Top Teen Books

I don’t know where this came from originally, but I stole it from Chelsea. 

The following list of books teens love, books teens should read, and books adults who serve teens should know about was compiled IN ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC MANNER and should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

Instructions:
Put an “X” next to the books you’ve read
Put a “+” next to the books you LOVE
Put a “#” next to the books you plan on reading
Tally your “X”s at the bottom
Share with your friends!

I’m skipping the “books I plan on reading” because that’s most of the ones I haven’t read. I plan on reading a lot, but my plans are not exactly set in stone so they aren’t worth much until they actually happen. I also skipped the books I LOVE because, well, that was a lot of them, too, too many to make the plus sign particularly meaningful.

1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
2. Kit’s Wilderness / David Almond
3. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian / Sherman Alexie 
4. Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson X
5. Feed / M.T. Anderson
6. Flowers in the Attic / V.C. Andrews
7. 13 Reasons Why / Jay Asher X
8. Am I Blue? / Marion Dane Bauer (editor)
9. Audrey Wait! / Robin Benway X
10. Weetzie Bat / Francesca Lia Block X
11. Tangerine / Edward Bloor X
12. Forever / Judy Blume
13. What I Saw and How I Lied / Judy Blundell
14. Tyrell / Coe Booth
15. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants / Ann Brashares X
16. A Great and Terrible Beauty / Libba Bray X
17. The Princess Diaries / Meg Cabot X
18. The Stranger / Albert Camus
19. Ender’s Game / Orson Scott Card X
20. Postcards from No Man’s Land / Aidan Chambers
21. Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky
22. And Then There Were None / Agatha Christie
23. Gingerbread / Rachel Cohn X
24. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist / Rachel Cohn and David Levithan X
25. Artemis Fowl (series) / Eoin Colfer X
26. The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins X
27. The Midwife’s Apprentice / Karen Cushman
28. The Truth About Forever / Sarah Dessen 
29. Little Brother / Cory Doctorow
30. A Northern Light / Jennifer Donnelly 
31. Tears of a Tiger / Sharon Draper
32. The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer X
33. Breathing Underwater / Alex Flinn
34. Stardust / Neil Gaiman X
35. Annie on My Mind / Nancy Garden
36. What Happened to Cass McBride / Gail Giles
37. Fat Kid Rules the World / K.L. Going
38. Lord of the Flies / William Golding X
39. Looking for Alaska / John Green X
40. Bronx Masquerade / Nikki Grimes X
41. Out of the Dust / Karen Hesse X
42. Hoot / Carl Hiaasen X
43. The Outsiders / S.E. Hinton 
44. Crank / Ellen Hopkins
45 The First Part Last / Angela Johnson
46. Blood and Chocolate / Annette Curtis Klause
47. Arrow’s Flight / Mercedes Lackey
48. Hattie Big Sky / Kirby Larson
49. To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee X
50. Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan
51. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks / E. Lockhart X
52. The Giver / Lois Lowry X
53. Number the Stars / Lois Lowry X
54. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie / David Lubar
55. Inexcusable / Chris Lynch
56. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things / Carolyn Mackler 
57. Dragonsong / Anne McCaffrey
58. White Darkness / Geraldine McCaughrean 
59. Sold / Patricia McCormick
60. Jellicoe Road / Melina Marchetta X
61. Wicked Lovely / Melissa Marr X
62. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer X
63. Dairy Queen / Catherine Murdock X
64. Fallen Angels / Walter Dean Myers
65. Monster / Walter Dean Myers
66. Step From Heaven / An Na
67. Mama Day / Gloria Naylor
68. The Keys to the Kingdom (series) / Garth Nix
69. Sabriel / Garth Nix
70. Airborn / Kenneth Oppel
71. Eragon / Christopher Paolini 
72. Hatchet / Gary Paulsen X
73. Life As We Knew It / Susan Beth Pfeffer X
74. The Golden Compass / Phillip PullmanX
75. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging / Louise Rennison X
76. The Lightning Thief / Rick Riordan X
77. Always Running: La Vida Loca / Luis Rodriguez
78. how i live now / Meg Rosoff X
79. Harry Potter (series) / J.K. Rowling X
80. Holes / Louis Sachar X
81. Catcher in the Rye / J. D. Salinger X
82. Push / Sapphire
83. Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
84. Unwind / Neil Shusterman 
85. Coldest Winter Ever / Sister Souljah
86. Stargirl / Jerry Spinelli X
87. Chanda’s Secrets / Allan Stratton
88. Tale of One Bad Rat / Brian Talbot
89. Rats Saw God / Rob Thomas
90. Lord of the Rings / J.R.R. Tolkien X
91. Stuck in Neutral / Terry Trueman
92. Gossip Girl / Cecily Von Ziegesar 
93. Uglies / Scott Westerfeld X
94. Every Time a Rainbow Dies / Rita Williams-Garcia
95. Pedro and Me / Judd Winick
96. Hard Love / Ellen Wittlinger
97. American Born Chinese / Gene Luen Yang
98. Elsewhere / Gabrielle Zevin X
99. I am the Messenger / Markus Zusak
100. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak

That’s forty-one books. Hmm. Less than half.  However, I am familiar with most of them (for example, even though I have never read Gossip Girl, I can tell you it is a book series about overly wealthy Upper East Side teenagers), and plan on reading most of those (not including Gossip Girl). I still feel unaccomplished, though. Feel free to make your own list, and link to it–I’d love to see it. 

