In “The Influence of Anxiety,” Frances FitzGerald (2004) traces the history of young adult literature and argues that the genre is still little understood:

Like the world of adolescence generally, YA literature is, as one historian remarked, something of a secret garden, or a ghetto. Parents know about children’s literature, but they don’t often read their older kids’ books. The reviews appear almost exclusively in publications for librarians and booksellers and in small journals of juvenile literature, such as The Horn Book. The reviewers are almost all YA librarians and other specialists. Few critics of adult literature know the names, much less the work, of the authors the specialists admire. Thus YA editors, booksellers, and librarians are the sole gatekeepers to this domain; and the librarians, the arbiters of literary merit. (p. 62)

FitzGerald is somewhat skeptical of YA literature, critiquing the preponderance of the “problem novel” within the genre. Many others, however, praise “YA” for speaking directly to the interests of young people and for drawing in a set of readers who may not otherwise be inclined to engage with fiction.

Aside from YA literature, and considering the question of engaging diverse readers, teachers might consider the merit of introducing alternative format books — such as graphic novels or verse novels. Finally, picture books are a complex form worthy of examination at any level, and with particular affordances for appealing to diverse readers for diverse reasons.

Discussions of a range of books, YA and otherwise, that might appeal to diverse readers in grades 8 through 12 may be found here: http://sites.wiki.ubc.ca/dlc/YAliterature

Reference:
FitzGerald, Frances. (2000). The Influence of Anxiety. Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 309, Issue 1852, p62-70. (To access this article search under “journals” for Harper’s Magazine from the UBC Library website and locate the correct volume and issue.)