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Notable YA Covers of 2025
Published January 13, 2026

Notable YA Covers of 2025

Happy New Year! I hope you’re keeping safe and well.

I just re-read the introduction to my 2024 YA post and it says pretty much everything I was going to say about young adult covers this time around too, which is a bit annoying! There are still plenty of great covers this year, but trends sometimes move slowly, and it does make me worry that these posts are getting a little stale and predictable.

As with the previous couple of years, almost all of my 2025 selections are illustrated. Looking at original cover art and discovering new illustrators is definitely one of the joys of collating these post. It does make me wonder though, if the illustrations are thing, should I broaden the scope of the posts to include other categories to freshen things up?

I can see both sides.

YA cover designers and illustrators do not get a lot of attention despite all the cover reveals and special deluxe editions (not to mention book sales). I have been doing YA specific lists because no one else has been.

That said, the lines between categories and age-groups are blurred. I actually had to delete a couple of covers from this post because they were for SFF novels that were not strictly YA. I couldn’t tell from the covers. I only realized when I looked up the details. It happened last year too. Including other age groups would allow me to include illustrated science fiction, fantasy, and romance covers that also tend to get overlooked outside of their fan communities. But it would probably mean a bit less YA.

What to do?

Thanks again for all your support over the past year. I hope your still enjoying the posts, but please let me know if you have thoughts or additional design credits. I’d love to hear from you.

After Life by Gayle Forman; design by Laura Mock; illustration by Agata Wierzbicka (Quill Tree Books / January 2025)

Always Be My Bibi by Priyanka Taslim; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Shazleen Khan (Salaam Reads / June 2025)

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyn Yun; design by Trisha Previte; cover art by Yejin Park (Knopf BYR / October 2025)

Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated by Rosie Hedger; design by John Gall (Levine Querido / April 2025)

Before I realized that Beasts was actually a young adult novel, I included this in my round-up of last year’s adult covers. Now that I know that it’s a book for teens, I think it’s only appropriate to include here too in its proper context. It’s a great cover that stands out in both lists.

Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland; design by Kerri Resnick and Anto Marr; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / November 2025)

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum; design by Corina Lupp; art by Mishko (HarperCollins / April 2025)

A Feast for the Eyes by Alex Crespo; design by Lily Steele; cover art by Riotbones (Peachtree Teen / October 2025)

The Floating World by Axie Oh; design by Rich Deas; art by Guweiz (Feiwel & Friends / April 2025)

A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux; design by David Curtis; art by Alex Eckman-Lawn (Quill Tree Books / June 2025)

The Girl You Know by Elle Gonzalez Rose; design by Amanda Hudson / Faceout Studio (Bloomsbury YA / February 2025)

Goodbye, My Princess by Fei Wo Si Cun, translated by Tianshu; design by Laurent Linn; illustration by Zijing (Simon & Schuster BYR / June 2025)

Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause; cover art by Welder Wings (Peachtree Teen / September 2025)

Hazelthorn by CG Drews; design by Meg Sayre; illustration by Jana Heidersdorf (Feiwel & Friends / October 2025)

The cover of Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews from the same creative pair was on last year’s list.

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang; design by Alex Niit; cover art by Kim Myatt (HarperCollins / January 2025)

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins; design by Sophie Erb; cover art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Viking BYR / March 2025)

I Can’t Even Think Straight by Dean Atta; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Adriana Bellet (Quill Tree Books / May 2025)

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie; design by Abby Granata; illustration by Nicole Rifkin (Feiwel & Friends / June 2025)

In Case You Read This by Edward Underhill; design by David DeWitt; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Quill Tree Books / May 2025)

Kill Creatures by Rory Power; illustration by Kei-Ella Loewe; art direction by Liz Dresner (Delacorte Press / June 2025)

The cover of Wilder Girls by Rorie Power, designed by Regina Flath with art by Aykut Aydoğdu, was on my notable list way back in 2019.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power; design by Regina Flath; art by Aykut Aydogdu (Delacorte / July 2019)

Knucklehead by Tony Keith Jr.; design David Curtis (Quill Tree Books / February 2025)

Leave it on the Track by Margot Fisher cover art by Beatriz Ramo (Dutton BYR / November 2025)

Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue by Kate Pearsall; design by Jessica Jenkins; illustration by Imogen Oh (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / January 2025)

This goes very nicely with their cover from a couple of year’s ago for Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall.

