Don't deny it. We've all had mad crushes on the boys we read about in YA. They're mysterious, poetic, loyal, and they can add a lot to a good story. These days, as gender roles are tested and love is redefined, male love interests are becoming more diverse, more interesting, and more complex.
Looking back on the ever long list of YA novels and series that I've read, there have been so many beautifully crafted YA boys that are impossible to forget. It goes far, far beyond the way the author describes their ocean blue eyes or their gently tousled hair.
And here are some of the best.
Number One:
Gale Hawthorne
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
I was all about Gale as soon as he showed up in the beginning of The Hunger Games. He was clever, honest, and served as a rock for the people who loved him. He's an easy guy to overlook as a third of a complicated love triangle, but let's be real. Gale is one under appreciated character. One thing that drew me to him immediately was the way Katniss Everdeen described their friendship. She tells the reader that he is the only person with whom she can be herself around. He understands her and they create a little world where they can escape from the struggles of their lives.
Gale is a quiet kind of strong, doing what he needs to do in order to protect the ones he loves. He takes on this burden at a young age, enduring hardship while helplessly watching injustice surround him. He is resourceful, self sacrificing, and brave. When Katniss is sent off to the Games, Gale is the one who cares for her family. When the Capitol bombs their district, it is his quick thinking that saves more than nine hundred people.
But Gale is also flawed. After years of harboring anger and hatred towards his oppressors, he becomes misguided when it is all finally put to use. Eagerly taking on the role of a soldier, Gale adopts an eye for an eye method of handling a war. However, there was so much of it he didn't understand. Tired of living in a broken world, he just wanted to be a part of the revolution. He wanted to make a difference. He just got lost along the way.
For me, Gale's story is heartbreaking, especially the way his life long friendship with Katniss slowly breaks apart. He loved fiercely and was solid in his loyalty. He was a protector and a friend, trying to find his place in the world. After the fall of the Capitol, I'd like to believe he found some peace.
Number Two:
Jason Kerwin
Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
When it comes to romance, it takes a lot to make me swoon. Do people still say swoon? Anyways, Jason and his love for Aza Ray Boyle in Magonia were mesmerizing. I cried. Yes, I cried over a teenage love story and it wasn't even a John Green book. This is serious.
This book itself is beautifully unique, and Jason is a huge part of that. The chapters that he narrates are unlike anything I have ever read. Every word breathes such an authentic life, capturing pain so perfectly that I felt like the pain was my own.
And here's the thing: Jason is a big weirdo. He doesn't walk through the halls and draw in the attention of every girl in school. He's rebellious and angsty, but not in a way that makes him desirable to a wide crowd. He's just Jason, living to please no one. That's what makes him perfect for Aza, a dying girl living in a world where the air she breathes is her worst enemy. Their friendship is so endearing it almost hurts to read about it because you want them to be together so badly. One of my favorite things about Jason is that he adores Aza no matter what. He sees her as strong and perfect when, by the world's standards, she is as fragile as they come. He looks past what no one else can and sees who she really is beyond the death that constantly threatens her.
And he believes. Even when the odds and facts stack against him, he believes in Aza's life and his love for her. He's afraid, broken, and devastated but he refuses to give up. Isn't that what love is, when you break it down to the core of it?
Jason's journey is the kind that you feel honored to be a part of. I don't know what's in store for him and Aza Ray in the sequels to come, but I know I'm going to love finding out.
Number Three:
Todd Hewitt
The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
I still haven't read the third book, but Todd and Viola are some of the best YA characters I have ever encountered. With Jason and Gale, we get to hear about the life long friendships that have been developing for years before we show up. In this trilogy, we get to see it all happen. We get to be there as Todd goes from a confused, scared boy to a man on the brink of war and falling in love. His character arcs and developments are fascinating, especially when it comes to what he learns about killing and violence. Todd has a purity about him that is tested constantly throughout the endless troubles he and Viola face. He has to see the absolute worst of humanity. He has to stand toe to toe with indomitable enemies while discovering the true horrors of the world he lives in.
But it is his friendship with Viola that really drives his growth forward. You can witness the way he starts to care for her, and she for him. They challenge each other, argue, fight, and bicker, but they become something so much more than just allies marching through a war zone. Todd may not understand love or grasp what it all means as the feelings creep up on him, but he would die for Viola. And, even more importantly, he would live for her. With her.
Todd's courage comes from the need to go on. He is not a killer, even if the anger he feels leads him towards that direction. He is a hero even though he never intended to be.
Number Four: Noah Shaw
Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin
So. It needs to be said. Noah Shaw is hot stuff.
Okay, moving on. This story is dark, diving into a deep good versus evil theme that takes two characters and combines their lives on a twisted journey of supernatural oddities. Noah Shaw starts out as a dreamlike piece of brooding perfection, cigarette, British accent and all. He wastes no time with pleasantries, with a blunt case of honesty and a wicked jawline.
But then, another side of Noah comes to life as he falls helplessly in love with the ever destructive Mara Dyer. Their relationship is never easy, as she'll likely drain the life out of him every time they touch. However, Noah looks past all of the weird that surrounds her. He barely bats an eye at the danger she presents to him.
There's something desperate about him, something that draws him to her and won't let him walk away. It's love, and it's something more. They spend so much time protecting each other and forgetting to breathe around each other that the few times they do get to spend together are so perfect for building tension and leaving the reader wanting them to make it.
In the end and always, Noah makes his own destiny. He loves scarcely, but also madly. He is strong in knowing who he is and who he wants to be.
Number Five: Finnick Odair
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.
Suzanne Collins knows what's she's doing.
Everyone loves Finnick. We first meet him as a man in a mask of charm and arrogance, trying to please the Capitol in order to protect the one he loves. As we get to know him, we learn of the depths of his suffering and anguish, and he becomes someone who we want to love and fight for. Finnick isn't a part of the major romance in the trilogy, but his relationship with Annie is not to be overlooked. It is a precious love, holding strong even through the years of torment brought on by their participation in the Hunger Games. Finnick would do anything for Annie, and he did.
One of my favorite things about Finnick is that we get to see him at his lowest of lows, losing his mind down in District 13 when he knows the Capitol has Annie as their prisoner. The man who paraded around half naked, offering Katniss a sugar cube, is broken down to a shell of that man clinging to sense under the ground. And even after he is reunited with his love, he doesn't hesitate to help the cause to change the world, heading into the Capitol in hopes of finally finding freedom.
So few deaths have affected the YA community as much as Finnick's. It was tragic, maddeningly swift, and seemingly useless. However, that is the sign of a truly great character. We continue to mourn him every time we read those tragic words or watch the fateful scene through our finger tips. Finnick died with courage, fighting for a future in which his son and his wife could be free.