The Greatest Books of All Time on Youth

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
86 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
153 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
247 Kim Rudyard Kipling 1901 British English
335 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani 1962 Italian Italian
337 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
384 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
552 The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane 1895 American English
573 Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Judy Blume 1970 American English
695 Boys Alive Pier Paolo Pasolini 1955 Italian Italian
717 A Sport and a Pastime James Salter 1967 American English
779 The Outsiders S. E. Hinton 1967 American English
845 Evelina Fanny Burney 1778 British English
949 Nada Carmen Laforet 1944 Spanish Spanish
956 The Girls of Slender Means Muriel Spark 1963 British English
1061 First Love Ivan Turgenev 1860 Russian Russian
1077 Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee 1959 British English
1127 The Devil in the Flesh Raymond Radiguet 1923 French French
1216 Billy Liar Keith Waterhouse 1959 British English
1235 Cheri Colette 1920 French French
1341 The Graduate Charles Webb 1963 American English
1433 Random Family Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 2003 American English
1437 Bébo's Girl Carlo Cassola 1960 Italian Italian
1446 The Tongue Set Free Elias Canetti 1977 Austrian German
1469 Last Afternoons With Teresa Juan Marsé 1966 Spanish Spanish
1490 The Garden Party And Other Stories Katherine Mansfield 1922 New Zealand English
1575 Borstal Boy Brendan Behan 1958 Irish English
1608 The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner Alan Sillitoe 1959 British English
1741 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 Sue Townsend 1982 British English
1783 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
1815 The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman A. E. Housman 1939 British English
2115 Just Kids Patti Smith 2010 American English
2208 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2353 Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Dai Sijie 2000 Chinese French
2384 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2514 The New Sorrows of Young W. Ulrich Plenzdorf 1972 German German
2599 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2679 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2680 El Día Del Watusi Francisco Casavella 2002 Spanish Spanish
2726 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2733 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2737 Look Back In Anger John Osborne 1956 British English
2768 Amsterdam Stories Nescio 1918 Dutch Dutch
2845 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
3075 One Writer's Beginnings Eudora Welty 1984 American English
3081 Flappers And Philosophers F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3230 Growing Up Absurd Paul Goodman 1960 American English
3321 Our Lady of the Assassins Fernando Vallejo 1994 Colombian Spanish
3325 The Sound of Waves Yukio Mishima 1954 Japanese Japanese
3490 Seminario Sulla Gioventù Aldo Busi 1984 Italian Italian
3493 Selected Poems Pierre Ronsard 1501 French French
3573 Youth Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
3587 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3638 Child Of The Revolution Wolfgang Leonhard 1955 German German
3638 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3638 Die Feuerzangenbowle Heinrich Spoerl 1933 German German
3820 The Commitments Roddy Doyle 1987 Irish English
3860 This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3870 Die Skeptische Generation Helmut Schelsky 1957 German German
4088 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English
4148 Forever... Judy Blume 1975 American English
4309 The Last September Elizabeth Bowen 1929 Irish English
4436 In Dreams Begin Responsibilities And Other Stories Delmore Schwartz 1938 American English
4510 The Aula Hermann Kant 1965 German German
4569 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4679 The Paul Street Boys Ferenc Molnár 1906 Hungarian Hungarian
4723 Of Time and the River Thomas Wolfe 1935 American English
5150 The Copenhagen Trilogy Tiina Nunnally, Michael Favala Goldman, Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
5187 Stay True Hua Hsu 2022 Chinese English
5666 Moira Julien Green 1950 French French
5720 Youth J. M. Coetzee 2002 South African English
5740 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5808 An Ordinary Youth Walter Kempowski 1971 German Unknown
5845 The Last Shot Darcy Frey 1994 American English
5842 A Month In The Country Ivan Turgenev 1855 Russian Russian
5898 Complete Works Arthur Rimbaud 1895 French French
5970 Data From The Decade Of The Sixties Thanassis Valtinos 1989 Greek Greek
6003 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6132 L'hiver De Force Réjean Ducharme 1973 Canadian French
6321 Living Up The Street Gary Soto 1985 American English
6425 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6564 Candy Mian Mian 2000 Chinese Chinese
6585 Crystal Boys Pai Hsien-yung 1983 Chinese Chinese
6821 Tales Of The Jazz Age F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
6865 Loupežník Karel Čapek 1988 Czech Czech
7055 Golden Age Wang Xiaobo 1997 Chinese Chinese
7215 The Poetical Works Of Robert Herrick Robert Herrick 1648 British English
7215 Complete Poems Of Alfred De Musset Alfred de Musset 1857 French French
7215 The Awkward Age Henry James 1899 British English
7790 Weetzie Bat Francesca Lia Block 1989 American English
8003 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8599 No Me Esperen En Abril Alfredo Bryce Echenique 1994 Peruvian Spanish
8646 Treatises On Friendship And Old Age Marcus Tullius Cicero -44 Latin Latin
8793 Here Are The Young Men Rob Doyle 2014 Irish English
9366 The Conspiracy Paul Nizan 1938 French French
9365 Rosario Tijeras Jorge Franco 1999 Colombian Spanish
9374 Stolen Spring Hans Scherfig 1940 Danish Danish
9508 Dita Saxova Arnost Lustig 1962 Czech Czech
9572 Beneath The Wheel Hermann Hesse 1906 German German
9857 The English Teacher R. K. Narayan 1945 Indian English
9886 Novel With Cocaine M. Ageyev 1934 Russian Russian
9984 Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom Nik Cohn 1969 British English
10048 A Shropshire Lad A. E. Housman 1896 British English
10063 In The Café Of Lost Youth Patrick Modiano 2007 French French
10305 Cleaned Out Annie Ernaux 1974 French French
11073 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11087 Family Ba Jin 1931 Chinese Chinese
11226 Fargo Rock City Chuck Klosterman 2001 American English
11390 Poor Caleb Femi 2020 British English
11634 Frank Fairlegh Francis Edward Smedley 1850 British English
11932 This Young Monster Charlie Fox 2017 British English
11936 Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun Geoffrey Canada 1995 American English
12043 Akira Katsuhiro Otomo 1982 Japanese Japanese
12404 Shapeshifters Aimee Cox 2015 American English
13817 Allegri, Gioventù Manlio Cancogni 1959 Italian Italian
13885 Pygmy Chuck Palahniuk 2009 American English
13941 Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Bryan Lee O'Malley 2004 Canadian English
14072 The Girl Who Played Go Shan Sa 2001 Chinese French
14107 Sa Aking Henerasyon Kerima Lorena Tariman Filipino Filipino