What to Read

YA Books Set on the High Seas

Set sail on the high seas with these reads. These books explore the horizons and travel to new places thanks to ships and sailing. From traveling to new continents, bouncing between islands, or even across magical lands, these stories are filled with high stakes adventures, monsters, and even a spark of romance. Enjoy these seven YA books that are set on the high seas.

Fable by Adrienne Young

Fable is the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows and has lived her entire life on the sea. It has been four years since she has watched her mother drown in a powerful storm, and the next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island full of thieves. As she tries to survive, the only goal that pushes her is to leave the island, find her father, and demand her rightful place beside him and his crew. Fable enlists the help of the young trader West to find her father, but West isn’t who he seems, and her father’s competitors have multiplied. Fable and West will have to survive more than just storms to stay alive.

A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

King Midas once had the curse to be able to turn anything into gold, but when he accidentally turned his daughter, Princess Kora, into gold, he gave up The Touch forever. But years later, Kora’s skin still shines gold and she has secret powers that are getting harder to hide. She avoids the court’s gossip any way she can, but when she meets a young duke, she might actually meet someone who doesn’t fear her. When a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, it puts King Midas in a vulnerable position, but Kora is the only one who can save him with her sense for gold. Kora must set sail to find the items and save him before it’s too late.

The sequel, A Curse of Gold, will be available on Sept. 22.

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Flora takes on the pirate identity of Florian for survival. But on this voyage, the pirates decide to sell their passengers into slavery, but Flora is drawn to Lady Evelyn Hasegawa who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Evelyn and Flora don’t expect to find a deep bond with one another, and soon they are planning an escape that includes freeing a captured mermaid and involving the witch, the Pirate Supreme, and the Sea itself.

The Beholder by Anna Bright

Selah is the only daughter of the leader of the Potomac and knows her duty is to find the perfect match to help secure the future of her people. But after a horrible public rejection from her closest friend, Selah’s stepmother decides that Selah must sail across the Atlantic. There she can find a potential suitor and if she doesn’t find one, she might as well not come home at all. But as Selah boards the ship, she realizes that there are more stakes at play than just her happily ever after.

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

When Caledonia’s family is killed by Aric Athair and his team of Bullets, she decides to captain her own ship filled with women and girls whose families have also been murdered by Aric. They are determined to stay alive and take down Aric’s armored fleet. But when her best friend and second-in-command is saved by a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia wonders if he could be the key to overthrowing Aric – or be the downfall for the women of her ship.

The third book, Stormbreak, will be available Nov. 10.

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Amora is the high princess to the island kingdom of Visidia who has spent her entire life training to be the High Necromancer or the master of souls. She must prove her mastery of the dangerous magic to secure her place as heir to the throne. But when her demonstration goes wrong, Amora is forced to flee, she strikes a deal with the pirate Bastian: secure her throne to help him obtain his stolen magic.

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Nix has spent her entire life in her father’s ship, sailing to destinations both real and imagined. As long as her father has his map, he can take them anywhere. But there is one map he is obsessed with finding: one to 1868 Honolulu to find his lost love, Nix’s mother. But getting the map and going there could erase Nix’s very existence.