What I've Read of Popular YA

This is a list of the 100 most popular YA books. I dunno who compiled it, if it's worldwide or just US, UK, Australia, or somewhere else entirely, but it seems to be one meme I could get behind. Got this list from Bookswarm who got it from Annette's Book Spot who got it from Rather Barefoot than Bookless. If you like you can trace it back from there, I wish you better luck than I had :P I'm using Gold for books/series I've completed, Pink for series where I've read one but not all, and Italics for books I have on my wishlist/to-read list.

1.Alex Finn – Beastly
2.Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3.Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4.Ally Condie – Matched
5.Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6.Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7.Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8.Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9.Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10.Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11.Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12.Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13.Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14.Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15.Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16.Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17.Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4)
18.Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19.Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20.Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21.Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22.Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23.Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24.Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25.Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26.Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27.Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28.Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29.J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30.James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31.James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32.Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33.Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34.Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35.John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36.John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37.John Green – Looking for Alaska
38.John Green – Paper Towns
39.Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40.Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41.Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42.Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43.Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44.Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45.Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46.Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47.Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48.M.T. Anderson – Feed
49.Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50.Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51.Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52.Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
53.Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54.Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55.Mary Ting – Crossroads
56.Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57.Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58.Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59.Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60.Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61.Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62.Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63.Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64.Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65.Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66.Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67.Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68.Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69.Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70.Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71.Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72.P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
73.Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74.Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75.Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76.Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77.Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78.Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79.S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80.Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81.Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82.Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83.Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84.Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85.Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
86.Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87.Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88.Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89.Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90.Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91.Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92.Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93.Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94.Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95.Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96.Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97.Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98.Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99.Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100.Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

Dystopian YA

From the handout made by me for the Hunger Games panel and the handout and discussion from the Dystopias for Teens panel at DragonCon.

Series are represented by the first book only to keep the list manageable.

Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony
Candor by Pam Bachorz
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Pure by Julianna Baggott
Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess
Eve by Anna Carey
Dark Secrets by Elizabeth Chandler
Matched by Ally Condie
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Truancy by Isamu Fhkui
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill
Flux by Beth Goobie
Gone by Michael Grant
Feed by Mira Grant
Dark Parties by Sara Grant
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
The Line by Teri Hall
Nomansland by Lesley Hauge
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Possession by Elana Johnson
Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky
XVI by Julia Karr
In the Company of Whispers by Saillie Lowenstein
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Legend by Marie Lu
The Declaration by Gemma Malley
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
The Unidentified by Rae Mariz
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Tankborn by Karn Sandler
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Memento Nora by Angie Smibert
Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine
Skinned by Robin Wasserman
Variant by Robison Wells
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Empty by Suzanne Weyn
The Children of the Lost by David Whitley
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson

For Your Consideration - 2011 Hugo Nominees

I know there's a lot of controversy going on right now in the WorldCon community over the proposal of a new award category for Children's and YA novels. One of the arguments (both for and against, depending on how you view it) is the question of whether or not there are Children's and YA books worth nominating. In that vein, here is my short-list of Children's and Young Adult books published in 2010 that are worthy of a Hugo:

BEST NOVEL:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


Mockingjay is a wonderful, provocative finisher to a series that has met critical and public acclaim. It debuted at #1 on the USA Today and New York Times Bestseller lists. Its publication netted Collins inclusion on Time Magazine's Most Influential People of 2010. The rights to Hunger Games have been optioned for a movie that is in development. All of this on top of a beautiful dystopia that defies all stereotypes and returns an honest, gritty look at the result of war and rebellion, even ones that are against unjust tyrants.


Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld


Westerfeld has created a beautiful world that is strikingly different from our own based on only a few premises: what if Darwin continued his studies and discovered DNA and how to manipulate it, and what if countries either adopted that or utilized machine technology in protest? The result is a wonderful World War I alterna-history about two children that is entertaining and displays a great depth at a level that all ages can appreciate.


BEST NOVELLA:

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler


((Note: at 44,300 words this book falls over the strict word limit but is within the 5000 words or 20% rule to be placed in this category [Constitution 3.2.9]))

I think this was the book from 2010 that impacted me the most. Lisabeth's characterization is amazingly good. I really felt that I could understand and identify with Lisabeth and her attraction to anorexia. The utilization of the four horsemen as a catalyst for both giving Lisabeth everything she wants and making her realize she doesn't really want any of it is very insightful, and the way Kessler pulls it off is truly gifted. If you only read one thing off this list I really hope it is Hunger.


BEST NOVELETTE:

“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" in Zombies vs. Unicorns by Diana Peterfreund

This story is about a girl who finds a unicorn and, instead of killing it, tries to raise it as a pet. She discovers that with the unicorn around her "demon powers", which her parents call a curse, are actually heightened and useful. A great short about a girl discovering to value herself and her talents and follow her heart instead of her parents' debasing teachings).


BEST SHORT STORY:

"Bougainvillea" in Zombies vs. Unicorns by Carrie Ryan

This is a story about a girl whose father rules Curacao after the zombie uprising, keeping zombies off the island and everyone safe. Not everyone appreciates his ruthless rules, though, and through the conflict of obeying or rebelling Isa discovers her own power and autonomy and delivers an amazing twist ending.


“The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue” in Full Moon City by Holly Black

This was a truly gifted story. I love the parallels of transformation: girl into werewolf, girl into actress, actress into role. The thought that it took playing someone else to make Nadia comfortable with who she really is is an great twist. Lots of characterization and plot packed into such a short package.


BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST:

Keith Thompson

His work on Leviathan and Behemoth is truly awesome, and his steampunk and cyberpunk art will captivate you.


THE JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER (NOT A HUGO AWARD):

Malinda Lo (2nd year of eligibility)

Her novel, Ash, was published in 2009 and is thus not eligible, but I certainly think its impact as an Andre Norton Nominee along with Scalzi's Zoe's Tale demonstrate that Lo is going to be an author to watch in the future.


Diana Peterfreund (2nd year of eligibility)

Diana's Unicorn series (Rampant and Ascendant) are truly excellent fantasy, tackling not only the ancient trope of a innocent girl as bait twisted in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer type way, but put it all in a shell of believable characterization that makes you love Astrid and care for her throughout all the stories. I believe Peterfreund is going to give us more truly special works in the future.

Top Ten Books I Most Anticipate in 2011

Since it's the new year, let's look forward to the great books that we'll be able to enjoy in the next year!

#10 - Shadowspell by Jenna Black

On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?

To add to all of Dana's problems, now the fairies aren't looking to kidnap her and keep her from her father--they want her dead.


#9 - Crossed by Allison Condie

no blurb yet

Since much of Matched's appeal was in its promise of an action-packed sequel, I had to put that sequel on this list.


#8 - Across the Universe by Beth Revis

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awake on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into a brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Teen space opera, a rather under-represented category in YA right now.


#7 - Blackveil by Kristen Britain

Karigan G'ladheon was a regular girl until she stumbled across a dying man. There were two arrows embedded in his back, and wherever his horse was taking him, he was going to die before they got there. He gave Karigan his horse, cloak and his broach – the symbol that he was one of the King's Green Riders – and, with them, his mission. To deliver a message to the King. He made her swear to do it... even though the Shadow Man who killed him will be hot on her trail.

That mission made her a Green Rider. Now, her first, legendary mission is long complete. Karigan has learnt to wield the magic her green rider broach allows her to access, and she's used it to defy some of the most terrifying dark magicians of the age. But while Mornhavon the Black has gone, he's not defeated. His restless spirit haunts Blackveil, the lethal, corrupt forest that stands beyond a failing magical wall at the edge of King Zachary's territory. Karigan's destiny is leading her there, and when her King asks her to join a mission to Blackveil to save the remnants of a dying race, it seems she has little choice but to follow it...

The Green Rider books are so absorbing and good, high fantasy at its best. However, the author has the unfortunate problem of having a real life, so the books are incredibly slow to come out - this is the fourth of the series, the first was published in 1998. The painfully slow pace sets up lots of suspense, making this book highly anticipated :D


#6 - XVI by Julia Karr

In the year 2150, being a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when your sixteenth (read sex-teenth) birthday is fast approaching. That in itself would be enough to make anyone more than a little nuts, what with the tattoo and all – but Nina Oberon’s life has taken a definite turn for the worse. Her mother is brutally stabbed and left for dead. Before dying, she entrusts a secret book to Nina, telling her to deliver it to Nina's father. But, first Nina has to find him; since for fifteen years he's been officially dead. Complications arise when she rescues Sal, a mysterious, and ultra hot guy. He seems to like Nina, but also seems to know more about her father than he’s letting on. Then there’s that murderous ex-government agent who’s stalking her, and just happens to be her little sister’s dad.

This book looks like an awesome view of gender and female sexuality as well as a commentary on patriarchy and rape culture. I have really high hopes that it'll be wonderful.


#5 - Rage

Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.

That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a different kind of blade—a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.

The first book in this series was life-changing. It was an amazing look at eating disorders that, more than anything else I've ever seen, heard, or read, has helped me to truly understand the body image spiral that leads to these diseases and how hard it really is to change. I hope that Rage, about self-mutilation, is half as thought-provoking, because that will mean it is an amazing read.


#4 - The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia has led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when she learns, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city, her best friend, Kiernan, and the only life she’s ever known.

