The DB book club
Inspired by this post, here’s a chance to share some GOOD, current YA fiction with each other. And if we have daughters and younger siblings, to share it with them as well. So let’s (virtually) grab a double cheesburger and fries at the DB andiscuss.
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I can’t wait! this should be cool.
This is all kinds of awesome.
I actually have a few recommendations, if y’all are interested.
Jenny Downham’s “Before I Die” is one of the best books I’ve read in the past few years. Yes, it’s about a young girl who has Leukemia, but it’s so far from the Lurlene McDaniel-type stuff that I hate to even write her name in the same sentence. Downham’s book is beautifully written, completely engrossing, and something you won’t be able to put down. It’s way sad though, so be warned.
Deb Caletti’s “The Queen of Everything” is a pretty decent read.
I also really love Melina Marchetta’s “Looking for Alibrandi”. It’s really well-written. It was made into a TV movie some years back, and it wasn’t half-bad.
I can’t wait to see what other people suggest.
Clementine (cool name!), the first two you mentioned are indeed made of awesome. Before I Die even got a full-page “A” review in Entertainment Weekly–not bad for a YA book!
The Twilight trilogy by Stephenie Meyer is phenomenal (and the cast of the movie looks terrific!).
I would recommend either of the books written by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Naomi and Ely’s No-Kiss List. Honest, compelling heroines, cool and interesting guy characters, and interesting stories of love and friendship. All set in the backdrop of a much different New York City than you read about in Gossip Girl.
(Levithan and Cohn each write books on their own as well, which are great, but together they are made of win.)
Clementine, I am totally going to read “Before I Die” now! Thanks for the rec; of course I am super psyched about it.
I too really loved Deb Caletti’s “The Queen of Everything”; also thought “Honey Baby Sweetheart” and “Wild Roses” were good.
I am a huge Maureen Johnson fan, especially “Bermudez Triangle” and “Devilish”.
For my fluff reading, I love love love all the Princess Diaries books. They are actually fairly feminist, and pretty smart.
“King Dork” by Frank Portman is one of my fave books, period. Also love both books by John Green.
I know I’ll be back with more, as soon as they come to mind!
The Georgia Nicolson books! They are written by Louise Rennison and seriously among the funniest books I have ever read, young adult and adult alike. They’re by a British author about a decidedly middle class girl who is just a tad on the insane side of things. I seriously cannot recommend these books enough. The first in the series is “Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging.”
There’s nothing wrong with fluff.
Just to add a few in there…
Ann Brashares’ “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” series is quite good as long as you’re up for a good dose of teenage angst, but at least it’s angst we mere mortals who are not perfect size zeroes have half a shot at relating too (and the movie wasn’t too bad either).
I’ve also enjoyed “Strange Relations” by Sonia Levitin. It’s about a 15 year old secular Jewish girl visiting her orthodox relatives for the summer and trying to figure out who she is.
And, then there’s Lauren Myracle’s books for the younger end of YA. “The Fashion Disaster that Changed My Life” is a pretty good look at clique-ishness when you’re twelve. People even act their age… and their parents are a presence in their lives!! Will wonders never cease.
Jaclyn Moriarty writes great YA books that are hilarious. My personal favorite is “Feeling sorry for Celia” and I’m about to start her latest one “The Spell Book of Listen Taylor.”
Her blog: http://jaclynmoriarty.blogspot.com/
My favourite YA books are Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. I know most on here will probably have looked at these books, but I still think they deserve a mention for being well-written.
I second Phillip Pullman, ‘Northern Lights’ (published as ‘The Golden Compass’ in the U.S.) was the first book that made me cry for about a decade.
I’d also suggest Lois Duncan and Margaret Mahy novels. Not exactly modern as I remember them from my childhood but they were the best YA i came across, creepy and a little romantic.
Garth Nix are pretty decent as a less challenging Phillip Pullman type.
For fun paranormal YA check out MaryJaniceDavidson’s book with her husband (oops poor guy I can’t remember his name) series “Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace” is the first one. “The Good Ghoul’s Guide to Getting Even” by Julie Kenner is cute too. I will see YA fiction has a lot more ‘maturity’ to it, than it did back in the day.
Margarey Mahy is wonderful, especially Changeover, The Tricksters, and The Catalogue of the Universe.
