to keep spinning. Practical on settings, allies, and the tropes the genre cannot quit, without pretending magic will do the character work for you.
Best for. Writers building a first secondary world with a teenage centre of gravity.
05
Evelyn Page
How To Write…
How To Write Dystopian
Evelyn Page
Order, surveillance, rebellion, and the personal cost of saying no. A structured pass at the sub-genre that still dominates pitches — and still fails when the world is cleverer than the person walking through it.
Best for. Anyone drafting a broken future that needs a human-sized door.