Mercy by Patricia Ward; design by Catherine Lee (HarperCollins / October 2025)

Messy by Tanya Boteju; design by David DeWitt; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Quill Tree Books / April 2025)

The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke; design by Sarah Creech; art by Yorgos Cotronis (Simon & Schuster BYR / September 2025)

Night Swimming by Aaron Starmer; cover art by Dana Lédl (Penguin Workshop / April 2025)

Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales; design and illustration by Jenifer Prince (Wednesday Books / June 2025)

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller; design by Casey Moses; cover art by Jon Stich (Levine Querido / May 2025)

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven; cover art by Kelly Chong (Penguin / February 2025)

This is the UK cover. The cover of the US edition published by Wednesday Books was designed by Olga Grlic.

The Payback Girls by Alex Travis; design by Aarushi Menon (Sourcebooks Fire / April 2025)

Season of Fear by Emily Cooper; design Jenny Kimura; illustration by Chris Mrozik (Christy Ottaviano Books / September 2025)

Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman; design by Casey Moses; illustration by Elena Masci (Delacorte Press / November 2025)

Show Stopper by Lily Anderson; design and illustration by Keith Vlahakis (Henry Holt & Co. BYR / September 2025)

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan; design by Kelley Brady; illustration by Jeff Östberg (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / May 2025)

I think this is the third Jennifer Dugan novel with Jeff Östberg‘s art on the cover?

They Bloom At Night by Trang Thanh Tran; design by John Candell; art by Elena Masci (Bloomsbury YA / March 2025)

The cover of She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, which also features art by Elena Masci, was included in my list in 2023.

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah; design by Olga Grlic; art by Marcela Boliva (Wednesday Books / February 2025)

Wish You Were Her by Elle McNicoll; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Marianna Tomaselli (Wednesday Books / August 2025)

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Leguin; design by Joe Merkel; art by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books / March 2025)

Woven From Clay by Jenny Birch; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Jorge Mascarenhas (Wednesday Books / August 2025)

You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao; design by Theresa Evangelista; illustration by Zipcy (Dutton BYR / September 2025)

I believe this is third Dustin Thao novel with a cover illustration by Zipcy, although I think the previous two were designed by Kerri Resnick for Wednesday Books.

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Notable YA Covers of 2023
Published January 17, 2024

Notable YA Covers of 2023

Happy New Year! I hope you’re safe and well. As is now the tradition, the first post of the year is a look back at some of the young adult covers of last year. The usual caveats apply of course. Not much YA crosses my desk at work, which is mostly indie publishing, and it is not a category I follow closely apart from what my kids are reading, so my insight here is limited. Still, I think at some of the stuff I wrote about the industry in my 2023 post on adult covers probably holds true for YA too. The toll of the past few years has led to a certain amount of risk aversion from both publishers and designers (albeit for different reasons), and my sense is that folks are bracing for more of the same in 2024. I would guess that genre expectations within the broader YA category have limited the room for experimentation too. Some things need to look the same it seems. But even if there is some conservatism in the current design approaches (if it ain’t broke…), and things in general feel pretty grim, there is a remarkable amount of diversity and representation on the covers of YA books — and perhaps even among the designers and illustrators themselves — and that feels like something that should be celebrated. I’ve tried my best to get all the credits for the covers, but please let me know if I missed anyone out — I’ll be happy to update the post where necessary.

All That’s Left To Say by Emery Lord; art direction by Jeanette Levy; illustration by Adele Leyris (Bloomsbury YA / July 2023)

All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyer; design by Micah Fleming; illustration by Rachelle Baker (Harry N. Abrams / September 2023)

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Max Reed (Wednesday Books / May 2023)

Champion of Fate by Kendare Blake; design by David Curtis; art by Tomasz Majewski (Quill Tree Books / September 2023)

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle; design by Greg Stadnyk; illustration by Signum Noir (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2023)

Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi; design by Greg Stadnik; illustration by Laylie Frazier (Atheneum Books for Young Readers / February 2023)

A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen; design by Greg Stadnik; illustration by Bose Collins (Margaret K. McElderry Books / March 2023)

Ever Since by Alena Bruzas; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Suzanne Dias (Rocky Pond Books / May 2023)

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni; design by Corina Lupp; illustration by Otesanya (Balzer & Bray / September 2023)

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell; design by Catherine Lee; illustration by Yejin Park (Harperteen / March 2023)

The Girl Next Door by Cecilia Vinesse; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Tomasz Majewski (Quill Tree Books / May 2023)

Goddess Crown by Shade Lapite; design by Maria T. Middleton; art by Jeff Manning (Walker Books / September 2023)

Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim; art direction by Angela Carlino; art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers / August 2023)

Tran Nguyen and Alix Northrup also worked on the covers for Elizabeth Lim’s previous books Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon’s Promise, which appeared on the 2021 and 2022 lists respectively.

A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Page O’Brien; design by Micah Fleming; illustration by Corey Brickley (Harry N. Abrams / September 2023)

This is the first of many covers featuring Corey Brickley’s lovely work on the list!

I feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea; design by Kathleen Breitenfeld; art by Rich Deas; lettering by Jordan Metcalf (Henry Holt BYR / August 2023)

I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu; design by Laura Eckes (Simon & Schuster BYR / March 2023)

Immortality by Dana Schwartz; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / February 2023)

The cover for Anatomy by Dana Schwartz was on last year’s list. I wonder what vital organ shaped dress we will get next?

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee; design by Kirk Benshoff; art by Deb JJ Lee (First Second / March 2023)

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson; art by Chuck Styles (Random House BYR / June 2023)

The Isle of the Gods by Amie Kaufman; design Angela Carlino; art by Aykut Aydoğdu (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / May 2023)

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst; design by Catherine Lee; illustration by Elena Masci (Harperteen / April 2023)

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan; design by Kelley Brady; illustration by Michael Rogers (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR / August 2023)

Coincidentally these two covers combined would have a complete face…

Never a Hero by Vanessa Len; design by Jessie Gang; art by Eevien Tan (Harperteen / August 2023)

The cover for Only a Monster by Vanessa Len was also on last year’s list.

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Nettrice Gaskins (Balzer & Bray / May 2023)

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin; design by Katie Klimowicz (Tor Nightfire / June 2023)

(Technically this isn’t YA, it’s categorized as “Fiction / Coming of Age,” but I figure there’s crossover here so I’m including it anyway)

The Only Girl in Town by Ally Condie; design by Theresa Evangelista (Dutton BYR / September 2023)

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen; design by Rich Deas; art by M.S. Corley (Henry Holt / May 2023)

Rook by William Ritter; design by Laura Williams; illustration by Corey Brickley (Algonquin YR / August 2023)

Algonquin also reissued the whole Jackaby series in paperback with new covers to match:

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker; design by Kathleen Oudit & Gigi Lau; photography Lillian Liu (Inkyard Press / October 2023)

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran; design by Thy Bui; illustration by Elena Masci (Bloomsbury YA / Feburary 2023)

Something Like Possible by Miel Moreland; design by Julia Bianchi; illustration by Bex Glendining (Feiwel & Friends / May 2023)

The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk; design by David Curtis (Quill Tree Books / October 2023)

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White; illustration by Evangeline Gallagher (Peachtree Teen / September 2023)

Evangeline Gallagher also provided the cover illustration for Andrew Joseph White’s previous book Hell Followed With Us.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; illustration by Corey Brickley (Razorbill / May 2023)

The Twenty-One by Elizabeth Rusch; design by Paul Zakris; illustration by Will Staehle (Greenwillow Books / September 2023)

The Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth; design by Debra Sfetsios-Conover; illustration by Marcela Bolivar (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2023)

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley; design by Rich Deas; art by Michaela Goade (Henry Holt / May 2023)

Where There’s Smoke by E. B. Vickers; design by Ray Shappell (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / December 2023)

Wise Creatures by Deirdre Sullivan; design by Nick Stearn; illustration by Corey Brickley (Hot Key Books / September 2023)

Zhara by S. Jae-Jones; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Sija Hong (Wednesday Books / August 2023)

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Published January 19, 2023

Notable YA Covers of 2022

I should, at this point, rename this post “Young Adult Book Covers I Saw Last Year, Quite Liked, and Could Find Some Credits For.” It would be accurate.

December turned out to be really busy. It is every year. I’m not sure why it still catches me out. That said, 2022 did seem to be especially busy for reasons far, far too boring to get into here (yes, I got sick amongst other things).

I had thought, in fact, that it might be time to retire this particular annual post. But then I looked around to see what other YA cover lists had been posted and… well, it wasn’t great. If I don’t do it, who will?

This year’s list — like last year’s — is full of illustrated covers. It seems to be the dominant trend, and I would really like someone more knowledgeable than me to profile some of the illustrators and put their work in its proper context. Maybe there is an art book in it for an enterprising publisher, if there isn’t one already? There are so many great covers from the past couple of years to choose from. 1

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this very late look at some of the YA covers of 2022. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson; design by Alison Impey; art by Spiros Halaris (Delacorte Press / May 2022)

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin; art by Jason Griffin (Atheneum Books / January 2022)

Anatomy by Dana Schwartz; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration by Zach Meyer (Wednesday Books / January 2022)

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh; art by David Curtis (Little, Brown BYR / September 2022)

Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty; design by Veronica Mang; art by Sasha Vinogradova (Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR / June 2022)

The Chandler Legacies by Abdi Nazemian; design by Corina Lupp; art by Natalie Shaw (Balzer & Bray / February 2022)

Cursed by Marissa Meyer; design by Rich Deas; art by Tim O’Brien (Feiwel & Friends / November 2022)

The same creative team produced the cover of Gilded by Marissa Meyer published last year:

The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim; design by Alison Impey; art by Tran Nguyen; lettering by Alix Northrup (Alfred A. Knopf BYR / August 2022)

The cover of Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim was on last year’s list.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones; design by Jenny Kimura; art by SPIDER MONEY (Little, Brown BYR / August 2022)

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Leilani Bustamante (Razorbill / January 2022)

Extasia by Claire Legrand; design by Joel Tippie; art by Diego Fernandez (Katherine Tegen Books / February 2022)

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Em Allen (Wednesday Books / March 2022)

Gallant by V. E. Schwab; art by David Curtis (Greenwillow Books / March 2022)

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh; design by Rich Deas; art by Kuri Huang (Feiwel & Friends / February 2022)

HopePunk by Preston Norton; design Mary Claire Cruz; art by Adams Carvalho (Little, Brown BYR / January 2022)

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor; design by Kristie Radwilowicz; art by Jim Tierney (Razorbill / April 2022)

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang; design by Gigi Lau; art by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor (Inkyard Press / October 2022)

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Corey Brickley (Katherine Tegen Books / March 2022)

Mindy McGinnis’s backlist titles The Female of the Species and The Initial Insult were also re-jacketed in the same style:

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin; design by Rich Deas; art by Sija Hong (Feiwel & Friends / March 2022)

The sequel, A Venom Dark and Sweet, was published in August with a cover from the same creative team:

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len; design by Jessie Gang; art by Eevien Tan (HarperTeen / February 2022)

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf; design by Sarah Creech; art by Leonardo Santamaria (Salaam Reads / April 2022)

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Tran Nguyen (HarperTeen / October 2022)

Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad; design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian (Margaret K. McElderry Books / October 2022)

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo; design by Anna Booth; art by Feifei Ruan (Dutton BYR / October 2022)

The Secrets We Keep by Cassie Gustafson; design by Krista Vossen; art by beatriz ramo (Simon & Schuster BYR / November 2022)

Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley; design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian; art by Mona Finden (Margaret K. McElderry Books / April 2022)

Strike the Zither by Joan He; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Kuri Huang (Roaring Brook Press / October 2022)

Sugar by Carly Nugent; design by Imogen Stubbs; art by gozitive (Text Publishing / March 2022)

Sugaring Off by Gillian French; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Elena Masci (Algonquin YR / November 2022)

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves; design by Laurent Linn; art by Goni Montes (Simon & Schuster BYR / August 2022)

This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian; design by Jessie Gang; art by Robin Har (Balzer & Bray / June 2022)

A Thousand Steps into the Night by Traci Chee; design by Celeste Knudsen; art by Kotaro Chiba (Clarion Books / March 2022)

Trigger by N. Griffin; art by Dan Burgess (Atheneum Books / March 2022)

This reminded me of Dan Burgess’s art for Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent from last year. The lesson is, spectral trees are very spooky.

We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo; design by Aurora Parlagreco; art by Corey Brickley (Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR / June 2022)

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds; design by Beth Clark and Sarah Kaufman; art by Laylie Frazier (Roaring Brook Press / November 2022)

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; art by Jeff Manning (Katherine Tegen Books / September 2022)

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