Buying a book for a teenager is hard. They have strong tastes, they read things you have never heard of, and anything that looks like a lesson goes straight to the bottom of the pile. The books that work are the ones with a strong voice and a gripping story, the kind that get passed around a friend group.
The Carnegie Medal in the UK is especially good at finding these. Its shortlists are full of thrillers, verse novels and powerful stories about real life. Many deal with difficult subjects, so we have noted what each book is about. Most are best for fourteen and up.
Every book here won or was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Newbery Medal or another major prize.
Winner2019
Elizabeth Acevedo
Great for a teen who writes
Xiomara lives in Harlem with her strict religious mother and fills a notebook with poems she cannot say out loud, until she is invited to join her school's slam poetry club. A fierce, beautiful novel in verse that won the Carnegie Medal. Great for 13 and up.
2019 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Winner2022
Jason Reynolds
Great for a reluctant teen reader
Will's brother has been shot. Will takes his brother's gun, gets in the elevator and plans revenge. On each floor, someone from his past steps in. Told in verse over sixty seconds, it is gripping and unforgettable. About gun violence; for 13 and up.
2022 Carnegie Medal for Illustration winner
Shortlist2013
Elizabeth Wein
Great for a lover of thrillers and history
A British spy is captured by the Gestapo in occupied France and agrees to write a confession. What she writes is the story of her friendship with the pilot who flew her there. A brilliant, twisting Second World War thriller about friendship. For 14 and up.
2013 Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlisted
Winner2017
Ruta Sepetys
Great for a history fan
At the end of the Second World War, four young refugees with secrets make their way across East Prussia toward the ship Wilhelm Gustloff, which carries them toward the worst maritime disaster in history. Short chapters, four voices, a story few people know. Carnegie winner. For 14 and up.
2017 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Shortlist2018
Angie Thomas
Great for a teen who cares about justice
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives between her poor neighborhood and her wealthy private school. When she sees her childhood friend shot by a police officer, she has to decide whether to speak up. Funny, angry and powerful. For 14 and up.
2018 Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlisted
Winner2016
Sarah Crossan
Great for a quick, emotional read
Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins who start going to school for the first time at sixteen. Told by Grace in short verse poems, it is a story about love, friendship and identity that teens read in one sitting. Carnegie winner. For 13 and up.
2016 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Winner1967
Alan Garner
Great for a reader who likes something strange
Three teenagers staying in a remote Welsh valley find a set of dinner plates decorated with owls, and an ancient legend of love and jealousy begins to replay itself through them. A strange, spine-tingling classic and Carnegie winner.
1967 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner
Winner1994
Lois Lowry
Great for starting a conversation
Still one of the best books to read with a teen: a perfect society with a terrible secret, and a boy who has to decide what to do about it. Short, and great for discussion.
1994 Newbery Medal winner
Books with a strong voice and a gripping plot: thrillers, verse novels and stories about real-life issues. Many of the most popular teen books have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Some are, some are better at 14 or 15. We have noted a suggested age for each. If in doubt, read a few pages first.
The UK's oldest children's book award, given since 1936 and judged by librarians. Since 2023 it has been called the Carnegie Medal for Writing.
See every award-winning book for teens