Young Adult Fiction for Adults discussion

I have nothing against Rowling, but I've seen her name on so many lists of recommended YA books that it is becoming cliche. So, how about a list of Young Adult Fiction for Adults where all of the nominees CAN'T be predicted? I adore Philip Pullman, but he is also too obvious. I'll start the list with two I have seldom seen recommended:

Lucy Boston, any of the Children of Green Knowe books.

Meredith Ann Pierce, The Darkangel Trilogy

Now that I've primed the pump, what can others contribute?

Yes, those Lucy Boston books are great.

I think Bruce Coville is one FANTASTIC author. You like mystery, his "Ghost" books are wonderful ("The Ghost in the Third Row" "The Ghost Wore Grey"). Fantasy? Try his unicorn novels or his Magic Shop series. Comedy? Almost any of them, but his "My Teacher Was An Alien" series is fun and meaningful.

Another Meredith Ann Pierce fan! That's one of my all-time favorite series.

Clare Bell's "Ratha" series (beginning with Ratha's Creature) is good but seldom heard-of and was just re-published with some spiffy new covers.

Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

Anything by Shannon Hale.

Neal Shusterman
Sharon Draper
Chris Crutcher
Scott Westerfeld
Markus Zusak
John Green
John Saul
Geoffrey Huntington
Tamora Pierce
Angela Johnson
Malin Alegria
Nikki Grimes
Pam Munoz Ryan

Give Tamora Pierce a try. Her Alanna series is very good and quite readable.

Neal Shrushter's Schwa is also very good, as is all his books.

Laura Amy Schlitz' "A Drowned Maiden's Hair" is the most impressive YA I've read in a long time. I'm also enjoying Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus books.

In both cases, I'm not sure why they're considered young adult, instead of just "novels." Do you think it's just because of the absence of sex and because the protagonists are young?

I don't think A Drowned Maiden's Hair would have ended the way it did if it were an adult novel, although I certainly thought it stood up to lots of good fiction for adults.

Another series I loved was Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter Duet, about an alternate-world turn-of-the-century New Zealand where a lucky few can find mysterious dreams and project them to others. I think it may be out in paperback in the US now. Just brilliant and wonderfully realized and intellectually complex.

> I don't think A Drowned Maiden's Hair would have ended the way it did if it were an adult novel

Very good point.

Hey J-Lynn, Scott Westerfeld is a great suggestion. I loved his Midnighters series. I was pleasantly surprised. The only other other I've heard of in your list is Tamora Pierce. Do you have any reccomendations from any of the authors on your list? My to read list is dwindling to mere a 11 or 12! :)

Book of a Thousand Days was amazing. And Goose Girl and all it's spin-off books was equally amazing! God, I love Shannon Hale.

Does anybody know if Bruce Coville ever finished his unicorn series? I remember loving them when I was in grade school, and to my knowledge, they've never been finished :(

About five years ago I was part of a children's writers conference with Bruce Coville and I asked him if he was ever going to finish the unicorn series. He groaned. At that time all of his energy was involved in his "Full Cast Audio" book recordings company. He didn't seem to think it was likely that the unicorn series would be finished any too soon, if at all.

Marya,

I am with you on the Dreamhunter Duet--it's one of the best books, I've read in a long, long time. Unforgettable and unlike anything else out there.

Just read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - very good book and i enjoyed it even though I know nothing about today's music!
If you want to see what's being offered by scholastic reading clubs for teens, you can go to their website www.scholastic/bookclubs.com and check them out. I get a lot of my YA books through them because they're cheaper than bookstores and I can order through the school I work for and not pay shipping!

What a fun idea for a group! There's so many great YA books out there that I think have delightful plots and characters, no matter what age you are! :)

Have you tried the "Larklight" series by Philip Reeve? The books are so creative and fun! It's a kind of Victorian/Sci-fi/fantasy combo. It's told from the perspective of Art Mumby (I think he's about 11 or 12) with excerpts from his sister's diary (most amusing!).

I also recently read "Magyk" by Angie Sage. I've only read the first book in the series, and while I'm not sure it's quite on a par with Harry Potter, I did still did really enjoy it.

Finally, I'd suggest "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke. Again, I've only read the first book in the series, but it's a really intriguing premise!:)

I love the Dear America series of historical diary-type fiction

Also just read the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan which was great.

The Gregor series by Suzanne Collins is fun too.

Jane Yolen
Emily Rodda
vivian vande velde
Michele Paver

That's all off the top of my head for now.

Oh - and I agree on Goose Girl - loved it.

Oh yeah, and the "Penderwick" books are good, too - by Birdsall. Sweet stories!!

I love the Inkheart books --- I've read what's out and am really looking forward to the next one, coming soon. Another author I would suggest is Holly Black. Her three novels (Valient, Ironside and Tithe) are remarkable, and much more ault-oriented than the Spiderwick Chronicles. I amreading the first in the Good Neighbor series now, which is set up as a graphic novel, and am enjoying it. Another good series that is new is the Blue Bloods series -- the author's name is escaping me at the moment ...

