Some of us study long and hard to become YA Librarians, other's have YAs thrust upon us. With the YAs newly part of my life (I'm a Reference Librarian and now, I suppose, the pseudo YA Librarian as well) I have been trying to familiarize myself with the genre and so far have really enjoyed it. But I would love to hear from experienced YA Librarians, or anyone who enjoys YA books, what one book they would recommend for someone unfamiliar with the YA lit.
Now I go on my rant. There ain't no such thing as
ONE YA book, because most of the major YA works are trilogies, series, whatever. And this is true even when sequels aren't warranted and the story could and should have been wrapped up in a single volume.
I don't quarrel with
The Hunger Games but this is a prime example of what I'm saying. It's a story that should have been ended in that single volume, but the economics of the industry dictate that Collins produce a series. I know everyone who's read ARCs has high praise for the sequel, but it's just that sometimes a story should be wrapped up in a single volume.
That's not to say that some multi-volume stories aren't warranted. J.R.R. Tolkien and Philip Pullman are prime examples, and there are a lot of series that I love dearly. But you've asked for
ONE YA book, so I'm not going to name a series.
OK, then, my choice is going to be perhaps a little controversial (depending on your library or school district), and it's not a fantasy novel, but my choice would be the classic lesbian coming-of-age story
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden.
Message edited by its author, Aug 21, 2009, 5:56pm.
I do agree about majority of YA are series - but since I love series it works for me :) I would have to say
The Vampire Academy was really good and Im actually reading
Marked right now & I am really enjoying it. There was also another thread that asked for favorite YA books so you may want to check that out just to get a wider range of opinions. Just a note: not a librarian / just a bookworm :)
I can't pick just one but my favorite series are: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, The Hunger Games/Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz.
For individual books: Willow by Julia Hoban, The Chosen One by Carol Lynch William and How It Ends by Laura Wiess.
This is one of those "If you were stranded on a desert island..." questions. Of course there isn't just one quintessential YA book. The fun is in justifying your particular choice, and maybe convincing others to choose it, too. I will reject the mass appeal of Harry Potter. That's too easy; everyone's read them and all ages like them. I will also say "No" to sparkly vampires, although I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. My pick for one book to recommend is John Green's
An Abundance of Katherines. It has humor, angst, romance, pop culture references, and a road trip. Who doesn't love a road trip?
For Adventure I suggest
Bloody Jack by, LA Meyer its a series but is very fun. Also
Margaret Haddix Shadow Children Series.
Any book from
Sarah Dessen Laurie Halse Anderson so you get a good feel for the Teen Angst section.(think Jodi Picoult for YA)
Fantasy-
Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman Tamora Pierce Preying for Mercy by Patricia Briggs
These are just a sampling of the books the YA's (and I) are enjoying at my library.
I also have been getting frustrated with the lack of stand alones.It's what the publishers are pushing though.
EDT:To add some things I forgot!
Message edited by its author, Aug 21, 2009, 9:32pm.
I immediately thought of
An Abundance of Katherines, but drholambda got there first! ;-) It embodies a lot of what I look for in good realistic YA fiction.
The Book Thief is excellent historical fiction,
The Hunger Games is good dystopian lit. All of these are really popular right now; all have already been mentioned above.
So, let me toss out two new suggestions: for realistic fiction (on the funny, rather than angsty side),
Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway, and in fantasy,
Graceling by Kristin Cashore. These are both recent, they stand alone (though I know Graceling has a prequel or companion work coming out soon), and they're both well-written and popular with teens. Good luck in your new role -- I work with children and teens, and enjoy both groups.
I can't put the book Petey by Ben Michaelson down. It is fabulous and filled with life lessons for all people.