I really liked A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels by Libba Bray, but I didn’t love the third book in the trilogy, The Sweet Far Thing. Mostly just because I wanted it to be a lighter read than it was, I think, but also because I got the feeling that she hadn’t known in advance how she was going to tie up the loose ends, and I felt like I could see her struggling. Still definitely worthwhile, though.
I’m so with you on the conclusion of the Libba Bray trilogy, tadpoledrain. That second book was so freaking amazing though!!!
The Mates, Dates, Series by Cathy Hopkins! I know I’ve mentioned them before, but they bear mentioning again. The first one is called “Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras.” I saw in B&N and the title caught my attention, and it was so good I had to get the whole series.
Another good series is the Jessica Darling books by Megan McCafferty. There’s four books out and she’s working on the last one in the series right now. The first one is called “Sloppy Firsts.”
Definitely get to “Before I Die”, aaames. It’s really really beautiful. And I agree with you about “King Dork”. I really enjoyed it.
I’ve read the “Twilight” trilogy by Stephenie Meyer, and while I see that someone mentioned them above, I’m wondering if anyone else has read them, and what they thought of them. I have sort of a hate-love thing going on with them, and would love to hear some other opinions on here.
Melody_Grey, I’m so with you on the Jessica Darling books by Megan McCafferty. I loved “Sloppy Firsts” and “Second Helpings”, but I wasn’t so crazy about the last two. I’m curious to know what you thought about them?
In terms of adding some more titles into the mix, the “Alice” books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor are pretty much made of awesome. She’s been writing them for years, and I think another one is about to come out. They’re pretty realistic and hilarious, and I think they’ve been challenged/banned by parents several times because they objected to content.
I’m so excited about this thread! As if I needed to add more books to my to-read list.
Wow, y’all have already called out a bunch of my favorite YA series: the Jessica Darling books, Libba Bray, and of course the ‘Twilight’ books. As far as fluffier YA goes, my new favorites are the two ‘Violet’ books by Melissa Walker. They’re about a smart, shy high school girl who gets ‘discovered’ by a rather psychotic modeling agent. Instead of the usual Gossip-Girl-esque listing of brands and parties, it’s more about Violet trying to stay true to herself when she really hasn’t defined herself yet. The second book revolves around Violet calling bullshit on the eating disorder controversy when she’s being pressured to lose weight. They’re great popcorn reading.
Clementine, I hated “Twilight” with a burning passion! It made me so, so angry!
I’m just going to list some authors, many will probably have been mentioned, but they’re really really good and bear repeating:
David Levithan
Rachel Cohn (her book s about Cyd Charice, Shrimp, Cupcake, and, um, I forget the first one are really good)
John Green
Maureen Johnson
Ann Brashares
Brian Sloan
Joshua Braff (his novel The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green is very awesome)
Also I cannot agree with the recommendation for The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson more strongly. It is soooooooooooo ridiculously funny.
All of Robin McKinley’s books (except for Deerskin and Sunshine – for good reason!) are listed as YA, though I love them as an adult almost more than I did as a kid. “The Hero and the Crown” has been one of my favorites since I was 9.
The best-written modern YA novel I’ve ever read is “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. It’s about rape, so pretty much the anti-fluff. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award. (I’ve not liked any of her subsequent books as much. They were still good, but didn’t grab me the same way.)
Right, Robin McKinley! Sunshine and Deerskin are both amazing too, just not YA. I didn’t discover her until I was mostly grown up, so I didn’t think of her as a YA author.
In the same vein, Diana Wynne Jones writes both YA and more adult stuff. She’s oddly up and down for me — I love some of her stuff, and find some of it blah. I just read Howl’s Moving Castle and loved it, though.
I second the Georgia Nicolson books, and would like to add the CHERUB series. Those books are awesome.
Probably the single most affecting book I’ve read this year is a YA: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Weirdly enough, although this book was only published a couple of years ago and feels really contemporary, its author has been writing since most of us were knee high to a grasshopper.
I also really loved Twilight, although its charm continues to wear off with each passing sequel, and very much enjoyed the last two books in the His Dark Materials series.
I actually never cared too much for the Georgia Nicholson books. They always fell a little short of my expectations.
But in that confessional vein, I have to say, I love the Princess Diaries way more than can possibly be healthy. This may be my NYC-nativism shining through (how could they switch the movie location to San Francisco? HOW?) but I just find them awesome. Filled with stories of royal ridiculous, New York ridiculousness, my-best-friend-is-a-genius ridiculousness, and tons of ridiculous happenings, all the while being very cute and smart and likeable. Fluffy and sweet without making you feel dumb.
