By Alex Torres
Music has a powerful effect on people. Rock can help you cope with your angriest frustrations in life. Pop can help get your body going. Classics can lull you to serenity after a stressful day. And Musical Showtunes can bring out your inner freak! Music is so powerful it can have an even deeper effect in books. Music can set the mood for the stories and characters in their journeys. I have compiled the top ten songs for each YA book that best relates to the stories’ plot, conflict, theme, and its characters.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Bird Set Free by SIA
- Carry You by Ruelle (Feat. Fleurie)
- Enemy by Tommee Profitt (Feat. Beacon Light & Sam Tinnesz)
- Fire Starter by Demi Lovato
- Game of Survival by Ruelle
- She’s So High by Tal Bachman
- Supermodel Taylor Dayne
- Fireflies by Owl City
- Unstoppable by SIA
- Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons
Divergent by Veronica Roth
- In My City by Ellie Goulding
- Fly by Hilary Duff
- Brave by Sara Bareilles
- Bring Me Back to Life by Ht Bristol, Charlie Bannister, Vincent Steele, & Nine One One
- Burn by Ellie Goulding
- Can’t Knock Me Down by Pretty Panther (Feat. Anna Mae)
- Centuries by Fall Out Boy
- Clarity by Sam Tsui
- Fight Song by Rachel Platten
- Heart by Heart by Demi Lovato
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- God Only Knows by for King & Country
- Into the Wild by LP
- Journey (Ready to Fly) by Natasha Blume
- Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran
- When You Believe by Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston
- Be Here for You by Sam Tinnesz
- Side by Side by Sofia Wylie
- Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
- Stars (The Shack Version) by Skillet
- We Rise Like Smoke by Kyler England
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
- lovely by Billie Eilish & Khalid
- Rescue Me (How The Story Ends) by Kerrie Roberts
- Roaring Thunder by Navia Robinson
- Zero to Hero by Ariana Grande
- Don’t Let Me Go by RAIGN
- You’ll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins
- Magic (Pilot) by Selena Gomez
- There’s a Hero in You by Tommee Profitt (Feat. Fleurie)
- When Can I See You Again? by Owl City
- Love Wins by Carrie Underwood
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson
- Sound of War by Tommee Profitt (Feat. Fleurie)
- Still I Rise by Thutmose
- What’s Up Danger by Blackway & Black Caviar
- Without You by David Guetta (Feat. Usher)
- You Don’t Know Me by Victorious Cast (Feat. Elizabeth Gillies)
- Am I Wrong by Ali Brustofski
- Animal (Billboard Remix) by Ke$ha
- Bad by Michael Jackson
- Blow by Ke$ha
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
- Protecting Me by Aly & AJ
- Right There by Ariana Grande (Feat. Big Sean)
- Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey
- Wait for Me by Hadestown Cast
- Unsteady (Erich Lee Gravity Remix) by X Ambassadors
- E.T. Katy Perry
- Unconditionally by Katy Perry
- This is the Hunt by Ruelle
- Sucker by Jonas Brothers
When you listen to music while you read, it makes you feel like you’re a part of their fictional worlds more. It also helps you to connect a character’s inner thoughts and feelings. It’s the same feeling when you watch a movie or television show with epic music playing in the background. Music and Books are a match made in sound and paper!