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Author Meme

So, I found this in my drafts folder from a really long time ago.  I don’t know if anyone will find it interesting at this point or not, but, if you want to, enjoy. Some of the answers are not what I’d say now (for instance, I’d include Christine Fletcher in #1).

Jordyn over at Page Numbered has tagged me for a new meme! Here it is.

1. Who’s you all-time favorite author and why? Eep. Hard question! I honestly can’t choose just one. I’m going to choose…five. With at least two favorite books each, because if an author has only written one book, then it’s a favorite book, not a favorite author. Also if only one of their books makes it into my favorites list, then they can’t count as favorite author. By those rules, my top five: Melina Marchetta, John Green, Scott Westerfeld, Rachel Cohn, Sharon Creech. Of course, that could change at any moment…I’ll stop now.
2. Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her among your favorites? Hmm, probably Ann M. Martin. I loved Babysitter’s Club books in first grade. She’s not still a favorite of mine, but I have some sentimental attachment.
3. Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite answers, and why? Most recent favorite author would have to be, hm, probably Brian James.
4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection? This does not include the rules of number one. First thoughts: See number one, add Lisa Klein, Tamora Pierce,  David Levithan, Maureen Johnson, Tara Altebrando, Isabel Allende, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Caridad Ferrer, Gail Carson Levine. After more thought: JK Rowling, Katherine Applegate, Stephenie Meyer, Justine Larbalestier, Libba Bray, Marianne Curley, Deb Caletti, Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart.

The Rules: Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

I’m tagging: Anyone who wants to be tagged. Who needs to follow the rules, anyway?

 

Six Things

So, I don’t know if I’d do it otherwise, but I think the universe is telling me to do the six random things meme. I’m sure you’ve all seen it; it’s everywhere. And today, both Liv and Hope have tagged me, and if that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is!

The Rules For The Meme:
1. You link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Without further ado, my six things. I don’t promise that they are interesting, but they are true.

1. I firmly believe that the Lord of the Rings movies are the best movies ever made, better than any books ever written (possibly blasphemous to say here), better than ANYTHING, and I refuse to listen to any arguments.

2. That said, the LotR books are crap. Boring and irrelevant and far too long. Tolkein seriously needed a good editor.

3. I am going to go to Toronto this summer (probably early June) to visit the University of Toronto! Yay Canada!

4. I hate cold weather. Does this contradict with number four? Definitely.

5. I want to go to Miami to look at the University of Miami. Yay hot weather and Spanish!

6. My favorite historical figure is very, very obscure. Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians in the late 800s, early 1900s. I also love the town of Tamworth, which was the capital of Mercia. In England, for those not so well-versed in history.

Edit: Wow, I’m not really on the ball today. I forgot to tag people! So, I’m tagging these six people, but if you’ve already done it or don’t want to, don’t feel obligated:

1. Erin (Miss Erin)
2. Alyssa (The Shady Glade)
3. Siobhan Vivian
4. Maggie (Ritka’s Ramblings)
5. The Compulsive Reader
6. Harmony (Harmony Book Reviews)

 

Eva’s Reading Meme

Created by Eva at A Striped Armchair.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I really will read it soon, I promise! Everyone absolutely gushes about this book, but I have yet to be able to bring myself to read it. Maybe I’m afraid of disappointment?

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
I love travelling so, regardless of the characters, we’ll be going around the world! Although, you know, if you asked me tomorrow, my list would probably be different, but today I pick Aly from the Trickster series by Tamora Pierce, because, well, she’s awesome, Artemis Fowl because I am just so fascinated by his character, and, anyway, nothing would be boring with him around, and Fred Weasley because Fred is amazing and I would take any chance to bring him back from the dead!

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave? I’ve been meaning to read Jasper Fforde’s series….Anyway, I imagine it would probably be some 1000-page plotless novel, but I am afraid none are coming to mind at the moment.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it? Hmm….I don’t know if this really counts, but I have been known to have pretended to read various reading assignments for English without ever opening the book.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book? I don’t know of any at the moment.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP) Hmm…Ophelia, by Lisa Klein, is one I often cite as my favorite book, but the real answer is much more complicated than that! However, I do think anyone would enjoy that book, so I’ll go ahead and recommend it. It has everything a good book needs!

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with? Spanish. I am at least proficient in Spanish, but to be able to read a book or magazine in the language without knowing or caring where my dictionary is would be wonderful!

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick? Ophelia, by Lisa Klein. As I said, this is one of my favorites. I would love to be able to do lots of rereading, guilt-free, starting with this, but I can’t; there’s so much new stuff I’ve got to read for one reason or another!