Maybe I'm reading your question differently than some other folks, but it seems to me like you're asking what one book you need to read in order to do your job better and that would be Twilight. Love it or hate it, it's the most popular YA series at the moment and you should be familiar with it so you can make other recommendations when asked about it. You need to know if the teen enjoyed the love story and whether she loves Edward or is a member of Team Jacob so you can recommend books with bad boys or boys-next-door. It's not about the vampires. The
Cirque Du Freak series is about vampires but would be a terrible recommendation for most of the teen girls because it's not a love story.
Other must reads:
Speak and
Outsiders for realistic fiction. Both appear regularly on summer reading lists and are popular year round.
Monster and
The Hazelwood High series for African-American fiction.
The Hunger Games and
Tomorrow, When the War Began for Science Fiction. I always recommend Tomorrow when kids come in and HAVE TO, don't want to, read a science fiction book for English class. It's technically Science Fiction because it's set in the future/alternate reality, but it's really an action/adventure/survival story with some love story mixed in. Might appeal to fans of
The Hunger Games.
Good luck!
>12 Thank you BookLizard, that is exactly what I was trying to ask. I thought that it would be helpful to me, and to others like me, if people with some more experience could point out the books that were not only popular, but also ones that they think really appeal to the intended audience. Without the benefit of studying YA lit or having years of experience as a YA Librarian, it can get overwhelming trying to tackle such a huge subject area, especially if you are in a situation like mine where you are a jack of all trades (I do reference (all day, everyday), all the cataloging (while at the reference desk), manage the public computers and (try) to fix whatever piece of technology that has broken down and now YA collection development and programs. I think I am like most Librarians in this regard) and haven't really had the chance to give the YA collection the attention it deserves. I enjoy the teens and like collecting and doing programs for them and I really want to do right by them.
I realise that most YA books are series and didn't mean to suggest by my one book request that that meant no series, I just wanted people to pick out what they thought was a great example of YA lit. I don't expect there to be one book out there that is "the" YA book. I just wanted a personal opinion about which one you think everyone should know about.
I like the idea of books by genre, that is great! That is really helpful and the books really stand out instead of looking like a shopping list. :)
If I had to answer this question, I would pick
The Hunger Games too because I think it is a great book and has a mass appeal. I also loved
Tomorrow, When the War Began when I was a teen, I have been trying to find a copy for my library.
Thank you all for your suggestions, I look forward to getting more.
Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 11:41am.
Since you are asking for just one book, you should begin with Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This book and it's sequels are the dominant book(s) out there right now. They are an important step in understanding YA books these days, and will go a long way towards making YA's think you know what is going on. Which is always a challenge.
We are not talking about becoming well versed in quality YA literature here, but in what the YAs actually want to read. Even grandparents will read these, because they have heard their grandchildren talking about them.
The other books mentioned here are very good as well, but read them later on.
As to my qualifications, I have read from this genre since it evolved.I estimate has been happening over the past 20 years or so. Working in a library for nearly 30 years has been helpful.
I agree with the twilight series ... this is a must read right now. Some other series that you may be interested in that are very popular with our tweens and teens are Percy Jackson, the Warriors, Maximum Ride. If you want to read chicklit, I would suggest the clique series by Harrison. Percy Jackson and Twilight are both series that I have had to buy to read. There are some really great YA authors writing right now, if you look at the ALA's Yalsa website there are tons of resources to help advise teens about reading ... check out this link and have a lot of fun reading YA it is my favorite genre 8o)
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/...Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 1:56pm.
I'd recommend anything by Scott Westerfield, but especially the
Uglies series.
I see a lot of Vampire Academy and Vampire Diaries about, although I haven't read either. I also see a lot of recommendations for
Tithe,
Wicked Lovely, and City of Glass.
There are several recent, excellent YA sci fi books out, several already mentioned -
The Hunger Games,
Life as We Knew It,
The Adoration of Jenna Fox,
Little Brother,
Unwind.
I'm not sure if YA tends to be genre-heavy, or if that's just what I and the teens I know end up reading!
