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Any other YA Lit fans here?

Haven

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Or am I the only one?

I LOVE YA lit. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I read a lot of grown-up lit, too, don''t get me wrong.
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But I really do love YA lit.

I just started reading The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. I''ll admit that I was first attracted to the book because the author is named Michael Scott, and I triple love The Office, too. It really is great, though.

So, which YA books have you loved?
 

SarFarSuperstar

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I was a middle school English teacher so I have a special place in my heart for children''s books and YA lit. I taught The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan to an 8th grade class as a part of a mythology unit. It''s a 5 book series and I just bought the rest of the books- they are awesome!

Another series that is fantastic is the Mysterious Benedict Society. There''s been a ton of research that young adult love series and I guess I just never grew out of that! At a library book sale last week, I bought The Tales of the Beedle Bard- huge HP fan, too.

Even though I don''t teach anymore, I''m sure I''ll keep reading YA lit- it indulges my inner child!
 

Haven

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Thanks for the great recommendations, SarFar!

I've been wanting to read The Lightening Thief for a while, but the waiting list for it at my library is miles long.

I'm a huge HP fan, too. I just read them all this year during my winter break (I teach English at a CC) and I couldn't stop. I'm now rereading the series with my niece and nephew. They come over to our house for a few hours every Wednesday night so I read a couple chapters to them in a very bad British accent. We read a book, and then watch the movie together, it's so much fun.

I love your doggie in your avatar, too. What a face! What's his/her name?
 

Brown.Eyed.Girl

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I love YA lit!

I actually read the entire Percy Jackson/Lightning Thief series a few months ago, and liked it a lot. I''m a sucker for anything with a Greek mythology them though.

Haven, I have The Alchemyst on my Kindle but I haven''t gotten around to it yet.

I have to say - two classic YA books that I haven''t liked were the His Dark Materials series, and gasp, the Narnia series. I think I came to both of those too late (read them only a few years ago and not as a child) so the magic wasn''t quite there for me.

As for other, younger books - does the Anne of Green Gables series count? And Little House on the Prairie? And The Wizard of Oz? I''ve read all of those books multiple times and love them. BF thinks I''m crazy, lol.
 

KayPea

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ME!!
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I read more YA lit than "grown-up books". Mostly because my sister is actually a YA author but I think pricescope will delete my post if I post her name saying she is my sister (it happened one time). I know it''s apart of their security policy but it made me sad. I''m super proud to say she is my sister! Also I just enjoy YA lit more!

Some of my favorite YA books are:

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

Sisters Red (coming out in June!) By Jackson Pearce

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

and

Looking for Alaska by John Green
 

SarFarSuperstar

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That''s my monster, Gilligan the 90 pound labradoodle. I''ll pass along your compliment- he loves them!

Anne of Green Gables & Little House on the Prairie totally count! I wanted red hair my whole life because of Anne Shirley. She was a true renegade!

B.E.G.-I read The Golden Compass, the first book in the His Dark Materials series, and it was super heavy. I would never have taught that to middle school students- in fact it was on the summer reading list for 11th & 12th grade at a high school I taught at. That makes more sense to me. My husband read all of them and loved them, but they just require too much brain power.

Haven- love that you have story time with your niece & nephew! That must make them feel so special!

KayPea- would love to know your sister''s books. Will have to look into the Jackson Pearce books, always looking for new good books!

Another great YA book is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Also kind of heavy, but so real. You probably knew a Stargirl and that''s what makes this book so compelling!
 

Haven

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BEG--I am really loving The Alchemyst. I think you''ll enjoy it. All of the characters are real, too, so it''s very interesting from a historical/mythological standpoint.
I LOVED the Narnia series when I was younger. I have yet to reread them as an adult, though.
I''ve started to read The Golden Compass a couple times now but haven''t gotten into it. I do want to read it, though. It''s interesting enough, but I always seem to have something else sitting on my nightstand that is just a bit more interesting.

KayPea--Oooh! Thank you for the titles! I''m going to check them all out.
I wish you could post your sister''s name!

SarFar--Gilligan! I love the name! He really does have the sweetest face.
I really enjoyed Stargirl when I read it a few years ago.
I love our story time with our niece and nephew. Their parents are going through a difficult divorce, so we started having them over once a week a couple months ago to give them some stability. I think it''s been really good for everyone.
 

