Fireborne

Reach for this book when your teenager is wrestling with the complexities of social justice, the weight of family legacy, or the feeling of being caught between two worlds. It is a sophisticated high fantasy that follows Annie and Lee, two orphans from opposite ends of a fallen class system who are now elite dragonriders. As a new revolution threatens their home, they must decide where their true loyalties lie: with the regime that raised them or the history that defines them. This story is ideal for older teens because it treats political and moral dilemmas with significant nuance. It explores themes of meritocracy, survivor's guilt, and the difficulty of doing the right thing when the right thing is unclear. Parents will appreciate how it encourages critical thinking about power structures and personal integrity without offering easy, black and white answers.