I also second The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants books. This might be a weird way to put it, but the author is just SO good at accurately describing feelings without making them feel maudlin, and the characters are all so relatable (especially Carmen, for me).
This post is so getting bookmarked to be returned to in June when I have lots of time and the weather is perfect for YA so I can make up a nice list to bring to the library
@ Clementine:
I liked them, but I didn’t identify with them as much. Probably because my college experience is nothing Jess’s. Though if I lived in New York and attended Coumbia with assclowns (and you know, had graduated and gotten a job), I might would’ve felt differently about them.
Yay, there are other Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fans out there! I picked up the first book on a whim in college and have bought the other three on the day that they were released. I like the emphasis on maintaining friendship throughout major life changes. And I thought Blake Lively and America Ferrara in particular were excellent in the movie version.
Janet Tashjian has some wonderful YA books as well. Gritty and dark at times but very rewarding. Try The Gospel According to Larry (about a sort of modern-day Henry David Thoreau) and Faultline (portrayal of an abusive relationship, from both the boy and the girl’s perspectives).
They Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix is in the 10 to 12-year-old range than young adult, but it awesome. I picked up the first book while waiting for my kids’ reading group at the library to end and had to check out the rest of the series.
What about Scott Westerfield’s “Uglies” series? It’s my idea of what a YA Margaret Atwood novel would be if she ever chose to write one…it’s about a world where, on your fifteenth birthday, you go to have an operation that will make you “pretty”. After that you get to live in New Pretty Town. I’ve only read a little bit of the first one, so I’d love to know if anybody else has read it and what they think of the series.
@aaaames:
What about “Twilight” made you so angry? (I have an idea of what it could be, but want to hear it straight from you.)
There are a lot of great recs on here so far. I wish my semester was over so I could spend all my time reading some of the stuff mentioned on here.
@Laura:
Margaret Atwood has actually written a YA novel entitled “The Penelopiad”.
It’s sitting on my shelf, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
I’ve heard fantastic things about it, though.
“What about Scott Westerfield’s “Uglies” series?”
Sweet, I just picked up the trilogy from the used book store.
Clementine, I just thought the book pretty much reeked of misogyny. It’s so anti-girl! Bella, first of all, feeds and minds her father like a good little wife, gross. She is totes into Edward for all of these reasons (like that he’s hot and mysterious and smart and whatever else the perfect YA boy is supposed to be) but he basically likes her for the one reason she cannot control: she smells good TO HIM. Way to showcase women existing only as they relate to men’s needs. Their relationship is just a big power trip for Edward, he gets to say how much he reveals to her, only a little at a time, while she basically is at his beck and call.
Also she has no female friends, using the girls who WANT to be her friends only to get rid of the boys she doesn’t want. After all, ALL BOYS WANT BELLA. (Why?)
And, honestly, I just thought the book was sort of silly. Vampires can’t go into the sun because… THEY SPARKLE? So they go sneak away to… play baseball and sparkle? Oh my god, I’m sorry, but that’s, like, the gayest thing I’ve ever heard! And the whole climax, I thought, just seemed tacked on to give the book some way to wrap up besides “and then they sat around and cuddled and talked about their feelings a lot because Edward can’t give in to the vampirey sexytime because Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon” ARGH.
I told my mom about parts of the book (because she works at a bookstore where Meyer did a signing and apparently the CROWDS WERE WILD) and she said it actually reminded her of ‘the Gift of Fear’ and that it sounded pretty much like straight-up emotional abuse. Ha!
My fave, non-snarkable, YA books are the Tillerman cycle by Cynthia Voigt. They aren’t exactly a series, but they follow the story of a family and couple of their good friends. In order of publication:
Homecoming
Dicey’s Song (Newberry)
A Solitary Blue
The Runner
Come a Stranger
Sons from Afar
Seventeen Against the Dealer
The first two and last two are specifically about the Tillerman children, who are abandoned by their parents. They travel on their own to find their grandmother in the first book. The susequent books deal with their everyday life on the farm as a family. These five could be read in order, but stand alone as well.
The other three focus on extended family and friends of the Tillermans, but do peripherally relate to the other books.
Of all of them, my absolute favorites are A Solitary Blue and Seventeen Against the Dealer. All the books are great, though.
I don’t think my descriptions have done these books justice, so check them out for yourself.
