Best books season is upon us! We are starting to see the release of best books of 2024 lists already — Publishers Weekly released its picks for the best Young Adult books of 2024 earlier this week, and the opening round in the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards opened last Tuesday, with 20 books each nominated for Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Fiction and Favorite Young Adult Fantasy.

On a recent Extra Credit episode of the Hey YA Podcast, hosted by Book Riot, Erica Ezeifedi talks to the New York Public Library’s Susen Shi about their list of this year’s 50 best books for teens:

Books discussed on this episode:

Snowglobe by Soyoung Park, translated by Joungmin Lee Comfort

Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire by Ferin Davis Anderson, Stephanie Sammartino McPherson

Night Owls by A.R. Vishny (preview on Amazon)

Secret Staircase series by Gigi Pandian (preview on Amazon)

Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series by Mia P. Manansala (preview on Amazon)

The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté