Staff Picks
YA Boarding School Books That Will Make You Think Twice
- Kenyanah B.
- Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Collection
Reasons YA characters attend boarding school that might interest you in reading the following recommendations below
- Waiting out a rumor
- Looking for a Fresh start
- Pursing a passion artistic or otherwise at an elite school
- Being indoctrinated into a secret society knowingly or unknowingly
- Witches, Demons, Werewolves, Vampires, Assassins, and Ghouls also have education requirements they need to meet
- Pulled a prank that landed them there as a last chance
- Winning a scholarship that will enhance their access to further education, higher social status, or might mean you have agreed to serve as a sacrifice (Always read that fine print)
Ace of Spades
Published in 2021
At Niveus Private Academy, Devon and Chiamaka are the only students chosen to be Senior Prefects who are also black, which makes them targets for a series of anonymous texts revealing their secrets to the entire student body. Both students were on track toward valedictorian and bright college futures, but this prank quickly turns into a very dangerous game and they are at more than one disadvantage as it looks like things could turn deadly.
Girl Gone Viral
Published in 2019
Seventeen-year-old coding prodigy Opal Hopper enters in a virtual reality contest in order to find answers about her father, who vanished seven years ago, and had close ties to the contest's billionaire founder.
The Black Mage
Published in 2019
"When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school's "Magical Minority Initiative," begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul"--Provided by publisher.
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Published in 2003
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.
Etiquette & Espionage
Published in 2013
In an alternate England of 1851, spirited fourteen-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is suprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage.
A Study in Charlotte
A Charlotte Holmes Novel
Published in 2016
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson descendants, Charlotte and Jamie, students at a Connecticut boarding school, team up to solve a murder mystery.
Tiny Pretty Things
Published in 2015
Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance -- but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.
Gotham Academy. Vol. 01, Welcome to Gotham Academy
Published in 2015
"Gotham City's most prestigious prep school is a very weird place. It's got a spooky campus, oddball teachers, and rich benefactors always dropping by...like that weirdo Bruce Wayne. But nothing is as strange as the students! Like, what's up with Olive Silverlock? Is she crazy or what? Where did she go last summer? And what's the deal with her creepy mom? And how come that Freshman Maps is always following her around? And is she still going out with Kyle? P.S. Did you hear the rumor about the ghost in the North Hall?! Collects Gotham Academy #1-6 GOTHAM ACADEMY is a new teen drama set in the shadow of Batman and the craziness of Gotham City, with new characters and old plus a secret tie to Gotham's past."-- Provided by publisher.
Little & Lion
Published in 2017
"Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and grapples with her bisexual identity when she and her brother Lionel fall in love with the same girl, pushing Lionel's bipolar disorder to spin out of control and forcing Suzette to confront her own demons"-- Provided by publisher.
Romancing the Throne
Published in 2017
When a scandal at her all-girls school threatens her university prospects, Libby enrolls in her sister Charlotte's posh boarding school, where they become rivals for the affection of their classmate--the heir to the throne of Britain.
Looking for Alaska
Published in 2005
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
The Similars
Published in 2019
Six clones. One elite boarding school. Countless deadly secrets. Don't miss this exhilarating debut that every is buzzing about from Rebecca Hanover. Junior year just got a lot more cutthroat. This fall, six new students are joining the junior class at the elite Darkwood Academy. But they aren't your regular over-achieving teens. They're clones. And they're joining the class alongside their originals. The Similars are all anyone can talk about: Who are these clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? And who is the madman who broke the law against cloning to create them? Emmaline Chance couldn't care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and it's all she can do to get through each day without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi-Oliver's exact DNA copy and one of the Similars. Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, except she keeps getting pulled deeper into their clique. She can't escape the dark truths about the clones or her prestigious school. No one can be trusted...not even the boy she is falling for with Oliver's face.
Hex Hall
Published in 2010
When Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, she is exiled to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
Dread Nation
Published in 2018
When families go missing in Baltimore County, Jane McKeene, who is studying to become an Attendant, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that has her fighting for her life against powerful enemies.
The Name of the Star
Published in 2011
Rory, of Bénouville, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation.
Truly Devious
Published in 2018
When Stevie Bell, an amateur detective, begins her first year at a famous private school in Vermont, she sets a plan to solve the cold case involving the kidnapping of the founder's wife and daughter shortly after the school opened.
Charm & Strange
Published in 2013
A lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy must either surrender his sanity to the wild wolves inside his mind or learn that surviving means more than not dying.
A Lesson in Vengeance
Published in 2021
Felicity Morrow returns to the Dalloway School after her girlfriend's tragic death, only to meet Ellis Haley--a new student and a teenage literary prodigy--who enlists Felicity's help in researching the school's bloody, occult history for her new book.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Published in 2008
Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.
Every Heart a Doorway
Published in 2016
Children have always disappeared from Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.
Vampire Academy
Published in 2007
Two years after a horrible incident made them run away, vampire princess Lissa and her guardian-in-training Rose are found and returned to St. Vladimir's Academy, where one focuses on mastering magic, the other on physical training, while both try to avoid the perils of gossip, cliques, gruesome pranks, and sinister plots.
