Per The New York Times‘s own methodology notes:

The book selling universe is comprised of well-established vendors as well as emerging ones. The sales venues for print books include national, regional and local chains representing tens of thousands of storefronts; many hundreds of independent book retailers; scores of online and multimedia entertainment retailers; supermarkets, university, gift and big-box department stores; and newsstands.

For the purpose of ease and clarity, the data I perused for this piece are limited to the two easiest to track lists: the weekly YA hardcover list and the monthly YA paperback list. The titles on each of these lists were pulled from their first January editions until their final June editions.

In 2026 so far, the bestsellers list for YA titles has been, in a word, boring. It’s been quite white, and the same titles have dominated the list all year long. We’ll see new titles pop on, but it took quite a while for those new titles to emerge this year. Indeed, perhaps the thing that’s stood out about this year’s bestsellers in YA is how predictable it is, as well as how many of the titles on the hardcover bestseller list are the same titles on the paperback list.

This raises a few questions and concerns about the state of YA more broadly:

• If the same titles are landing on the bestsellers list week after week, is it because there are just fewer books being sold, so those that are selling are already more likely to land there? In other words, is it harder now for a new author or new book from a midlist author to see high enough sales to make the list, even if the sales of those on the list are themselves not particularly high?
• The above’s final question is worth considering, given that there is regular crossover of the bestselling titles in both formats. Certainly, we know books by Laura Nowlin and Lynn Painter are selling. But are they really selling that many copies in both formats to consistently be landing on both lists? Or are other books simply not selling? Are the sales numbers for YA such that it doesn’t take that many sales to land on either or both lists?
• Who is purchasing YA books right now? Of note, library sales do not typically count toward these lists (they would if the library is purchasing from a reporting bookstore, but most libraries purchase their titles through a vendor who provides a discount). Many of these titles are those which tick older in their target audience–think ages 14+ or 16+, instead of 12+. Many also fall into the romance or the romantasy category. Are those making book purchases the adults buying and reading these same genres that are published for adults? Though data has not been updated in a long time, this was well-documented during the era of Twilight. There is nothing wrong with adults buying or reading YA books. It does, however, skew the data on what books young adults are actually reading and buying. It also plays a big role in why YA feels like it’s in its messy adolescence, sometimes forgetting to appeal to the whole range of teen years, rather than those closest to adulthood. That there are entire states seeking to rebrand YA books as adult books in their public libraries–spreading an inaccurate message about who and what these books are for–doesn’t help.
• Related to the above question is the question of where these books are selling. Not every community has an independent bookstore, nor a big name store like Barnes & Noble. But many do have a Walmart, Target, or similar big box store with a book section. Adult readers purchasing their next romance or romantasy read may not even know they’re buying a young adult novel because so many of the covers for young adult and adult novels now look the same.
• What role are special editions of these books playing? If all sales are counted together, if there are more options for design, there’s more chance for the item to sell. Those pretty book covers and page designs are only going to help sell the book, if they aren’t also doing the work of selling multiple editions of the book.
• Most of the books showing up on the bestsellers list have been there for a long time. New titles that emerge are coming from the above-named genres or are from YA authors with name recognition–especially from adults. Sarah Dessen has been writing YA for 30 years, and while she certainly still appeals to teen readers, most of those who are familiar with her and her work are well into adulthood now.
• It’s interesting to see how different the bestselling YA titles are from the titles that have been recognized as among the strongest, most critically-acclaimed ones this year (see the second half of this piece). Although this isn’t uncommon, the divergence this year really stands out. That’s especially true when thinking about how few books published in 2026 are even getting a chance on either list.
• The diversity on this list leaves a lot to be desired. This directly reflects both the efforts to get these books onto the radars of readers and six years of direct attacks on literature through book banning. Is it clear yet that not everyone is running out to buy banned books once they’re banned? The books just disappear, and we see imprints that publish them shut down. We Need Diverse Books offers even more insight into the challenges that voices from the global majority are having right now in even getting published.

So what’s been topping the list? First, let’s look at the two New York Times YA Bestseller lists separately. Here is the breakdown of the books that have dominated the hardcover list. This is based on the 26 weeks of lists since the start of the year, and note that some of these titles made their debut on this list before 2026 (so they’ve likely been on the list longer than 26 weeks):

• Fake Skating by Lynn Painter, 26 weeks
• If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin, 26 weeks
• Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft, 20 weeks
• Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter, 18 weeks
• The Sun and the Starmaker by Rachel Griffin, 15 weeks
• A Stage Set for Villains by Shannon J. Spann, 11 weeks
• Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet, 10 weeks
• Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, 10 weeks
• The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss, 10 weeks
• Release Me by Tahereh Mafi, 10 weeks