OMG, aggrrl, the Tillerman series is one of my favorte! I bought Homecoming at a charity book sale when I was 13 and begged my dad to take me to the book store the next day so I could buy Dicey’s Song (which he said defeated the purpose of going to the book sale in the first place — hee, hee). They are wonderful books! I work at Barnes and Noble part-time and always recommend the series to parents/grandparents who aren’t sure what to buy their kids. In fact, I gave Homecoming to my 12-year-old cousin as a ‘get well’ gift last month!
I don’t know if it is YA fiction, because it’s pretty serious, but I LOVED “Like the Red Panda”. Oh, it’s such a wonderful book. One of the foils is actually very twins’ like and her name is Ashley Wakefield. The main character is named Stella Parrish. She kicks ass.
I must offer an AAAAAAAAAAAAMEN! to the Tillerman cycle by Cynthia Voigt, and to SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Sarah mentioned Sonia Levitin, who also wrote a trilogy about three sisters and their parents who flee Nazi Germany – the first book is JOURNEY TO AMERICA and the second is SILVER DAYS. (I didn’t love the third installment, ANNIE’S PROMISE, but I really enjoyed the first two. )
I’m presuming that literally everyone here has already read The Narnia Chronicles . . . but just in case anyone hasn’t . . . MAN OH MAN, READ THE NARNIA CHRONICLES. I still can’t pick a single one of those books up without being reduced to tears at some point.
Tillerman cycle rocked! As a dancer myself, I especially loved Come a Stranger.
Just finished Slam, by Nick Hornby. Excellent, especially if you like High Fidelity, etc. Hopefully this will introduce him to new, younger readers.
Also, has anyone else read Bass Ackwards and Belly Up? Can’t remember the authors off the top of my head, but I picked it up last summer and really enjoyed it. Four girls who are best friends, at the last minute three of them decide to forgo college to pursue their dreams. Kind of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-esque, but more maturely-themed. Very, very good–there’s a sequel that just came out.
whoops, my bad – this thread is about CURRENT YA fiction . . .
Eh, Jade, I didn’t write about current stuff either.
It’s still in print and it’s still good, so whatever.
Totally, I’m not going to flip out if it’s older.
EMPRESS OF THE WORLD by Sarah Ryan. Young girl has a relationship with another girl at summer “genius camp” and…it’s OK!
Oh God, must catch up. I go away to actually pay attention to school for once, and this is what you people do to me? All right, let’s start.
1) Tillerman books are awesome. Also, for a slightly older kid, Izzy, Willy-Nilly. Depressing and beautiful at the same time–like all Voigt books.
2) McCafferty and the Jessica Darling books: First two awesome, third one good, fourth one okay. Time to stop, Ms. McCafferty.
3) Twilight series – afraid to read. Hate gay vampires. Looks like it has gay vampires.
4) The Atwood–I’m not sure the Penelopeiad is a YA book? There’s a whole series, and I read that one and the Winterson one, and I don’t think the Winterson was YA. Looking at the Wikipedia page, I don’t see anything there either saying it’s YA.
5) No one’s said this yet, but An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. My friend suggested the book to me because I think she went to the same high school as him. They’re all geniuses–the author and my friend and her husband. Lucky things. Anyway, this book was fantastic, I love it so. Can’t wait for the semester to be over so I can read his other one.
Okay, gotta get back to my final papers for undergrad (I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL) but everyone should go pick up An Abundance of Katherines. Yes indeed.
“Depressing and beautiful at the same time–like all Voigt books.”
What a perfect way to describe Voigt’s work.
Her book that really got me was Tell Me if the Lovers Are Losers. I read it my senior year in high school and couldn’t get it out of my head for days.
Oh God, that book was SO AMAZING. Now I’m going to have to reread it when the semester’s done. I wish my daughter were into Cynthia Voigt, but she’s too cheerful. I was the emo one who wanted to read about schizophrenic moms and painful divorces. (ILU, Jeff.)
I’m a fan of urban sci-fi & paranormal and the YA shelves have a lot of really good books:
The Classic:”War for the Oaks” by Emma Bull
New Books:
Holly Black’s Modern Faery Tales (“Ironside”, “Valiant”, and “Tithe”)
Wendi Corsi Staub’s “Lily Dale”
“Blood & Chocolate” by Annette Curtis Klause
“Wicked Lovely” by Melissa Marr
And for a much younger mindset, I am loving Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.
