The best YA books I read this year, all published in 2014

Of the 30+ YA books I read this year these are my favorites. All are good but only one of them is GREAT: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. If I were making a list for students it would be at the top of the list with a line under it. All the others would be ranked below it.  That said there are some really good books on this list.  Unlike my Mock Printz list of books, not all of these rise to level of excellence in terms of literary merit but all are excellent stories and I can (and do) recommend them to teen readers (and adults who like to read YA.) All of them were published this year, 2014.

1. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
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2. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
3. A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman
4. The Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
5. Glory O'Brien: The History of the Future by AS King
6. Say What You Will by Connie McGovern
7. The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer
8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
9. Never Ending by Martyn Bedford
10. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki (Graphic Novel)
11. Eyes Wide Open by Paul Fleischman (nonfiction)
12. Gabi: Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
13. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming (nonfiction, biography)
14. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor