Passionateaboutbooks's list for 2009, so far . . .

As a school librarian in a high school, the majority of books I read are YA lit. I love seeing what others are reading and adding titles to my evergrowing list of books to read. So far this year I have read the following books:
1. The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer - the sequel to Gideon the Cutpurse, excellent series. I recommend listening to the audio book; the narrator does an excellent job.
2. The Off Season by Catherine Murdock - sequel to Dairy Queen, audio book
3. The Hunt Club by Brett Lott
4. Lizard People by Charlie Price - a quick read with an interesting twist at the end
5. Monkey Town: the summer of the Scopes Trial by Ronald Kidd
6. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - a powerful story that reminds the reader that even the smallest comment or gesture impacts those around us.
7. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
8. Watchmen by Alan Moore
9. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
10.Shooter by Walter Dean Myers
11. Trouble by Gary Schmidt
12. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
13. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - what a book! I think this will an award winner.
14. Wake by Lisa McMann
15. Middle Passage by Charles Johnson

Hello and welcome.

It is nice to see another person here on the 75 challenge group that reads YA. I find such gems in this genre, particularly in the Newbery award winners.

I haven't red Speak or Wintergirls. They are on my tbr pile. But, I have read and recommend Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Welcome! Nice list!

Welcome and good luck this year with your challenge, Passionateaboutbooks.

Welcome to the group!

I am also a fan of YA books, so I will be anxious to see your reading over the course of the year.

w00t, starred your thread! I read an awful lot of YA as well, so I'll be back to check out your reviews :)

Thanks for the welcome. The latest book that I've read is 16. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. What a great book! I loved it; it was a nice break from the angst I find in YA lit. I'm so glad it received the Newbery this year. Now, I want to read Kipling's Jungle Book.

Welcome!
I'm new too and have been having a grand time with the rest of the 75 book members :)

I love love love YA books :) I have loved reading for so long and can remember when the only books on the shelf for me were Christopher Pike thrillers.
Now that I'm old(er) it makes me so happy to see shelves and shelves of YA books out there! It helps having a 13 year old sister and a cousin who is a Children's librarian :)

Can't wait to see what else winds up on your list this year, passionateaboutbooks.

I'm in the process of reading The Graveyard Book and love it so far!

Unfortunately, I've slowed my reading down a bit but, once summer begins, I will hopefully get much closer to my goal.

17. Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love - I actually started reading this book because a teacher was concerned that the content was questionable. I was slightly annoyed that I had to put aside What I Saw and How I Lied to read this book but soon found myself enjoying the storyline. The content is very innocent and definitely a book to be enjoyed by teen girls.

18. What I Saw and How I Lied - National Book Award winner for 2009. While this was a good coming-of-age story, I definitely want to read its competitors Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume II by M.T. Anderson, and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks to see if I feel it was the best National Book Award selection.

19. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - an excellent story; he is such a great author. If you haven't read The Book Thief, I wholeheartedly recommend it. I am the Messenger is for mature YA as it has some language and content; that being said, I really enjoyed it.

20. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - I am reacquainting myself with this series. This time around, I'm listening to the audio books and love them. Jim Dale does an excellent job.

I'm simply stopping by to say I read a lot of YA books. I recently finished Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. If you haven't read this, you might be interested. Like you, I enjoyed both The Book Thief and I am The Messenger. Have you read The Reader and/or Hana's Suitcase?

I haven't read either The Reader or Hana's Suitcase. When you say The Reader, are you referring to the book that was recently made into a movie with Kate Winslet?