Also, I totally recommend Robin McKinley (except “Deerskin” -which gives me the chills just thinking about. ) “Spindle’s End” is my favorite.
For the very mature YA reader: try “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. I think everyone knows about this book (but me cuz’ I am old). If you don’t- read it before you give it to your kid. Definite issues of age-appropriate content. Brilliant book but may not be suitable for all YA readers.
had to chime in about the twilight series. I HATED THEM!!! i think they’re poorly written and the characters are quite wooden.. and just what we need – another role model for little girls.. i think bella is pathetic – ummm.. how about trying to have a life outside your bf? codependency much? and talk about setting unreasonable relationship expectations for young girls..
anyway – sorry to go off but i don’t like the series at all and think that they’re really, really poorly written.
I loved “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”
Also, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak (sp?) was amazing – it’s billed as YA fiction, but it felt like any age could read it and not feel like they were reading a YA book, to me.
These books are older, but I think they’re still all in print:
One of my favorite books – to this day – is “The Westing Game” by Ellen Raskin. It has a great mystery, wonderful characters, and a kick-ass tomboy central character in Turtle Wexler. I’ve re-read it as an adult, and it totally holds up.
I also love:
“Among Friends” by Caroline B. Cooney (Cooney has written her share of crap, but this one is really good – it’s the story of a friendship among three girls that starts to fall apart due to jealousy of one of the girls’ success. It’s told from the perspective of the three girls and three other students, all alternating chapters as if writing in their diaries.)
“Say Goodnight, Gracie” by Julie Reece Deaver. About a girl who is best friends with this guy and he dies in a car accident and she has to deal with it. Heartbreaking, and really well written.
“The President’s Daughter” series by Ellen Emerson White, about Meg, whose mother becomes the first female president. What makes these books is the great voice of the author, and the unique character she creates in Meg. There’s three original books: “The President’s Daughter,” “White House Autumn” and “Long Live the Queen” and then White actually came out with another one last year, “Long May She Reign.” But all of the books are being reissued this year, and White has supposedly updated them (Meg is no longer addicted to Tab, she drinks Coke; she’ll add email and such, stuff like that.)
i thought of another book i loved growing up: ask me something easy by julie honeycutt. it’s about a girl (i’ve forgotten her name) whose parents get divorced. she has three sisters and after her parents divorce, her father basically just walks out of their lives, save one visit. it’s about her difficulty growing up w/o her dad and how she basically loses her faith in everything and grows further and further apart from her mother and older sister, both of whom seem horrible at times, and how her younger twin sisters veer off more towards the strange side. i loved the book. very well-written and very sad.
Sue, I loved Say Goodnight, Gracie. I was just thinking about it the other day, actually.
A few other good ones I have thought of. All of them are a little older.
In Lane Three, Alex Archer by Tessa Duder-about a teenage competitive swimmer in the 50s in New Zealand. It is not all about the swimming, though, it also follows her life. Great book.
Remembering the Good Times and Unfinished Portrait of Jessica by Richard Peck.
Remembering the Good Times is about a group of friends in junior high and high school. Hard to describe, but the kids are very different but remain friends and then a tragedy occurs.
Unfinished Portrait of Jessica follows a young girl as she travels to Mexico to stay with her dad and artist uncle after her parent’s divorce.
Has anyone else read Catherine Gilbert Murdock? I read her first two books–Dairy Queen and its sequel, The Off Season–recently and I LOVED them. The main character is a 16-year-old girl who lives in a small town in Wisconsin, and much of the plot involves football and dairy farming. The books are both pretty wholesome, but in a really endearing way, and they have a GREAT non-tiny, non-boy-crazy, non-girlie-girl heroine. She does have a love interest, but their relationship is actually pretty believable (especially in the sequel). These books are really sweet and funny and, again, believable. I highly recommend!
Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK was the book that got me into current YA. Seconding (thirding?) the recommendation. It’s just perfect.
Also: LOVE John Green. LOOKING FOR ALASKA is a gorgeous book, but AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES is hugely funny and held up better upon (multiple) rereads.
I’m known among my friends and co-workers as the BOOK THIEF Evangelist. I recommend that book to *everybody.* It was published as YA in the States, but elsewhere it was released as an adult book. It really transcends all genres and age levels. It’s breathtaking.
