Over on the Avon romance blog, Editor May Chen wonders what YA Book she should read next and my suggestions prompted a larger blog post, since I have so many I love.
So, while we all wait for MOCKINGJAY (NOW PLEASE!), let's talk about YA books. What have you read recently?
I love YA books, and have been reading more and more of them recently. Recent favorites have included Holly Black's WHITE CAT (absolutely fabulous, and a big step up editorially from her previous books).
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast's House of Night series is delicious popcorn, as is Cassandra Claire's The Mortal Instruments. Ellen Hopkin's CRANK was great. Lili St. Crow's STRANGE ANGELS was lots of fun. I loved
Libba Bray is one of the best authors working. All of her books are great.
Sharyn November is doing very interesting things with her FIREBIRDS line.
Christopher Barzak's novels slide around the line between adult and YA, and are wonderfully written.
I cannot wait to read Elizabeth Hand's ILLYRIA--she is an amazing writer, in every venue.
Perennial favorites: Tamora Pierce's ALANNA books. MARA, DAUGHTER OF THE NILE. Cory Doctorow's excellent FOR THE WIN. Garth Nix's SABRIEL series. Scott Westerfeld's UGLIES and LEVIATHAN. Justine Larbalestier.
Not to mention some of the sf/f authors who are doing great YA series, like Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, and Rachel Vincent.
On my list to read: Michael Grant. Carrie Ryan. Harper's own I AM NUMBER FOUR and PARANORMALCY.
I know I'm missing tons of great books. What are some of your favorites? Let us know, and give May some suggestions over on the Avon romance blog as well.
--Diana
YA books I loved: Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder, Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead Tossed Waves, Malinda Lo's Ash.
Posted by: Merrie Destefano | August 20, 2010 at 09:51 AM
For those of you who love YA and Christmas books, you have got to check out "Mary's Son: A Tale of Christmas," by Darryl Nyznyk. It comes out October 15th! I had the opportunity of previewing it and found it to be kind of like a real-world grit of a Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol" coupled with the emotion, tension and passion of the classic films "It's a Wonderful Life," and "Miracle on 34th Street."
http://www.marysson.com
Posted by: Becky | August 20, 2010 at 05:49 PM
"The Hunger Games" was one of my favorite books last year, but longstanding YA favorites include Patricia McKillip's "The Riddlemaster of Hed" trilogy and Robin McKinley's "The Blue Sword." And then came Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" and I've always loved Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere", which if not strictly YA is definitely "crossover." Moving away from fantasy-scifi, which admittedly, I find hard to do, I am a longtime fan of Australian writer, Melina Marchetta, most recently "Jellicoe Road." But it's always the same, so many great books, so little time ...
Posted by: Helen Lowe | August 21, 2010 at 08:51 PM
Thanks for the suggestions, Diana, and for the blog plug! I'm going to check out WHITE CAT, sounds great.
Posted by: May | August 23, 2010 at 08:22 AM
My all time favorite paranormal series is Lili St. Crow's STRANGE ANGELS, great action, kickass heroine and a fresh spin on the werewolves and vampires--liked this one better than HON. I also enjoyed SIREN, by Tricia Rayburn. I'm dying for PARANORMALCY. Don't forget SHIVER and LINGER by Maggie Steifvater. INTERTWINED, by Gena Showalter was fun, though the ending had me asking, "Really?"
Posted by: AE Rought | August 27, 2010 at 05:52 AM