I would recomend a couple of books actually. The first book i would recomend is "The Hunger Games" By Suzanne Collins. Another book, well actually it's a series i would recomend is Blue Bloods By Melissa De La Cruz.
Here are some books that were good reads on various levels. Note, I don't like fantasy, so that popular genre is underrepresented here.
Great Girl Books: Anything by Sarah Dessen, but I'd recommend
Someone Like You or
The Truth About Forever.
Really Fun, Witty, Clever stories: Steve Kluger,
My Most Excellent YearJaclyn Moriarty,
The Year of Secret AssignmentsThought-provoking books:
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Meg Rosoff,
How I Live NowGood historicals in very different ways: Mal Peet,
Tamar, Karen Wallace,
Wendy, Libba Bray,
A Great and Terrible BeautyTotal trash but very well-plotted (if you want a sense of what YA trash is): Sara Shepard,
Pretty Little LiarsEdgy urban: Francesca Lia Block,
Violet and Claire, Rachel Cohn,
GingerbreadThoughtful, touching, provocative school stories: John Green,
Looking for Alaska, E. Lockhart,
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Sara Zarr,
SweetheartsJust a neat book: Richard Mosher,
ZazooMessage edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 2:31pm.
Since
The Book Thief has already been mentioned and since I'm only allowed one book, I choose
Sold by Patricia McCormick. Beautifully written, gripping, and current.
> 20
Sold was a very, very good read - very thought provoking
Apologies, but I don't really get the "Twilight" love ;) I've tried the first book and it came across as somewhat unsubstantial fluff - then again I'm a bit older than your target audience there...
I understand what you mean about the one-offs. It's annoying, but there still are a few gems out there. Have a look at some of
Guy Gavriel Kay's works, it should especially vibe well with students who enjoyed Tolkien's works. (You can look up GGK on infloox.com to read about the work he did on The Silmarillion in the 70s). Neil Gaiman is another good one, and for some light humourous reading, you can always point them towards the "
Adrian Mole" series :)
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Bog Child
American Born Chinese
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
I Had Seen Castles
Hattie Big Sky
Just read them one at a time--then it counts as one book.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the Luthiel's Song series which starts out with
Dreams of the Ringed Vale and follows with
Luthiel's Song: The War of Mists.
Here's the back cover blurb for book 1:
First Summer's Eve has come and all elves celebrate as the black moon's shadow fades from the world. It is also Luthiel's fifteenth birthday.
With it come two extraordinary and dangerous surprises: a Wyrd Stone, its silvery heart a window into a world of dreams and nightmares, and a Blade Dancer, dreaded protector of the Faelands, who bears a dark message.
Instead of celebration, Luthiel is given a terrible choice: if she does nothing, someone she loves deeply will die. Or, to save a life, she can break the most perilous law of the Faelands and venture alone to the Vale of Mists.
If she chooses the journey, she must race Othalas -- eldest and most feared of all the werewolves -- past great black spiders who weave webs out of nightmares, through glittering mists with the power to reshape flesh, and at last into death by the teeth of the dark and ancient Vyrl, who feed on the blood of elves.
Either choice will bring death -- unless Luthiel can find the secret in her remarkable Stone, a secret that even the nightmares fear.
Message edited by its author, Sep 17, 2009, 4:51pm.
27> The Outsiders is still on many summer reading lists. The teens still seem to like it.
One YA/fiction- THE DRAMA UNFOLDS... could become a series, however, at this point it is not. If I decide to go that route I will let you know.
Have to mention Maria Snyder's Study series, with a very strong female character Yelena. Also,
Feed by M.T. Anderson.
I like authors that give you a topic that can be discussed/argued about. Chris Crutcher's book Deadline and Godless by
Pete Hautman are two. Echoing the recommendation for
Outsiders, a student just told me it was one of her favorite books. I would also like to ditto the recommendation of using the YALSA list. Their Teens Top Ten list is voted on by teens.
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