Also: Peter Cameron’s SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU. A very funny book about an 18-year-old curmudgeon and lifelong Manhattanite who likes proper English and would rather move to an old house in the Midwest than go to college.
_Among Friends_ is still on my shelf!!!
I love Spindle’s End, The Westing Game, and Remembering the Good Times so much.
Did anyone read Susan Cooper’s series The Dark is Rising? I think those are among the best YA fantasy going.
In the grownup world, I also love P.D. James’s mysteries and Margaret Drabble’s stuff from the 70s, particularly “The Needle’s Eye.”
Sue, thank you so much for the President’s Daughter update! I read that series back in middle school and I had no idea there was another one out, but I’m very excited to track it down. I’m bummed to hear that Meg’s not going to like Tab anymore, though. I never had a clue what that was, but I liked the sound of it.
Love Cynthia Voigt. Those books got me through middle school.
In terms of my own recommendations, I don’t think anyone here has recommended Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It’s made up of Dealing With Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Talking to Dragons, and Calling for Dragons, and they’re absolutely fantastic. Wrede also collaborated with another author on a book called Sorcery & Cecilia, which has some kick butt female characters.
Read John Green’s first book _Looking for Alaska_. So, so good.
Wow. I just found this site and spent the last 2 hours laughing my ass off nad making my husband concerned about my safety over here. Awesome. already bookmarked the page. Just wanted to mention the Alosha series, christopher pike, of which I am just finishing up the third book, very fantasy, very pike. I was actually just looking up some info on it when I found this…what fate!
This is a little younger than YA — more middle reader territory — but I just read and loved The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s perfect for a precocious ten-year-old (or a child-at-heart 21-year-old…)
I just read Sarah Dessen’s _Just Listen_. Might be my favorite book this year.
These aren’t current (I read them when I was a preteen and young teen), but I loved the William Sleator scifi books, such as The Boy Who Reversed Himself, Singularity, Strange Attractors, etc.
Can anyone recommend some good YA fic about teens doing theatre and/or Shakespeare adaptations? Research for my next book…
Thanks, y’all!
I second whoever recommended the Uglies books by Scott Westerfield!!!
Also I HIGHLY recommend the series by Sarah Mlynowski, starting with Bras & Broomsticks – it is awesome!!!
Ooh, some good recommendations going around. I really liked John Green’s Looking for Alaska too.
I recently read How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff and it was fantastic, really compelling.
How could I forget Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld? That’s one of my favourite books ever, YA or not!
Has anyone read Don’t Care High? It’s about a guy that moves from Saskatchewan to NYC (I forget whereabouts, but I think around Brooklyn?) and goes to Don Carey High School, but everyone there has so little interest it’s nicknamed Don’t Care. He and a friend end up nominating someone that “doesn’t care the most” for School President as a joke (no one ever runs) and then uses his win to change the school.
It’s very funny, kind of in a Parker Lewis Can’t Lose kind of mindset, and Losing Joe’s Place by the same author is also very funny.
@Cassie: I just finished reading Prep (bought it at a library book sale) and I loved it! I basically ignored everyone for two days while tearing through it. Great writing.
And anything by Ellen Conford is great.
And add me to the Georgia Nicholson fan club; I have a group of friends and we trade those books back and forth.
Gordon Korman is AWESOME. Don’t Care High = awesome. Son of Interflux = maybe even MORE awesome. <3
maybeimamazed02,
In case you’re still looking . . . I remember looooving a YA book called “The Ghost In The Third Row,” by Bruce Coville.
http://www.brucecoville.com/books.asp?gid=2
Very easy, light read, but a lot of fun. The two heroines meet and solve a mystery while acting in a musical.
I hate Twilight, as well. Though the series are better written than many YA books in my day, I still want to punch Bella in the face. Also, not really diggin the “no sex before marriage” bullshit. Please. Exactly how unrealistic is this book trying to be? It already includes vampires who can read minds, see the future, make people feel shit, and of course, sparkle like no other.
Anyways, I still like old school YA authors/books. Like Lois Duncan, Lois Lowry, Christopher Pike, Ann M. Martin, Caroline Cooney, etc. Anyone agree?
>maybeimamazed02,
>In case you’re still looking . . . I remember >looooving a YA book called “The Ghost In The >Third Row,” by Bruce Coville.
You also might try “Last Act” by Christopher Pike. It revolves around a murder that takes place during a high school play.
> Also, not really diggin the “no sex before >marriage” bullshit. Please. Exactly how >unrealistic is this book trying to be?