We Set the Dark on Fire
Published in 2019
"Dani must question everything she's worked for as she learns about the corruption of the Median government"-- Provided by publisher.
People Like Us
Published in 2018
"When a girl is found dead at her elite boarding school, soccer-star Kay Donovan follows a scavenger hunt which implicates suspects increasingly close to her, unraveling her group of popular friends and perfectly constructed life"-- Provided by publisher.
Of Curses and Kisses
Published in 2020
Told in two voices, Jaya Rao, an East Indian princess, and Grey Emerson, an English lord, suffer the effects of a centuries-old feud when they meet at an elite Colorado boarding school.
Hysteria
Published in 2013
After stabbing and killing her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Mallory, who has no memory of the event, is sent away to a boarding school to escape the gossip and threats, but someone or something is following her.
When the Ground is Hard
Published in 2019
At Swaziland's Keziah Christian Academy, where the wealth and color of one's father determines one's station, once-popular Adele bonds with poor Lottie over a book and a series of disasters.
Anna and the French Kiss
Published in 2010
When Anna's romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.
Wilder Girls
Published in 2019
Friends Hetty, Byatt, and Reece go to extremes trying to uncover the dark truth about the mysterious disease that has had them quarantined at their boarding school on a Maine island.
Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize
Published in 2021
"Lucy Clark has had it. After being bullied one too many times, Lucy retaliates. But when the fallout is far worse than she meant it to be, she gets sent to Manhattan to serve as a full-time companion to the eccentric Edith Fox. Edith is glamorous and mysterious--nothing like Lucy expected. Though Edith's world of hidden gardens and afternoon teas is beguiling, there's one other thing about her that makes her unlike anyone Lucy has ever met...she thinks someone is trying to kill her. And it's up to Lucy to find out who it is."--Amazon.
Note Worthy
Published in 2017
It's the start of Jordan Sun's junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she's an Alto 2, which�in the musical theatre world�is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody's falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it's no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight.
Carry On
Published in 2015
#1 New York Times bestselling author! Booklist Editors' Choice 2015 - Youth! Named a "Best Book of 2015" by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer! Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen. That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git , but he's probably right. Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here ? it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up. Carry On - The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.
The Castle School (for Troubled Girls)
Published in 2021
Paralyzed by grief, Moira feels punished when her parents send her to a therapeutic boarding school in Maine where she meets eleven other troubled girls and gradually begins to understand her parents' true intentions behind sending her there.
Bright Burning Stars
Published in 2019
Kate and Marine, best friends and longtime students at the intensely competitive Paris Opera Ballet School, must decide what price they are willing to pay to win the only available spot in the professional ballet company that operates the school.
Winger
Published in 2014
Two years younger than his classmates at a prestigious boarding school, fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West grapples with living in the dorm for troublemakers, falling for his female best friend who thinks of him as just a kid, and playing wing on the Varsity rugby team with some of his frightening new dorm-mates.
Don't Breathe a Word
Published in 2021
"Eva has never felt like she belonged . . . not in her own family or with her friends in New York City, and certainly not at a fancy boarding school like Hardwick Preparatory Academy. So, when she is invited to join the Fives, an elite secret society, she jumps at the opportunity to finally be a part of something. But what if the Fives are about more than just having the best parties and receiving special privileges from the school? What if they are also responsible for keeping some of Hardwick's biggest secrets buried? 1962: There is only one reason why Connie would volunteer to be one of the six students to participate in testing Hardwick's nuclear fallout shelter: Craig Allenby. While the thought of nuclear war sends her into a panic, she can't pass up the opportunity to spend four days locked in with the school's golden boy. However, Connie and the other students quickly discover that there is more to this 'test' than they previously thought. As they are forced to follow an escalating series of commands, Connie realizes that one wrong move could have dangerous consequences. Separated by sixty years, Eva and Connie's stories become inextricably intertwined as Eva unravels the mystery of how six students went into the fallout shelter all those years ago . . . but only five came out"-- Provided by publisher.
Crave
Published in 2020
Discover the New York Times bestselling series! An Amazon Best YA Book of 2020 Glitter magazine's #1 Pick for Best YA of 2020 ***INCLUDES 3 BONUS SCENES FROM THE HERO'S POV*** My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods...or monsters. I still can't decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me. Then there's Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn't felt anything for a hundred years. But there's something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what's broken in me. Which could spell death for us all. Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I'm wondering if I was brought here intentionally?as the bait. The Crave series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Crave Book #2 Crush Book #3 Covet Book #4 Court
Girls with Sharp Sticks
Published in 2019
In the near future at a girls-only private high school isolated in the Colorado mountains, Mena and her classmates--under the watchful eyes of their Guardian, professors, and analyst--are trained to be beautiful and obedient for their sponsors and investors.
How We Fall Apart
Published in 2021
Nancy Luo, Krystal Choi, Akil Patel, and Alexander Lin, juniors at Manhattan's elite Sinclair Prep, are forced to confront their secrets after Jamie Ruan, once their closest friend, is found dead.