The Best Books For Teenage Girls In 2023

Here are all the best books for teenage girls, curated by the Shop Catalog editors.

Sometimes it can be hard to talk about things that matter the most. With relationships, body changes, depression, anxiety, and anything else in between — you’re always going to find yourself in situations that are overwhelming and stressful and scary, but that doesn’t mean it’s something you have to handle alone.

If you’re a teenage girl or the parent of a teenage girl, please know this: whatever you’re going through, you’re not doing it alone and all these books for teenage girls attest to this.

If it’s hard to talk about things you want to talk about, or here’s a list of books that might make things a little bit easier.

Best Books for Teenage Girls

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

Sometimes it can be hard to accept yourself when you have a mental illness. Norah believes she’s so screwed up that she doesn’t deserve anything good in her life. Even the cute boy that seems to like her…This is a story about finding the strength to face your demons and accept who you are. Under Rose-Tainted Skies is an empowering story about mental health and a discovery of self-acceptance and self-love.

Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill

Maybe you feel too much. Maybe your heart and your love for others runs deep. Maybe that’s why your pain is deep, too. This collection of poems and prose will give you a sense of comfort. It will be a reminder to you: things will get better and you will feel okay soon. Nikita Gill understands that there is the anguish and the descent into sadness, but eventually there will be acceptance and new beginnings. This is how you will survive. Let these poems in Your Heart Is The Sea heal you in your time of need.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jennie Han

If you’re a high school girl feeling the feels of a crush and needing reassurance that things will work out, this story is for you. Lara Jean has written five letters to boys she’s loved. She keeps them hidden in a box in her closet, but in an unexpected turn of events, the letters are sent to those five boys. She writes her deepest feelings and pours out her heart and soul into the words she writes, and these boys now know everything. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is the first book in a series written by Jennie Han (and yes, it is a Netflix movie!), who captures the feelings of a sixteen year-old girl, with the inexplicable agony and the hopeless devotion to a high school crush.

What I Didn’t Post On Instagram by Chrissy Stockton

Are you obsessed with Instagram? Do you filter out the parts of life that aren’t aesthetically pleasing? Sometimes that makes us appear to be someone we’re not, but let’s be honest: behind every phone screen is a person trying to figure things out. We’re all in the same boat. What I Didn’t Post On Instagram: A Collection of Essays on Real Lives And What We Filter Out is a confessional. These stories are from different people, but Chrissy Stockton puts them together as a reminder that maybe putting on a facade and pretending to be okay (but telling Instagram that you’re living your best life) isn’t the way to go. We’re all going through something.

A Girl’s Guide To Life by Michelle Herman

Sometimes we need a survival guide on life — relationships, friendships, how to manage time to play and work, how to express yourself, and more. A Girl’s Guide to Life was written by a mother for her 8 year-old daughter, offering advice and general rules for life: be generous, be honest and apologize truthfully, do the right thing, treat people with kindness. A mother’s advice will always stay with you for years to come.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

How do you love yourself? How do you become sure of who you are and confident with the body you’re living in? Dumplin’ is an empowering story on how a young girl, a self-proclaimed fat girl named Willowdean Dixon (also known as Dumplin’), finds self-love and self-assurance and proves to people that she deserves just as much as the next girl. She is a funny, charming heroine who takes on her town’s beauty pageant, all while working at the local fast food restaurant and having a crush on the cute boy at work. While seemingly following in the footsteps of her mother, a former beauty queen herself, she’s merely doing it to prove a point and to take a stand on society’s standards of beauty.

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

If you’re a survivor of sexual assault, please read this: you are heard, you are believed, and you are not alone. As a survivor and advocate of sexual assault, Laurie Halse Anderson was inspired to write her first novel and now her collection of poems, Shout. Writing in free verse for this poetry memoir, she captures the feelings that come with being a survivor. She reflects on her experiences and encourages other survivors to speak up and say #MeToo, because you are heard, you are believed, and you are not alone.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Imagine being sixteen years old and witnessing the death of your childhood best friend – unarmed and at the hands of a police officer. How do you handle that? How do you defend the truth when it could mean endangering yourself? The Hate U Give is a powerful story about the reality we’re, unfortunately, living in. It’s sheds light on a topic that is sometimes shoved under the rug: racism, police brutality, and the fight for #blacklivesmatter. It’s something that needs to be talked about, and Angie Thomas’ delivery of something like this is beautifully honest and utterly fearless.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

