Favorite YA Books of 2010

It would be fun to hear about everyone's top 5 (or so). Here are mine (that I also listed on another thread):

Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness - riveting series about many things including the dangers of charismatic leadership and the futility of war
The Hunger Games trilogy - powerful storytelling about rebels in a cruel dystopia
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster - old-fashioned epistolary charmer that was the basis for the movie
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - a memorable family thrives on moral aspirations
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - irresistible Anne opens everyone's eyes and hearts

I'm going to include a couple of children's books in here:

Before I Fall
The Willoughbys
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling
Catching Fire (I wasn't so enamoured of Mockingjay
Lips Touch: Three Times
Tyger Tyger

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - a story told by Death, my favorite read for the year
Graceling- a fantasy where a young girl is feared for her "grace"
The Hunger Games Trilogy
Incarceron-a young girl seeking a way out of an arranged marriage tries to help a boy escape from a prison world
The Gates- a humorous take on a young boy and his dog facing off against the minions of Hell

I'm excited to be starting The Knife of Never Letting Go today since it's gotten so many good reviews.
Edited:Put in Incarceron instead of Finnikin of the Rock

The Poison Eaters--Holly Black: great short story collection
Ironside--also Holly Black: the final volume of the Modern Faery trilogy and also my favorite of the three
Radiant Shadows--Melissa Marr: the penultimate book in the Wicked Lovely Series
Hex Hall--Rachel Hawkins: fun and intriguing start to a new supernatural series
Wildwood Dancing--Juliet Marillier:a lovely take on the classic tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, set in Transylvania
The Basic Eight--Daniel Handler: fun and twisty psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator

My favorites read this year:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - Picked it up after the banned books controversy. A very powerful book about being a teenager, and rape.

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells - Surprisingly engrossing and well-characterized, about a teen who struggles with violent and sociopathic impulses and keeps himself in check with a strict series of rules. Not unlike Dexter, but engaging in its own right. I look forward to the sequel!

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - I have a hard time calling this one YA, but it's one of my favorite reads of the year straight up. A fantasy about displaced peoples and exiles. Powerful and wonderfully written.

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson - A fairytaleesque book set in a world based on India, about a pair of sisters who are cursed/blessed to speak diamonds and flowers and toads and reptiles. Wonderful and beautiful.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Final in the Hunger Games triology, I was pleased with the close.

Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen - A really unique world where small groups of women live separate from society and have 'dark sisters'. The sequels were disappointing, but this first volume is absolutely enchanting and unique.

My favorites this year were:

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft
The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

In no particular order:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
Plain Kate by Erin Bow
You by Charles Benoit
Scrawl by Mark Shulman
The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston

and an honorable mention for
Cloaked In Red by Vivian Vande Velde, wherein she picks apart and puts back together the Little Red Riding Hood story eight amusing times. See also her The Rumplestiltskin Problem.

Most of mine are fantasy, and predictable ones at that (by favorite authors, or continuations of series I have enjoyed). I'm mentioning only YA published in 2010, to keep my list to a manageable size!

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Pegasus by Robin McKinley
The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

I also enjoyed many of the ones listed above, including Toads and Diamonds,
Plain Kate, Monsters of Men, Mockingjay, Lips Touch: Three Times and The Mysterious Howling.

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper - Classic fantasy. I'd only read one of these before and I'm ashamed I never continued. Some of my new favorite books.

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones - Not my favorite of hers, but I adore anything she writes, and this was no exception.

Keeper by Mal Peet - The greatest goalkeeper in the world finally spills his story. I'm a huge soccer fan and this just hit home with me. I read it all in one intense sitting.

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster - I loved this too, jnwelch!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - A sort of Jane Austen-esque story of two sisters living in a run-down English castle and the men they meet. Dodie Smith is one of my new favorite author of the year, I think; I also read The 101 Dalmatians and loved it.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - I didn't expect to like this and so was really surprised when I ended up completely sucked in and crying. The tag on the front of the book recommending it for Twilight fans definitely mislead me.

> 9

I was really surprised by the power of If I Stay, too! I think she's coming out with a new book (a sequel even I think) this year.

I love these lists. So many new books to wishlist! Before I Fall is definitely going on there.

>10 Aerrin99: You're right -- the sequel Where She Went was the Early Reviewers book I won for November, though it hasn't arrived yet. I'll let you all know how it is. I do wonder why If I Stay was recommended for Twilight fans, as there don't seem to be any obvious similarities.

I've just had a look back at what I read this year and the ratings I gave them. I was a littel surprised that there were eleven books that I gave either four and a half or five stars to.

Those published in 2010
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan

Those published in previous years (and many of which I read based on them having appeared in similar Read YA Lit! lists at the end of 2008 and 2009!)
Just In Case by Meg Rosoff
The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
and finally
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Long list... sorry!

9> I won Where She Went from Early Reviewers which is why I felt I needed to read If I Stay in the first place and I'm so glad I did! I don't know that I'd have read the series otherwise.