I haven’t read Twilight, but there are still people who wait until marriage to have sex. I don’t know if they are all sparkly vampires or not, though.
Has anyone read “Sweet Sixteen” by Kate Brian? I got it just a few weeks ago on a whim. It is about a super “My super sweet sixteen” style brat who gets lost and falls down the stairs at her party. She sees her future. It is really great. Has anyone read the “Private” series by her and do you know if they are any good?
Right on, 88Keys. I waited for marriage, and I’m not a sparkly vamp . . . OR AM I?!!!
Oooh, and on topic, I second “Izzy Willy Nilly,” which Allie mentioned way above. It’s a great read for young teens, not only because of the quality writing, but also because it focuses on the dangers of drinking and driving in a very believable way.
I think someone mentioned The Princess Diaries series already, but the last one just came out a few weeks ago and it is AWESOME!! I read it in one day and then started over to read it more slowly- but I really liked it!
kthomp38: I haven’t read “Sweet Sixteen,” but have read and am completely addicted to the “Private” series. Yes, there’s much of the usual stuff you can expect from current YA series — designer name dropping, catfights, etc. — but they are different in that the main character is described as being lower middle class, and thus calls BS on a lot of the things that go on. At the same time, she does very much want to be like these other girls, so there’s a lot of realistic tension there. The first four are a long mystery story arc, and then the next at least five volumes are a second one (that one is still going — the next book comes out at the end of this month). They’ve also just started a spin-off series called “Privilege” (yes, the titles at this point are getting a bit transparent!) but I haven’t read that one yet.
Has anyone read the Secret Society Girl books by Diana Peterfreund? They’re a lot of fun.
Uglies is a great! And so is Prep.
If you like science fiction, try A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence.
I just read A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb and really recommend it – it’s an original, well written, ghost story. It’s classed as YA, but I think it could easily sit on the adult shelves too.
I really like Meg Cabot’s teen (and adult) lit. One of my favourite books series is the “Size 12 is not fat”/”Size 14 is not fat either”/”Big Boned” mysteries written by her. What a non-SVH message they give in their titles alone
Those are more geared towards adults.
She was the author who wrote the Princess Diaries books, and has some other great ones, too:
Airhead/Being Nikki
Avalon High
Jinx
Pants on Fire
How to be Popular
All American Girl/Ready or Not
Teen Idol
Also really like the Poseur series by Rachel Maude, which are along the same lines as Gossip Girl, but aren’t (in my opinion) nearly as bad.
My favourite Gordon Korman books (more his kid stuff) were I Want To Go Home and No Coins, Please. Both are great reads
Also, Kieran Scott’s Non-Blonde Cheerleader books are good too
> I haven’t read Twilight, but there are still people who wait until marriage to have sex. I don’t know if they are all sparkly vampires or not, though.
Urgh, you totally outed me – I am obviously a waiting-for-marriage, sparkling vampire. That’s why I live in Scotland – there’s not enough sun for me to sparkle.
Has anyone read any of Jaclyn Moriarty’s novels? I’m not sure what they’re called in the US, but the ones I have are “Feeling Sorry for Celia,” “Finding Cassie Crazy” and “Becoming Bindy MacKenzie.” They’re all written in note/letter/diary/email format but she pulls it off very well and they’re all very entertaining and have a “Wow, I’ve never read anything like this before” feel to them.
I just finished Life as We know it as well as The Dead and the Gone. Stayed up well into the night to finish them. So good! And they scared teh bejeesus out of me. There is a third one in the trilogy coming out in a year or so. Strongly recomend them! But if you’re slightly nervous about apocolyptic events, it might be too much, since it’s so realistic. I can’t lie – I’ve started hoarding canned food products and planning escape routes!
I recently read Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone too – they’re fantastic. I must admit I now have an emergency box with canned food in it too!
Another good one is The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. It has zombies, how could it not be awesome?
I’m loving this site! I remember reading a lot of the books you all did. It’s great to find some kindred spirits.
I’m a high school teacher, so I try to read some YA along with the books I read for pleasure so I can recommend them to my students. The latest good YA I read was called Stop Pretending: What Happened when my Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones. It’s a short book told through free-verse poetry based on the author’s own journals from when she was 13 and her 19-year-old sister was committed to a mental hospital for a few months. It reads quickly, but it’s powerful!
Silver Blades !