This is a story about love and risk, so if you’re into that sorta thing, this is the novel for you! This story follows Maddy, a young girl with a rare disease that keeps her from leaving her home. When she sees a cute boy outside of her house, she begins to understand temptation. Everything, Everything is written in first person, through the perspective of Maddy. It is her story of survival and how she falls in love from afar. It’s an utterly heartbreaking romance story that will make you laugh and cry and maybe even risk it all for love, too.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Do you want to feel empowered? Katniss Everdeen is the heroine you need to inspire you. Katniss is sixteen years old and now a contender of the Hunger Games, a brutal fight to the death on live television. For her, survival is making tough choices and maybe even falling in love with someone to gain sympathy from viewers. The Hunger Games Trilogy is an older series. It’s a classic series. It shows younger girls what it means to be empowered and empowering and willing to save yourself and the ones you love in moments when you need to the most.

It’ll Be Okay, And You Will Be Too by Dr. Jeremy Goldberg

This book is a great gift for any teenager (or really anyone at all) that needs some encouragement and love. Social media sensation Jeremey Goldberg is on a mission to make kindness cool; and what teenager dosen’t need to be reminded that being kind is cool?  It’s a book full of positive vibes, quotes and good moods. Gift this book to anyone that needs a little pick me up.

It’s Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

The stress and pressure of school can get the best of you, and sometimes you feel hopeless and tired and alone, and sometimes your mental illness can get the best of you. Craig Gilner is an ambitious teenager, hoping to get into the best high school and the best college. The stress and the pressure starts to get to him, and suddenly, he finds himself in the middle of a suicide attempt. He checks into a mental hospital and isolates himself on his journey to cope with his depression and anxiety. It’s Kind Of A Funny Story is inspired by author Ned Vizzini’s story and his experience in a psychiatric hospital. It’s a story that sheds light onto something so dark and something that isn’t talked about much. It’s heartbreaking, relatable, and (as terrible as it sounds) a funny story.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Some of us like to watch and listen and keep quiet about things. Maybe you’re like this. Maybe you’re like Charlie. Charlie is a wallflower – an observant high school student experiencing first dates, new friends, and family drama, all while dealing with loss, grief, and suppressed trauma. It’s a relatable story that is funny and sad enough to make you feel things you never thought you could feel. Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being A Wallflower is the perfect book for teens, for those who are learning the good and bad parts of growing up, and even for those who consider themselves to be wallflowers, too.

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

If you’re a poet or a lover of poetry, or if you’re looking to heal yourself and grow from your pain and your past experiences, this book is for you. The Sun And Her Flowers is a poetry book about growth and healing. This is a story about falling down and picking yourself back up again. Inspired by the advice from her mother, Rupi Kaur writes about the celebration of love and life. Sometimes you need to fall, reroot yourself, and bloom again.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

While you might be aware of what happened in history, this memoir goes a bit deeper into the life of someone with experience. The Diary of a Young Girl is a memoir, or a diary, if you will. In 1942, during World War II and when Nazi’s occupied the Netherlands under the control of Adolf Hitler, thirteen year-old Anne Frank started a diary. She recorded her experiences and her feelings with her family, hiding and staying quiet in a secret attic, and dealing with hunger, boredom, claustrophobia, and the fear of betrayal, discovery, and death. This tragedy made history as one of the worst periods of all time, and her diary quickly became one of the most popular books worldwide, impacting the lives of so many people.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippin

If you love a classic story about risk and love and temptation, this is the book for you. What happens when you’re so sick that you have to stay six feet apart from people or else you’ll die? For Stella, she has to stay away from Will, and for Will, he couldn’t care less about his treatments. Five Feet Apart is a complicated story about sacrifice. Though their physical health is on the line, this couple faces temptation with love. Still, something so powerful makes them willing to risk their lives for it. 

What do you think some of the best books for teenage girls are? Feel free to email our editors at hello@shopcatalog.com with your favorite book picks.