Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Persnickety Snark's Top 100 YA books

I found this list on DeRaps Reads, based on a poll and list compiled earlier this year by Persnickety Snark.  They did a lot of the legwork in compiling this list of the Top 100 YA novels, according to voters, and I think it's a pretty impressive one.  You can find out about all the work that went into it and how the votes were tabulated at Persnickety Snark.
This is such a truly excellent list with a lot of great variety.  I'd check out a fair few of these titles, if you haven't yet.

Titles I've read are in bold, ones I own are italicized.


1. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling (one of my all-time faves)
4. Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass), Philip Pullman
6. The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen
7. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak (childhood fave)
9. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
10. This Lullaby, Sarah Dessen

11. Looking for Alaska, John Green
12. Just Listen, Sarah Dessen
13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
14. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
15. City of Bones, Cassandra Clare  (don't waste your time)
16. On the Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta
17. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
20. Along for the Ride, Sarah Dessen

21. Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
22. Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead
23. Graceling, Kristin Cashore
24. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
25. Sloppy Firsts, Megan McCafferty
26. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien -- tried to read it, got about 1/2 way
27. Alanna: The First Adventure, Tamora Pierce -- YESSS!
28. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
30. Uglies, Scott Westerfeld

31. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray -- really, don't waste your time
32. Tomorrow, When the War Began, John Marsden
33. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart
34. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
35. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
36. Paper Towns, John Green
37. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
38. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
39. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith

40. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
41. Lock and Key, Sarah Dessen
42. The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman
43. Evernight, Claudia Gray
44. Sabriel, Garth Nix
45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
46. Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
47. Forever, Judy Blume
48. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
49. Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine

50. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
51. Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
52. Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
53. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
54. Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick -- see City of Bones, A Great and Terrible Beauty
55. Saving Francesca, Melina Marchetta
56. Second Helpings, Megan McCafferty
57. Dreamland, Sarah Dessen
58. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
59. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
60. Fire, Kristin Cashore

61. The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier -- horrible writing
62. Weetzie Bat, Francesca Lia Block
63. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
64. Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta
65. How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff
66. City of Glass, Cassandra Clare
67. Keeping the Moon, Sarah Dessen
68. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
69. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
70. If I Stay, Gayle Forman

71. The King of Attolia, Megan Whalen Turner
72. Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson
73. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, Robin McKinley
74. The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
75. Feed, M.T. Anderson
76. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Ann Brashares
77. Go Ask Alice, Anonymous
78. Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr
79. Lord of the Flies, William Golding
80. Someone Like You, Sarah Dessen

81. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan
82. Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson
83. The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
84. Poison Study, Maria V. Snyder
85. Shadow Kiss, Richelle Mead
86. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
87. An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
88. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon
89. A Ring of Endless Light, Madeleine L’Engle
90. Glass Houses, Rachel Caine

91. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I:The Pox Party, M.T. Anderson
92. Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech
93. Whale Talk, Chris Crutcher
94. Perfect Chemistry, Simone Elkeles
95. Going Too Far, Jennifer Echols
96. The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks
97. Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver
98. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
99. The Pigman, Paul Zindel
100. The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley


So, I've only read 42 (assuming I can count), and own a few more but have yet to read them.  What do you guys think?  Any that I simply must read?  Any that should be crossed off the list?  Any that didn't make the cut that should have?

9 comments:

  1. If I had to choose any of the unread reads (that I've also read), I'd have you read Paper Towns. It won the Edgar Award, and is not exactly creepy, but a good, solid read. I just love Mr. Green.

    Thanks for sharing your list!

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  2. This is a nice comprehensive list. I’m surprised to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time as YA. I Capture the Castle and Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging are two of my favorite books of all time. This list will be helpful when sorting through my 2011 reads!

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  3. I had seen this list a while back but had kind of forgotten about it -- thank you for reminding me! I love that you listed which you'd read. It's always fun to compare! I think I might do the same =) Don't think I've read nearly as many though lol.

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  4. Really fascinating list to read through. I've read 44 of these. I agree with you about The Chocolate War and Hush, Hush-- but not A Great and Terrible Beauty and City of Bones. Those are actually two of my favorite books. Nice to see Harry Potter at the top, and Uglies in the top fifty. :)

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  5. What a neat list! I've read 56 (I think...) and have a lot of the others on my owned, or to read list.

    I don't get how some of those books could have been added though- Wow... But, it was nice to see quite a few of my all time faves listed!

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  6. I didn't like City of Bones, too.
    A book I suggest is Vampire Academy. Rose and Dimitri are simply great characters!

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  7. Must read: Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card - nuf said

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  8. Speak is also excellent. I'm so sad that any twilight books made it. Icky. Saving Francesca was is one of my fave reads of 2010! A tree Grows in brooklyn also excellent...read that one, too! Evernight is a fun vampire read. I've only read 28 but own a few more on this list as well that I want to get to. Thanks for sharing this list. I need to check out the ones I haven't heard of.

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  9. I'm not a huge YA reader, so I've read very few on the list. I linked this in my Friday Five.

    Have a great weekend!

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