Teen and YA Fiction Title Generator
Teen readers can tell when a title was written by an adult trying too hard. Give the generator your narrator, stakes and genre, from contemporary to dystopian, and get YA titles with a real voice.
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Senior Year Never Happened
Four friends, one spring break, and the secret that ended them.
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Ghosting Lila Park
A girl is haunted by the friend she stopped texting.
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Ash-Marked
Teens branded by their magic fight for a single exemption.
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Is This What Okay Feels Like?
A sixteen-year-old's first year home after residential treatment.
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Love Letters to the Wrong Twin
Rom-com: anonymous notes, identical twins and a very confused sender.
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Night Swim at Quarry Lake
Six friends dive in; five come out, and nobody remembers why.
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Second Daughter of the Salt Throne
A princess raised as a body double inherits the crown.
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Varsity Liar
A soccer star fakes an injury to dodge a scholarship.
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Things I Didn't Post
A teen influencer's private notebook from the summer she went viral.
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Make It Look Like an Accident
A stage manager overhears a murder plan during rehearsal.
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Between Stations
Two teens on rival space stations fall for each other by radio.
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Ninety Days of Yes
A shy junior agrees to every invitation for one summer.
Naming Teen and YA Fiction books: what works
This subgenre is dedicated to the experiences, challenges, and adventures of young adults. It's about self-discovery, friendship, and navigating the complexities of adolescence.
Titles should connect with the emotions, aspirations, and struggles of teenage readers, offering relatable and engaging stories.
Write the title in the narrator's voice
YA is often told in first person, and the best titles sound like the narrator talking. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a confession, and To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han is the label on a hatbox of letters. Read your opening chapter and listen for a phrase only your narrator would say.
Fantasy: promise the crew or the cost
YA fantasy titles often tell readers who they'll be running with or what it will cost them. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo promises a gang of six before you read a word of the heist. Name your crew, your curse or the price of your magic rather than the world's geography.
Long titles are welcome here
YA has room for titles most shelves would reject. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz is nine words and became a classic of the category. If a long title captures the voice and the relationship, trust it.
Avoid this year's slang
Traditional publishing often takes a year or two from deal to shelf, and teen slang ages faster than that. A title built on a current meme can feel dated by launch day. Use plain, emotional words and let the dialogue inside carry the slang.
Well-known Teen and YA Fiction titles
Titles that already work in this genre. Read them for shape and length: how many words, how much they give away, what they leave out.
| Title | Author | Published |
|---|---|---|
| The Fault in Our Stars | John Green | 2012 |
| The Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins | 2008 |
| Divergent | Veronica Roth | 2011 |
| The Maze Runner | James Dashner | 2009 |
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Rick Riordan | 2005 |
| The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | 2005 |
| Twilight | Stephenie Meyer | 2005 |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | 1960 |
| The Giver | Lois Lowry | 1993 |
| The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | 1999 |
| The Catcher in the Rye | J.D. Salinger | 1951 |
| The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas | 2017 |
| Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher | 2007 |
| The Outsiders | S.E. Hinton | 1967 |
| Eragon | Christopher Paolini | 2002 |
| City of Bones | Cassandra Clare | 2007 |
| The Lightning Thief | Rick Riordan | 2005 |
| Looking for Alaska | John Green | 2005 |
| Hush, Hush | Becca Fitzpatrick | 2009 |
| The Princess Diaries | Meg Cabot | 2000 |
More Kids and YA Fiction title generators
Or see the whole shelf: Kids and YA Fiction title ideas.
A plot, a first scene, a shelf
Questions about Teen and YA Fiction titles
Should a YA title sound young?
No. Teens read up, and many adults read YA, so titles that announce 'teen' or sound like a school assembly turn both groups away. Aim for the voice of your narrator, which will sound young enough on its own.
How do I title a YA series?
Pick a shape and repeat it. Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy runs Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising, so each new book is recognizable at a glance. Make sure the pattern can stretch to the number of books you plan.
How is a YA title different from a middle grade title?
Middle grade titles lean toward adventure, humor and mystery, and often name the hero. YA titles lean toward voice, romance, identity and higher stakes, and can be darker or more ironic. If a twelve-year-old and a seventeen-year-old would both grab it, decide which one the book is really for.
A title deserves a book.
Put it on a cover, write the first chapter under it, and see if it holds.
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