With almost 5 billion videos watched each day and eight out of ten average 18–49-year-olds tuning in each month, YouTube is a medium that allows for creativity, innovation, and sheer joy. A 2019 PEW Research Center study reports YouTube is the most popular social media for teenagers, with 85% of US teens saying they use it and roughly one-third saying they use it all the time. BookTube has been growing for a number of years, and for those who aren’t already tapped into the world of book lovers who share their insights and passions on YouTube, it can be challenging to figure out where to begin. Let’s look at eight excellent, diverse, engaging BookTubers who focus the bulk of their channels on talking all things young adult.

These suggestions are but the tip of the iceberg. They’re useful for book recommendations, for thinking about how readers connect with and talk about books, and for understanding the various methods of reader’s advisory that can get good books into the hands of readers.

Christine Riccio, Poland Bananas Books

One of the most well-known YA BookTubers is Christine, who published her own YA novel this spring called Again, But Better. Her professionally–edited and shot videos dig into book reviews, discuss the various subgenres of YA, and go deep into the fandom of some of the biggest authors and books in the YA world. Christine enjoys being goofy and over-the-top, and all of her videos show this fun comedic side. Popular videos include her attempts to sort YA books into Hogwarts houses, series she’s ashamed she hasn’t finished yet, and a newbie’s guide to science fiction and fantasy.

Francina Simone

Francina, who is an author and all-around book enthusiast, talks not only about the books she loves and has been reading; she also digs deep into the news and hot topics of discussion in the YA literature world. Some of her most popular videos include an exploration of sex in YA as it relates to books like those by Sarah J. Maas, the things she dislikes about YA, and what it means when content is (or is not) problematic. She’s not afraid to be outspoken and honest.

Ellias (Formerly Brandon the Bookworm)

With a mix of emotionally honest and vulnerable videos and a wicked love for all things YA, Ellias’s BookTube is a great channel for readers who want a full picture of a book lover within and beyond their passion for reading. Ellias’s introductory video is a vital watch, as it explains why he’s changed the name of his BookTube channel, as well as his own name, which helps contextualize the videos he produces. The channel features bookshelf tours, recommendations for popular genres, and videos that highlight books Ellias didn’t finish. . . or found himself surprised to enjoy.

Lala/Kayla, BooksandLala

Organized into categories, Lala’s BookTube is full of discussions of popular books, to-be-read lists, book-to-movie explorations, and more. Lala also enjoys reviewing books, and often talks about them in conjunction with the broader genre. For readers who enjoy readathons or who’ve been interested in starting one, Lala is a queen of participating in numerous such events and documents her experiences in them. She’s been BookTubing since 2014, so there’s a goldmine of backlist reading and reviews here, too.

Sandy, Sandy Reads A Lot

Want a lot of bang for your BookTube buck? Try out Sandy’s channel, where she focuses book hauls and highlights the titles she’s read or wants to read in a given month. Likewise, she highlights the goods that arrive in the monthly YA book subscription boxes she gets. Sandy talks about genres she loves and book trends she’s noticing. She isn’t afraid to talk about being disappointed by a book or when she has abandoned one altogether.

Jesse George, Jesse The Reader

Like Christine, Jesse has been around BookTube for a long time and is one of its most well-known figures. His presence and rapport with the audience are reminiscent of John Green. Well-versed in YA, Jesse and his channel stand out because he covers broader topics about life as a reader. Some of his most popular videos include what happens when you do not finish a book, the weird faces readers make while invested in a book, the challenges of recommending books, and more.

Kav, Reading Solace

If you’re interested in hearing about YA from the perspective of a teenager, you’ll want to be watching Kav. She’s 17, and she loves to share her opinions about a wide variety of YA books, ranging from those by established authors to quieter, more under-the-radar titles. Kav is a passionate feminist with a strong interest in social justice, and those priorities come through in not only her reviews, but in her videos that tackle things like diversity within BookTube, her personal experiences as a queer teenager, and living with a mental illness. She weaves these topics effortlessly into her discussions of books in a way that highlights how deeply books and representation matter.

Adriana, Perpetual Pages

Another BookTuber effortlessly weaving feminism, social justice, and books together is Adriana, who identifies as nonbinary with they/them/their pronouns. Their BookTube features a wide array of book hauls—especially useful for collection development purposes—and reviews of new YA books. Adriana participates in a number of readathons that highlight black voices, as well as queer voices, and they’ve also offered up book recommendations by mood to add depth to their reviews and insights.

Kelly Jensen is a former teen librarian who worked in several public libraries before pursuing a full-time career in writing and editing. Her current position is with Book Riot, where she focuses on talking about young adult literature in all of its manifestations. Her books include Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World and (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, which was named a best book of 2018 by the Washington Post and earned a Schneider Family Book Award Honor. Her third anthology Body Talk, a collection about the physical and political nature of the human body, is upcoming in Fall 2020.