Going Bovine
Crossing the Wire
The Reformed Vampire Support Group
Soul Enchilada

My favorite YA books read this year though not all were published this year are:
Hope Was Here
Graceling
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
Along for The Ride
Just Listen
The Last Thing I Remember
Flipped

My favorite YA book I read in 2010 is Roll of Thunder, Hear My cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Definitely a 5 star read.

d_perlo> Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is one of my all time favorite books. I read it when I was young, and it changed the way I looked at the world.

Tough to limit it to the top five, but I'll try.

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
The Candidates by Inara Scott
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Virals by Kathy Reichs
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
and
Girl Stolen by April Henry

I'd like some recommendations, while people are naming favorites: Were there any particular standout YA graphic novels this year? I don't order the YA for our library, and we don't seem to have gotten much in the way of graphic novels this year (lots of manga, though). I'm just curious to know if there was anything really stellar published this year that I might have missed . . .

The last Scott Pilgrim came out this year, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour. Great series. Is it YA? YAs read it, but arguably its stories are pitched somewhat older.

#19,
Calamity Jack came out this year. It's a sequel, or maybe more of a companion, to Hale's graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge. I liked RR better, but Calamity Jack is a lot of fun. I thought the movie Tangled might be loosely based on Hale's Rapunzel, but I haven't seen the movie yet, and no one on the Internets is saying there is a connection, to my knowledge.

#20, 21-- Thanks for the recommendations; I had missed both of these. I felt sure I was overlooking something. Now I'll have to go hit the ILL circuit and see if I can get my hands on them . . .

My favorites this year were:

Are These My Basoomas I see Before Me? by Louise Rennison - The last book of the LOL Georgia Nicolson series. I was sorry to see it end.

The Maximum Ride books (generally) by James Patterson. I read all the ones published so far during 2010 and only one disappointed me. Overall quite engrossing.

The Demon Princess books by Michelle Rowen. These are simply fluffy paranormal fun.

There are many series that I have read that I love, some for very different reasons that others. At the top of my list would be:

1. Ender's Saga, a collection of books by Orson Scott Card. At the very least, Ender's Game is a must read. There are many other series by the same author, all of which are worth reading, really.

2. His Dark Materials is the name for the series by Philip Pullman that contains The Golden Compass, The Amber Spyglass, and The Subtle Knife. I do enjoy books that propose alternative cosmologies.

3. The Bartimaues Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is a fantastic read. While it does offer some minor insight into human nature, it is more about getting to know its engaging and entertaining characters.

4. The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix explores a dystopian future in which the government is run amok.

5. For just a fun read, the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer can't be beat.

Wow! There are so many other good authors and series that I hate leaving off. Look for anything by Tamora Pierce, Robert Cormier, Edward Bloor, and Carl Hiasson. I'm sure I will think of more.

2010 was a particularly fruitful year, in all the YA authors I 'discovered', with a little help from my friends. ;-) Here are my favorites, in no particular order.

* Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer.
* Unwind by Neal Shusterman.
* The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. (Not including Mockingjay here because I just got it today and haven't finished reading it.)
* That Summer by Sarah Dessen.
* Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti.
* Chains and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
* Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman.

There are many books that I enjoy reading and listening to. I can't say that I have a top 5 list but, the below listed are five of the better ones I have recently finished reading.
Thirteen Reasons Why
If I Stay
Bridge to Terabithia
The Night Tourist
The Twilight Prisoner

Some of my favorite YA books in 2010 are:

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Number The Stars by Lois Lowry
The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Two books that I found through a list of book prize finalists from England. Neither is published in the USA, although one takes place largely in New York, the other in Berlin.
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes. Magical and tragical and beautiful. Unique.
Auslander by Paul Dowswell. Brilliant historical thriller set in Nazi Germany. A real page-turner.

I loved the following--in no particular order--
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
Before I Fall by oliverlauren::Lauren Oliver
The Chaos Walking Trilogy--Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer, Monsters of Men--by nesspatrick::Patrick Ness
8574599::Plain Kate--by bowerin::Erin Bow
9880508::Hold Me Closer, Necromancer--mcbridelish::by Lish McBride
8904651::The Sky is Everywhere by nelsonjandy::Jandy Nelson
7250107::If I Stay--by formangayle::Gayle Forman
9523995::The Replacement by brennayovanoff::Brenna Yovanoff
8206950::The Maze Runner by dashnerjames::James Dashner
3159496::Thirteen Reasons Why by asherjay::Jay Asher

My favorites that I read in 2010 were
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness (even though I was an emotional wreck after reading everyone of them
Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Sorta like a rock star by Matthew Quick
Hold me closer, necromancer by Lish McBride

I read 26 Young Adult books in 2010 - top ones were:

Gone by Michael Grant
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Gouge
Farmer in the Sky by Robert A Heinlein
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprau
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins