Teen/YA Crime
One of the best ways to engage teenagers with books is to give them stories that they can't put down, and few genres are more gripping than crime.
With bestselling crime writers including John Grisham, Harlan Coben and James Patterson all turning to writing for a younger audience, young adult crime is being touted as 'the next big thing'. Here we share some of our favourite crime thrillers for teens and young adults.
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Looking for JJ
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Looking for JJ
When a 10-year-old girl kills her best friend, she is convicted of manslaughter and locked away. Seven years later she is released…
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Crongton Knights
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Crongton Knights
McKay's life on the South Crongton Estate is rough. His Mum has died, his Dad works all hours of the day to keep away the Bailiffs…
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Theodore Boone
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Theodore Boone
A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.
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Heart-Shaped Bruise
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Heart-Shaped Bruise
Lying forgotten on top of a wardrobe at the Archway Young Offenders institution is a notebook. Inside its pages, the notorious Emi…
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Sister, Missing
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Sister, Missing
Sister, Missing is the second book in McKenzie’s projected trilogy about three siblings who share a common birth mother, but…
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Raining Fire
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Raining Fire
Ethan hopes to escape his life on an inner-city estate, dominated by gangs. But when his brother is charged with assualt, Ethan fi…
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Dangerous Lies
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Dangerous Lies
She is not an orphan, she is not from Tennessee and her name is not Stella - but those are the lies she has to tell if she wants t…
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Summertime of the Dead
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Summertime of the Dead
When twins Hiroshi and Miko take their own lives after having being blackmailed by the Japanese mafia, Yukio sets out to avenge th…
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Too Much Trouble
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Too Much Trouble
An original interpretation of the Oliver Twist story reflecting a number of critical and significant contemporary issues.
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Another Life
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Another Life
When Ty is imprisoned for knife possession, his privileged cousin Archie finds himself drawn into his cousin's darker and more dan…
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Two Good Thieves
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Two Good Thieves
This nail-biting thriller is also a challenging story about the lives of the world's poorest children.
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Nobody Saw No One
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Nobody Saw No One
This witty, gritty and disturbing dual narrative story of abuse and exploitation starts as a modernised retelling of Oliver Twist …
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Five Hundred Miles
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Five Hundred Miles
In the industrial wastelands of east London, two brothers are delivering forged vehicle documents. As soon as they walk into the p…
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The Outsiders
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The Outsiders
SE Hinton was just 17 years old when she wrote this exciting story of gang rivalry. The story features the Socs and the Greasers a…
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If You Were Me
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If You Were Me
Complex plotting, thoughtful characterisation and terrifying insights into a world of organised crime will keep readers on the edg…
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Black Sheep
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Black Sheep
Dwayne is sixteen, disengaged from home and school, and a reluctant member of a Brixton gang. When he meets ambitious Misha, the t…
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Saint Death
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Saint Death
Arturo lives in Anapra, one of the poorest neighbourhoods around the Mexican border city of Juarez, where drug lords rule. A tight…
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The Walled City
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The Walled City
The Walled City tells a powerful story about trust, family, and hope.
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