Young Adult Resource List

By Olivia Esteban

Dark Academia

When Juniper gets a scholarship to the prestigious Ellsmere n Academy, she quickly finds that it’s not as idyllic as it seems. The rumors surrounding a mythical beast in the woods are growing while the most popular girl in school is constantly out to sabotage Juniper whenever she gets the chance. This fast-paced graphic novel explores the struggles of finding your place in a new environment set in an uncertain dark and mysterious place.

Stevie Bell sets out in her first year at Ellingham Academy to solve the cold cse of the murder of the wife and daughter of the school’s founder, Albert Ellingham.

After serving ten years of jail time, Oliver recalls his experience as a Shakespeare student at Dellecher Classical Conservatory and his relationships with his classmates that led him to pleading guilty to murder.

Felicity Morrow’s return to the Dalloway School one year after her girlfriend’s death coincides with Ellis Haley’s entrance to the school and they work together to investigate the Dalloway Five-the five brutal deaths of Dalloway students that occurred during the first decade that Dalloway opened.

This historical fiction takes place in 18th century Edinburgh, where Hazel Sinnet is secretly taking anatomy classes until she’s exposed as a woman. When her professor agrees to let her take the physician’s test, she begins to work with Jack, a grave snatcher, to study corpses.

When Effy, a girl who has always had visions of the Fairy King, gets the chance to redesign Hiraeth Manor, which is the estate of the author of her favorite book, she jumps at the chance.

Rachel Chavez is recruited to the Mary Shelley club at the prestigious Manhattan Prep, which is a mysterious student society that organizes “Fear Tests,” which are pranks that are played on other students. But when things start to go too far, Rachel realizes that the Mary Shelley Club isn’t everything she thought it would be.

Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at his high school, he’s constantly living in his older brother’s shadow, and he can see dead people. Usually it’s not that bad, as ghosts are usually stuck in loops of reliving their deaths over and over again, but when he meets Sawyer, a ghost who took the lives of six students as a school shooter before taking his own life. Sawyer has big plans in his afterlife that center around Jake.

The graphic novel follows Sydney, a high school freshman whose problems are the same as any other 15 year old: she’s in love with her best friend, she’s constantly dealing with her little brother, and of, course, she has to keep her telekinetic powers in check. After her father’s death, her guidance counselor suggested she keep a diary of how she’s feeling and she catalogs how whenever she’s feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, her powers get the better of her, causing chaos and destruction all around her.

Adina Walker has to be perfect at everything she does. But after one slip as a student on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy leaves her blacklisted from every Ivy League college, she’s willing to do anything she can to regain her reputation. Her only chance is a competition called “The Finish” sponsored by the school founders.

Dead Poets Society
1. Noted as one of the quintessential “Dark academia films,” Dead Poets Society follows the students of Welton Academy as they navigate the ups and downs of high school under the unconventional teachings of their new English Teacher, John Keating.

For general information about the emerging genre of dark academia, this blog is a great place to start. Darkacademia.com discusses the origins of the dark academia aesthetic, examples, and subgenres as well.

The 80’s cult classic has become a staple in the Dark Academia genre. Veronica, a nobody at her school, befriends the popular group known as the “Heathers” in order to get the bullies to leave her alone. But when Veronica meets JD and they inadvertently cause the death of the queen bee, Veronica realizes her life might be in danger.

Wes Anderson’s highly stylized film technique lend itself very well to the dark academia genre in this coming-of-age film about two children that run away together.

This fist-person exploration video game about a girl returning to her childhood home after an accident that killed her family is a great example of storytelling and visual themes coming together to create a dark academia-style game.

While Pinterest is a huge platform for sharing ideas through photos, the Dark Academia style blew up on Pinterest. The different interpretations of how the DA style can be interpreted into outfits, makeup, hair, decorations, and other lifestyle aspects can all be explored on Pinterest.

The 2019 film adaptation of Little Women captures a lot of what grew DA’s popularity. The literary themes and familiar characters already made Little Women a DA staple, but Greta Gerwig’s film style further cemented its place in the aesthetic.

Everything about this tv show embodies the Dark Academia aesthetic: the vampires that Buffy is haunting, the need for research in a gothic-style library, and the moody and turbulent personal lives of the characters make this a quintessential DA show.

One of the shows that put Dark Academia on the map through it’s popularity on Tumblr, this 2013 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson solving mysteries in modern-day London.

Based on a hit graphic novel of the same name, this Netflix show follows Alyssa, a girl who runs away from home along with James, who is trying to kill her.