‘Tis the season to give great literature.

And how lucky are we that Associate Professor in the Department of English, Dr. Ricki Ginsberg agrees! Ginsberg has kindly shared her Best of YA recommendations for this year’s giving season—which includes everything from Andrea L. Rogers’ horror-driven debut to a new Mexican-inspired fantasy from best-selling author Aiden Thomas.

Best of YA 2022 Gift Guide

  1. All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
  2. Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert
  3. Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore
  4. Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers
  5. Messy Roots by Laura Gao
  6. Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk
  7. Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer
  8. Remind Me To Hate You Later by Lizzy Mason (release date: Feb 2023)
  9. The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
  10. The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
  11. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
  12. White Out by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon

Honorable mention for Middle Grade Books: Starfish by Lisa Fipps and Answers in the Pages by David Levithan.

About Dr. Ricki Ginsberg

Dr. Ricki Ginsberg teaches courses in reading and writing pedagogies, teaching and research methods, and young adult literature. Her research interests include educational equity, particularly connected with literacy practices; teacher education; and the recruitment and retention of Indigenous teachers and teachers of color. She is Co-Chair of English Education with a focus on the undergraduate program.

She is a former president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN), Director of the Black, Indigenous, and Teachers of Color (BIToC) Collective at Colorado State University, a member of the Native American Advisory Council to the president, a faculty affiliate for the Race and Intersectional Studies for Educational Equity (RISE) Center, and a former editor of The ALAN Review. Her work has been published in Research in the Teaching of English, Teachers College Record, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Adolescent Research, Multicultural Perspectives, Journal of Human Rights, English Journal, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, Voices from the Middle, and The ALAN Review.