These 10 books were chosen by teens for their favorite books of the previous year. YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Assoc.) is one of those groups I follow (I keep a copy of all of the YALSA long lists and bests lists, and rabidly track their Printz award winners), so if you're looking for a good YA read for yourself, a teen, or someone you know who wants to try YA, these 10 books might be a great place to start.
YALSA Top Ten of 2012:
I read most of the books on this list and really did like them all. One thing I did notice was that there's only 1 guy! Even in my own reading - I don't think I've read many YA books by dudes - only Ness with Ship Breaker comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteTanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
I'm so glad Where She Went made the list!
ReplyDeleteVery disappointed in this list. I did not think Legend or Abandon were that great, to be honest. Meh.
ReplyDeleteThe teens that chose these books did a great job! Great variety and fabulous writing! :)
ReplyDeleteWhich books from last year would you have chosen, Kara? I've only read 2 of these, and though I have Abandon, I haven't read it yet (and did hear some really mixed reviews of it), but I'm curious if you think you would have felt the same about it as a teen?
ReplyDeleteI think the books I would pick FOR teens are much different than the books I would have picked AS a teen, you know?
Tanya - Ship Breaker is Bacigalupi; Ness wrote the Chaos Walking series and A Monster Calls. But your right, it is a very female-driven genre. I wonder how many of the teens who voted were girls, and how many boys?
Lily - you're right, they did get a lot of variety! Wouldn't it be cool to be on a panel like this as a teen?
Hmmm, well, I've read 6 of these and 4 I very much approve of (TFIOS, AtU, Cinder, WSW), but 2 I didn't think were particularly good books (Divergent, Abandon).
ReplyDeleteI do know Divergent is immensely popular, which probably accounts for its inclusion. Not sure why Abandon is here, though. I know Meg Cabot is popular, but I haven't seen too much buzz for Abandon or the sequel. Oh well.
Just fyi, your images only show up in Internet Explorer, not in Firefox or Chrome for me.
Might that be a problem on your end, Christina? I use Chrome almost exclusively, and Firefox on occasion and have no issue, and haven't been told by anyone else that they are having an issue.
ReplyDeleteUgh how did Abandon get on this list? What a "bleh" book. I agree with most of the others though. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, everyone's hating on Abandon. Now I'm really curious to read it, actually, and see what the teens might have seen in it. =)
ReplyDeleteIt was just lacking a lot of action, had some pointless back story, and the MC hated on the guy so much for ruining her life that when he said "I love you" and she melted at the words, it was all way too much. The audio was okay though, voice acting wise... lol
ReplyDeleteUgh, cringe. I get the Persephone would be a hard romance to sell and make work, but no. Insta-love is bad enough, but insta-love when you've been kidnapped and held hostage? NO.
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