Brown.Eyed.Girl

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Haven, I just started reading The Alchemyst again, after reading this thread. I don''t think I was in the right mood for it last time because I''m really really loving it now. I love mythology (BF HATES it when we get myth categories when we play against each other in Jeopardy
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) and I love how the author works in all of the old stories. Plus, one of my favorite sci-fi series mentions Morrigu and Scathach so it''s fun to see them in this book.

SarFar, the Pullman books ARE super dark. I liked the first one but the second and third books were meh, at best, for me. And I love the Anne of Green Gables books. Have you read the others in the series? I also really like Rilla of Ingleside - it''s much more serious, since most of the book is set during World War I, but so well done.

KayPeak, aww loving the new av! What a cutie! Darn - I''d love to know sometime who your sister is! I think it''s great that you''re proud of her. I would totally be if I knew anyone who was an author, much less my own family!
 

zoebartlett

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I love YA books, but I haven''t read any in a while.

Among my favorite YA authors are:

Jerry Spinelli
Cynthia Voight
Lois Lowry (I loved the Anastasia books, and I used to work for the publishing house that publishes her books. I began collecting her books then, and I have hardcover editions of them.)
Judy Blume (and Beverly Cleary, although BC isn''t really YA. For some reason, I always lump them together though.)
Andrew Clements
Jodi Picoult (okay, I know her books are adults books, but they''re always about children. A lot of high schools are requiring its students to read them.)


I used to work in a fabulous children''s bookstore, and I''d spend all day reading if there was nothing else to do. It was the best job and I miss it. I know there a TON of YA books and authors that I''m forgetting about.

I''m a little embarrassed to mention that I''ve never read any of the Anne of Green Gables books, although I have the series. I have watched the movies over and over (and over and over!) again, though. I adore Megan Follows, the actress who played Anne. The first movie was the best, in my opinion. I really should read the books. I know I''d love them.
 

zoebartlett

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For some reason this made me think of a comment my mother made to me over the years when I was growing up. I always had my nose in a book, and usually, it was a book that was involved some type of teen angst. My mom referred to them as "dead mother" books since in a lot of cases, the main character''s mom had passed away. Isn''t that awful?


ETA: Ohh, I also loved reading Lois Duncan''s books. They were thrillers and I loved getting spooked by them. Also, I loved The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene (and any other book about the Holocaust).
 

Brown.Eyed.Girl

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Well I REALLY got into the Alchemyst series - I just finished the third book. I have to say, Josh really annoys me! But I think I have very little patience for teenage boys and their egos
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The fourth book is coming out in a week or two - I can''t wait!
 

Haven

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Zoe--A job in a children''s bookstore sounds wonderful! I would love that.

BEG--HOLY READING, woman! I cannot believe that you''ve just finished the third book! Wow.
 

Brown.Eyed.Girl

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Date: 5/16/2010 12:19:05 PM
Author: Haven
Zoe--A job in a children''s bookstore sounds wonderful! I would love that.


BEG--HOLY READING, woman! I cannot believe that you''ve just finished the third book! Wow.

It''s bad timing though! I have until midnight tomorrow to finish all my substantial papers (25-30 page research papers) and I still have about 10 pages left to write in my second one, plus editing. But when a book/series gets me hooked, it''s hard to pull me away
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Haven

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BEG--So, you''re finished now, right? With your substantial papers? YAAAAAAAY!!!!
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dragonfly411

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I still like reading some of what I read when I was younger

The Sign of the Beaver
Bridge to Terabithia
My side of the Mountain
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Yearling
Harry Potter series
Twilight Series
Julie and the Wolves
 

SarFarSuperstar

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Haven- Just started The Alchemyst! I''m listening to it and got through the first disc in the car today- very good! It hits the same bells & whistles as Harry Potter does for me so I''m really enjoying it.

BEG- I read all of the Anne books but never went past there. I''ll have to check into Rilla- Lucy Maude is a legend.

Zoe- Huge Lois Lowry fan! My husband just finished The Giver- can''t believe he hadn''t read it yet. Number the Stars was also a classic- she has such compassion for her characters. SO jealous of your old job, too- sounds like a dream! My stepsister read these books that I thought of as "dead girl" books because the main character always had some terminal disease. So depressing!

I''m also listening to Hoot by Carl Hiassen. Set in Florida and about a group of middle schoolers trying to save an endangered owl habitat! I''ve been working outside and cooking a lot, so I love being read to while I work.
 

sillyberry

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Zoe, your preferences sound a lot like mine! I''m not into SciFi or Fantasy, so I''ve never read most of the series you all are talking about.

I do obsessively read the Alice McKinley series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I started back when I was 11 or so and have been reading them ever since (the library is my friend!). Back when I first read the books Alice and I were in the same grade, and now I''m about a decade older than her. She went from being like my best friend to my little sister, but for some reason I can''t stop until the series is over.

Oh, and Alice''s older brother seemed SOOO mature...and now he''s about five years younger than I am!
 

FluroJacket

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I highly recomend the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, very famous here in Australia but is available worldwide...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_series has the synopsis, but essentially a group of teenagers head out on a camping trip, while they are gone Australia is invaded and the kids have to survive...
 

brazen_irish_hussy

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I have never been big on YA lit, even when I was YA, but there are a few I loved.

The golden compass series may be my favorite of them, but it is heavy. Such amazing imagry and deep thoughts. I still think about it and read the first one in the 7th grade.
I love anything by Lloyd Alexander, he mainly does old celtic myths, but hey, they are so cool.
Neil Gaimen's stuff for YA is good, but then I love all his stuff, he did Coraline for example.
The series of unfortune events books are great. I love the sort of Victorian, occasionally steam punk feel of them.
A wrinkle in time is another one that changes the way you see the world.
I have not read them, but everyone I know who has read them says the Chronicles of Chrestomanci are fabulous.
 

Brown.Eyed.Girl

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Oh I love The Series of Unfortunate Events!

This also reminded me - I love Patricia Wrede''s Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, etc.) and her other series of magicians in Victorian England - Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician).
 

brazen_irish_hussy

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I just remembered quite possibly my favorite and I can't believe I forgot. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was an amazing book and I understand the rest of the series was good. It was about 2 girls in 1800s england trying to survive in difficult circumstances and it was just amazing. It isn't quite the same England because there was no Glorious revolution which makes it a whole different political setup. I never read the rest of the series, but I should.
 

Blackpaw

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Yes i enjoy a bit of YA lit every now and then. I find i tend to lose interest in the series' but will enjoy a book or two of them (eg, the golden compass series, inkheart, harry potter [for the record i finished the whole lot but had lost interest after the fourth]).

When i was very young i adored the boarding school books of Enid Blighton, did anyone else read them?

I came late to CS Lewis but i love the Narnia series. Haven i would recommend reading them again, i think as an adult you pick up more of the allegory...and reading them inspired me to read some of his non-fiction theological works which i found very interesting.
 

AGBF

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I have mixed feelings about this. I have to admit that I enjoyed teaching middle school English (until they wanted me to assign and grade a lot of compositions). I discovered books that had not existed when I was young and that I had somehow missed as my daughter went through the grades I was teaching. Among the books I discovered were Bridge to Terabithia; Tuck Everlasting; and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Nonetheless, I also really loved teaching To Kill A Mockingbird which, to me, is classic literature. Or would you consider that a book aimed for young adults (i.e. children)? It gets assigned to children in school, but so do many pieces of classic literature.

Maybe the question here should be: what are we calling, "Young Adult Literature"?

Deb/AGBF
:read:
 

AGBF

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I found a book called, The Glow Stone on my book shelf and read in a few days. It is a very easy read. It is a story about a family, but it also involves some rocks and minerals. It is aimed at young adults and is perfectly appropriate for teenagers. It is not, in my opinion, deep (although it does deal with themes of mental illness and suicide). It is very readable and nice, however.

AGBF
:read:
 

AGBF

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AGBF|1280331411|2660901 said:
I have to admit that I enjoyed teaching middle school English (until they wanted me to assign and grade a lot of compositions). I discovered books that had not existed when I was young and that I had somehow missed as my daughter went through the grades I was teaching. Among the books I discovered were Bridge to Terabithia; Tuck Everlasting; and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Haven recently started a thread about a website called, "Goodreads", which led Rae to post about another website called, "Librarything.com". I started to play on the latter site and decided to buy the sequel to Midred D. Taylor's Newbery award winning, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I didn't have to buy it, of course. I believe in, and use, the library, but I own a paperback copy of the first book since I used it for teaching, so I decided to buy the second one, too. The sequel is entitled, Let The Circle Be Unbroken. There are other books in the series, as well, but this one seemed to be the best received among them.

I just thought I'd post about getting back to a Young Adult genre book since my doing so is (or will be) the direct result of the actions of some other Pricescope Library posters!

Thanks, Haven and Rae!

Deb
:read:

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
 

aviastar

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oh, gosh, so glad I discovered the Library section of PS! I love the YA books, the stories are great and I don't have to watch out for some of the more...graphic...romance of books geared for adults, which I don't personally care to read.

Some great books and series mentioned here; I'll enthusiastically second the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander, the Enchanted Forest books by Patricia Wrede, Percy Jackson, Anne of Green Gables, Little House...I could go on.

I'll also chime in that I did not enjoy the His Dark Materials series; I read the whole thing, but felt that the second and third books were a bit of a bait and switch from the first. I love books that make you think and possibly open your opinions and views, but this series was so blatantly (to me) a vehicle for ranting and raving against organized religion, it took me out of the story and bothered me.

For those who enjoy the fantasy genre, check out Patricia McKillip; it's like swimming in clear water to dive into her prose- weightless and beautiful.

And for the non-fantasy-ers (and everyone else) THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak. It's categorized as YA, but it's one of the best books I have ever read, it changed the way I thought about people, death, kindness, forgiveness, and joy.

Hopefully a bump in this thread will bring on some more authors and titles for me to try!
 

Amys Bling

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So lately I have been obsessed with YA paranormal romance books! Lol. Some great reads:

Twilight series (I know, I know) lol
Fallen, torment, passion written by Lauren Kate :) it's a four book series- last one due out in the spring
I've also enjoyed this budding author I found-- Amanda Hocking (my blood approves series, inevitable) check her out- her books sell from .99 to 3.99, totally worth it!
 

aviastar

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Amys Bling: I tried Amanda Hocking, too, and I think she's well worth the $3.99 for Kindle editions, but I probably won't pay more than that until she gets a real editor as I found the later books in the series to repeat details unnecessarily, some grammer mistakes, stuff like that. I did finish and enjoy her Tryll Trilogy, but won't be rushing to grab the next series.

I am loving the self-publishing phenom going on right now that is boosting some great new authors to the spotlight and keeping prices down for Kindle Addicts like myself. I just finished the Tormay Trilogy, by Christopher Bunn, and loved it. It did get slightly drawn out in the last book, and this more than anything is what a good editor, in my opinion, can do for a book- keep the tempo steady and the story focused. But very enjoyable and very affordable all the same!
 

Haven

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AGBF|1299555266|2867119 said:
I just thought I'd post about getting back to a Young Adult genre book since my doing so is (or will be) the direct result of the actions of some other Pricescope Library posters!

Thanks, Haven and Rae!

Deb
:read:

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
:appl: :appl: :appl: :appl:

I've been reading a lot of YA lately because I'm writing a YA book, so I'm all about immersion at the moment.

I really loved Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold, as well as the first in her Thief Errant series, StarCrossed.

I read A Curse Dark as Gold and then happened to meet her, unknowingly, at my state's annual reading conference. She was sitting at a table with another woman and some books propped up in front of them. I saw Curse and ran over and gushed over the book. When I finished she said "Thank you so much!" and then I was all moony-eyed when I realized who she was. She was really charming and gracious despite my fanfare. A wonderful writer who is also a lovely individual!

Goodreads is so wonderful. My To Read list is now over 500 books, and when I look at it I have the sinking realization that I will never live long enough to read every book I want to read. Depressing and comforting at the same time. So many options, so little time.
 

aviastar

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quote]

I really loved Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold, as well as the first in her Thief Errant series, StarCrossed.

I read A Curse Dark as Gold and then happened to meet her, unknowingly, at my state's annual reading conference. She was sitting at a table with another woman and some books propped up in front of them. I saw Curse and ran over and gushed over the book. When I finished she said "Thank you so much!" and then I was all moony-eyed when I realized who she was. She was really charming and gracious despite my fanfare. A wonderful writer who is also a lovely individual!

Goodreads is so wonderful. My To Read list is now over 500 books, and when I look at it I have the sinking realization that I will never live long enough to read every book I want to read. Depressing and comforting at the same time. So many options, so little time.[/quote]

Ohhhh, good to know- I've had Curse on my GR to-read list and was just thinking of what to purchase for my kindle next. You've convinced me- A Curse as Dark as Gold it is!
 
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