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)? There’s a lot that I’ve discovered! New books, mostly. I could seriously go on and on, but I  guess I’ll just say that it was through the blogging community that I learned about Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, a recent favorite of mine.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free. My dream library has floor-to-ceiling shelves all around it (and those are high shelves–I have a ladder) with every book I ever wish for (it’s a magic fairy. So who says I can’t have a magical library?), and all are kept organised by the magic so I can find them when I need to! There’s also a fireplace that lights itself (as I am not good with fire. See: incident in my grandmother’s bathroom with a big candle), a big comfy sofa, an armchair, a table to set books on, and a mini-fridge so that I don’t have to leave my reading when I get thirsty!

And now, let’s say everyone has to tag four people (more than that becomes a hassle, imho) I tag…

Ritka’s Ramblings (Maggie), Miss Erin (Erin), The Shady Glade (Alyssa), and The Page Flipper (Chelsea).

 

Privilege

First of all, I want to share a couple of links about socioeconomic class in YA literature:

Here’s a post from the YA YA YAs. Make sure to read down through the comments!

Here’s a related booklist from Little Willow.

And now a meme about privilege. This one’s been floating around the blogosphere, and I thought I’d do it.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. (attorney)
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. (almost all of these are mine personally, found at various used bookstores and library booksales)
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18. This would never in a million years happen to me!
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs. If I was content to go to community college, sure.

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18. (well, the phones are cordless, so everyone in my house has one in their room when they need it).
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college .
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family.
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

Total: 18

Based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

I’d also like to link to Alma Alexander’s post about this. She’s right; this is about American standards. Kind of. Most middle-class Americans don’t consider a lot of these things to be privileges.  But, really, they are. It’s a privilege to have food and clean water and shelter and relative safety, compared to so much of the world, forget about cruises and credit cards. We, as Americans, are privileged, no matter how many of these things apply to you.

 

Book Binge Christmas Contest

I’m posting this meme as part of the Book Binge Christmas Contest. You could win an ebook reader just for answering ten simple questions! Here are my answers:
Christmas Meme:

1. What is your favorite Christmas romance to re-read each year? I don’t really read Christmas books.

2. What is your favorite Christmas movie/show? Nor do I watch holiday television, with the exception of my favorite TV shows having Christmas episodes. Supernatural had a Christmas episode this year, and that’s my favorite show, so I guess that’s it!

3. What is your favorite Christmas cookie? I don’t know what it’s called. It’s a white powdered sugar thing. Obviously I can’t describe it too well, either. But it’s delicious!

4. When do you start Christmas shopping? About the fifteenth of December, on a good year. Christmas eve on a bad one.

5. Do you re-gift? Occasionally.

6. What is your favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells

7. When do you get your Christmas tree? It’s fake. We’ve had it forever. We pull it out of the attic the first week of December, usually.

8. Wrapping presents: Love it or hate it? Hate it!

9. Who is the hardest person to buy for? All the men in my family are hard to buy for! Some of my friends can be difficult, too. I usually go with chocolate for those I can’t think of anything else to get. But this year, I had to shop for someone who I don’t know what to get and who doesn’t like chocolate! That was difficult.

10. Christmas tree: Real or artificial? Artificial.

 

Book Blogger Meme

From Confessions of a Bibliovore

Meme for Book Bloggers

How many other kidlit blogs do you read?
Tons! I can’t even count. There are a lot bookmarked on my favorites, a couple I’ve subscribed to email updates to, some subscribed to on myspace, and some subscribed to on livejournal.

What’s the most recent add?
Interactive Reader. I just found it through Confessions of a Bibliovore–same place this meme came from!

How often do you post a book review to your blog?
I try to review books as I read them, but it usually doesn’t work too well. For instance, right now I have eight books that I’ve read and need to review piled up next to my computer! So I usually do it all at once, when I get the time.

Do you post about anything else?
Yes. I usually post a list of contests at least once a month, as well as most wanted books and stuff like that.

Do you only blog books you like, or the stinkers too?
I blog about most of the books I read. There are few exceptions. I like most of them–If I don’t think I’ll like a book at all, I don’t pick it up, and I’m usually a good judge of that sort of thing.

How do you keep track of what you want to read?
Not very well! I have a must-have books list as well as a froogle wishlist that I don’t update very often, and various titles scrawled on scraps of paper.

How do you keep track of what you’ve read?
Again, not very well! I sometimes make attempts to, but…I don’t. One of my 2007 new year’s resolutions is going to be to keep a book journal, though! I’d like to know how many books and pages I read in a year, at least. <!– D([“mb”,” Do you work with kids?
Not really.

In the age group of the books you mostly blog about?
N/A

Do you read grown-up books?
Occasionally…Usually thrillers. Almost 100% of what I read, however, is YA.\n\n”,0] ); D([“ce”]); //–>

Do you work with kids?
Not really.

In the age group of the books you mostly blog about?
N/A

Do you read grown-up books?
Occasionally…Usually thrillers. Almost 100% of what I read, however, is YA.