21. The Death of Jayson Porter by Jaime Adoff - Sixteen-year-old Jayson Porter lives with his extremely abusive mother; his father is a drug addict who can't take care of himself let allow help Jayson in his difficult situation. Then, Jayson learns a secret about his mother's past that shakes him to his core, leading him to finally jump from the seventh story of his apartment building. The story begins with Jayson jumping and then flashes back to his life up to the point that he jumps. It is a very powerfully written story that I felt was very realistic and relatable for teens in abusive home situations. I was very satisfied with the book's ending. I think that this may be Adoff's best book yet.
22. The Wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis - An award-winning picture book that details the author's experience of growing up in Communist Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. The illustrations are incredible, and the story is enhanced with excerpts from the author's childhood/teenage journals. This book would be a great opener for a lesson about Communism or to introduce books about totalitarianism, such as 1984.
23. Deogratias: a tale of Rwanda by Stassen - A powerful graphic novel that shows how the genocide in Rwanda affected one young Hutu man. This graphic novel was hard for me to read at times because of its dark content.

yes, The Reader was made into a movie. Kate Winslet won an academy award.

24. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

#11: I have added both the Adoff and Sis books to Planet TBR. Thanks for the recommendations.

A belated welcome passionateaboutbooks!
It looks like you have read a lot of good books so far, i have added most of them to my wishlist. Looking foward to seeing what else you will be reading...

What did you think of Twisted and Wintergirls? I read Speak, and really liked it, so I may like those.

I thought that Wintergirls was a very powerful story; I really think that it may be up for a literary award at the end of the year. I didn't like Twisted as much as Wintergirls or Speak; it was a bit intense for me at times. That said, I think that Anderson wrote convincing from a teenage boy's perceptive and that boys will be able to relate to her characters. For a lighter read, I suggest Anderson's Prom; I found it to be a fun read.

LWell, I recently was hired to work in an elementary media center. So, most of the titles on my list will be for younger readers; however, since it is summertime, you will probably see some Adult and YA titles.
25. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
26. The Stolen Child - This was a book recommended to me through LibraryThing; it is a twist on the fairy tale of the changeling. The story is told from two viewpoints, the child who is stolen from his family and then forced to live with other changelings and the changeling who takes his place. The writing was very easy to get into, and I often found it hard to put down. This story is similar to The book of lost things but the writing is most relaxed.
27. Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin - a YA book about two best friends whose lives are changed forever when one friend ends up in a coma after a party. The other friend blames himself and has to come to terms with the possibility of life without his best friend. Very good.
28. The Joy Luck Club
29. Big Fat Manifesto - A YA book by Susan Vaught about a high school senior who writes a series of articles for her school newspaper on life as an overweight girl. The series begins to draw local, and eventually national, attention when she writes against her overweight boyfriend's decision to undergo bariatric surgery.
30. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - a YA fantasy book; very good with plenty of action. I definitely recommend it and will be reading the next two books in the series.
31. Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic - my first elementary read. A picture book about Max the duck and the family that he stays with during the winter months.
32. The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles - a children's book; House Jackson has a secret: he doesn't want people to know that he has been spending every afternoon for the past year reading to "Baby-Eater" Boyd. While, he knows that Mr. Boyd isn't at all like the rumors spread about him, he knows his friends and baseball team won't understand. This was a very sweet book.

A friend of mine met Cassandra Clare a few months back, when she was doing a book signing in Toronto with Holly Black. Apparently the wait in line took hours... because both authors were taking time to talk to every single person who came to see them, for at least 5 minutes each. I gained a lot of respect for both those women when I heard about that!!! I haven't read City of Bones yet, but it's definitely on the list... :)

I really didn't describe The Aurora County All-Stars very well. After Mr. Boyd dies, not only does House's secret get out but several other secrets are found out. The book would be a good book to give to baseball fans; every other chapter begins with a quote from a famous baseball player; the text is also peppered with interesting baseball quotes. The book also incorporates several Walt Whitman poems and does an excellent job of tying the two subjects, baseball and Whitman, together. The book made me want to read more of Whitman's work.

#20: Anything baseball and I am in! I will look for it. Thanks for the recommendation.

heres a baseball (ish) book. The Girl who threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane Its a YA book, and isnt all about baaseball but I liked it all right.

#22: That one looks good, too. Thanks for the recommendation, lauren.