As a teacher and a mom I must say I really have a problem with the hero/heroine of each of these book being such low-lifes. I would not let my daughter read them--even though they're who I got them for--when she was younger. Now, she's old enough to read them. The writing is fabulous, I must say. If she'd just use her power for good and not evil. :-]

Holly Black's books have not quite anti-heroes, but close enough.

I have read hundreds of YA books including most of the ones mentioned above. But my very best favorites and not so widely known are:
The Shamer's Chronicles by Lene Kaaberbol
On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.
The Name of the Wing by Patrick Rothfuss
I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Pretty entertaining and fun.

Thanks. These are titles I've never heard of before. Would any of these books work for 5th-6th graders (ages 10-12)? I have very skilled readers in my lower school library, and I am always looking for YA books that are not too mature for a girl (it's an all-girls school) of this age.

Hi Bev,
The books I mentioned were my favorites but I am a little older than twelve. For that age group I guess The Shamer's Chronicles will work as the protagonist is about ten in the first book. I am not so sure about the others I mentioned.
My daughter who just turned 13 loves Scott Westerfeld's Uglies/Pretties/Specials/Extras and also Patrick Carman's The Land of Elyon books.
And, although hardly objective as I wrote it, I would recommend Two Moon Princess.

Carmen,
Oh! I didn't even realize you had written a YA book! I checked out what has been written about it and it looks just perfect for my school, a K-12 all-girl school where we're always looking for books with strong women protagonists. I think it would work best in our Middle School (grades 6-8), so I will pass the info on to our MS librarian.

Thanks.

Thanks Bev. That is great.

I recommend Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor. It's a great read. The world she describes is so real and description it totally takes you to another place.

Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy is the best young adult fantasy I've ever read. Clive Barker's Arabat books (the first two are out, Abarat and Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War) are great with stunning illustrations.

I agree with the Scott Westerfield books. Great stuff, though I stalled out on "Specials"

Garth Nix's series: both Abhorsen trilogy and the Keys to the Kingdom series (one of my favorites).

Darren Shan Cirque du Freak has been popular, though I never read it.

And I love Laurie Halse Anderson: particularly "Speak"

Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games & Catching Fire
Kathleen Duey - Skin Hunger & Sacred Scars
Kristin Cashore - Graceling & Fire
Scott Westerfeld - Midnight series is awesome, and I've heard the uglies series is really good as well.
I also like A. M. Jenkins books, repossessed and night road.

Oh also Lisa McMann - Wake and Fade.
Great books that you'll digest quickly and ask for seconds.

After reading the entire "Harry Potter" series, then reading the Midnight and several other books, I found "Haley Cork and the Blue Door" by M. Andrew Sprong.

Lois Duncan <3

Cathy wrote: "Laura Amy Schlitz' "A Drowned Maiden's Hair" is the most impressive YA I've read in a long time. I'm also enjoying Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus books.

In both cases, I'm not sure why they're con..."

It has to do with the protagonist's age.

Tamora Pierce - Tortall only for me
Garth Nix - I love both the Abhorsen & Keys to Kingdom series. He's easily my favorite author & most people I know haven't read it.

Meredith Ann Pierce, The Darkangel Trilogy TOTALLY LOVED THIS SERIES. I've been looking to buy the books and re-read them.

Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" sequence of five books. First is "Over Sea, Under Stone", but the books must be read in order. The second book, "The Dark is Rising" won the Newberry award.

Btw, the movie version of "The Dark is Rising" is not nearly as good as the book. Ignore it, and read the series.

For Tamora Pierce, First TEst; Page; Squire; and Lady Knight. Collectively known as the "Protector of the Small" series; and published as a 4 in 1 omnibus by the Science Fiction book club.

For Jane Yolen, The Pit Dragon Trilogy.

"How I Live Now" read it yesterday. (litterally, it had me up all night till I finished it.) It was incredibly intense; to the point where I couldn't sleep because the images of the people in this story were swimming around in my head like an ever-haunting nightmare of war and destruction.
There are a few *cough* questionable parts. Including some suggestive and even blatant sexual themes, that may be unsettling to a pure mind (cousins... blech!). But it's definitely worth the read, even if there's some extremely odd points to it.

Bev wrote: "Thanks. These are titles I've never heard of before. Would any of these books work for 5th-6th graders (ages 10-12)? I have very skilled readers in my lower school library, and I am always looki..."

My fifth grader is devouring the Alex rider series, the hank zipper books, lemony snickett, spy force, Percy Jackson series, 39th clues, diary of a wimpy kid, hope this helps.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
Everlost and Everwild by Neal Shusterman
All of Tamora Pierce's work

I'll submit A Measure of Disorder for consideration : ) Action/Adventure/Fantasy - the characters are 8th graders with nothing that kids wouldn't see on a regular night of TV, probably tamer than that in fact!

I'm into Chick lit so I would recommend Jennifer Echols Going Too Far. She also has a book coming out on the 25th called Endless Summer. She tells an awesome story and her characters have a lot of depth.

I also second the nomination for John Green, particularly Will Grayson, Will Grayson or Paper Towns. His books are so intelligently written. He doesn't dumb down the vocabulary just because it's YA.