Sent to live with her only surviving relative, a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. Then she discovers that magic runs through her veins – long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control – and she realizes that she will never learn to be just a simple village girl.

Sinda returns to the city to seek answers. Instead, she rediscovers the boy who refused to forsake her, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor’s history, forever.

High fantasy about a girl who is raised as a princess but finds out she's actually the stunt double. I think this is a great reversal of the "but I'm really royalty" traditional plotline. Plus, high fantasy, which I love, and I've won an autographed ARC, so I'm super excited!


#3 - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Everyone's calling it "the YA version of a Handmaid's Tale" which makes it very intriguing for me. It's about girls forced into polygamous marriages and forced to bear children at a young age due to the decreasing fertility of the human race, which again leads to gender and patriarchy discussions, and whether you can "value" a human being by owning them like a possession.


#2 - Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce

Collected here for the first time are all of the tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters as well as old friends. Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories, some of which have been published before, will lead Tammy's fans, and new readers into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy.

Anything Tamora Pierce writes will be highly anticipated by me.


#1 - Eona by Alison Goodman

Where there is power, there is betrayal…

Once she was Eon, a girl disguised as a boy, risking her life for the chance to become a Dragoneye apprentice. Now she is is Eona, the Mirror Dragoneye, her country’s savior—but she has an even more dangerous secret.

She cannot control her power.

Each time she tries to bond with her Mirror Dragon, she becomes a conduit for the ten spirit dragons whose Dragoneyes were murdered by Lord Ido. Their anguish floods through her, twisting her ability into a killing force, destroying the land and its people.

And another force of destruction is on her trail.

Along with Ryko and Lady Dela, Eona is on the run from High Lord Sethon’s army. The renegades must find Kygo, the young Pearl Emperor, who needs Eona’s power if he is to wrest back his throne from Sethon. But if Eona is to help Kygo, she must drive a dark bargain with an old enemy that could obliterate them all.

Because Eon was simply amazing, and as intriguing as it was to watch a girl hide out as a boy, I have a feeling that Goodman is going to make the transition back to living as a girl even harder on Eona, which is a fresh angle I am highly anticipating watching.

My Top 10 Books of 2010

I've read a lot of really good books this year. But there were some amazingly stand-out books that were my absolute favorites.


#10 - Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey

Far from the land of her birth, Moirin sets out across Tatar territory to find Bao, the proud and virile Ch'in fighter who holds the missing half of her diadh-anam, the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. After a long ordeal, she not only succeeds, but surrenders to a passion the likes of which she's never known. But the lovers' happiness is short lived, for Bao is entangled in a complication that soon leads to their betrayal.

This was a very good sequel. In fact, I liked it much more than the first book in the series. The love story was good, and the fact that the beautiful courtesan had to deal with constant rejection was even better. I look forward to the final book in the trilogy in 2011.


#9 - The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

What if fairy tale magic really existed?

Lonely at her new school, Elizabeth takes a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository, hoping to make new friends as well as pocket money. The Repository is no ordinary library. It lends out objects rather than books—everything from tea sets and hockey sticks to Marie Antoinette’s everyday wig.

It’s also home to the Grimm Collection, a secret room in the basement. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror that talks in riddles and has a will of its own.

When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth and her new friends embark on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before they’re accused of the crime themselves—or the thief captures them.

A great book. It started with the premise: a library that lets you check out magical items? Awesome. Love the reference to "the Lovecraft Collection" (which had me instantly scream 'No! Don't go in there!!!'). The characters are great. I'm so-so on the plot, it was solid and engaging but a bit predictable. But I can let that go for the promise of more, funner things to come.


#8 - Matched by Ally Condie

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

This book was good. Not great, but good. It was a little slow at points, but I think that's due to the fascinating inner dialogue of the main character. However, I put this book on this list solely for its promise. The build-up to the climax is slow, but the climax is great, and the denouement promises that the next book will be much more action-packed.


#7 - Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

After helping Chip and Alex survive fifteenth-century London, Jonah and Katherine are summoned to help another missing child, Andrea, face her fate in history. Andrea is really Virginia Dare, from the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jonah and Katherine are confident in their ability to help Andrea fix history, but when their journey goes dangerously awry, they realize they may be in over their heads: They seem to have landed in the wrong time period. They can’t reach JB for help. Andrea is behaving oddly. And even worse, it appears that someone has deliberately sabotaged their mission . . .

Another awesome book in the "Missing" series. I love the science behind time travel in the series as well as the exhausting historical research that the author went through. The series makes me believe it really is what time-travel to our past would be like. I loved this book especially because it had a female historical figure that was well-written and strong.


#6 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally has grown up in a post-apocalyptic world where, at the age of 16, everyone is given an operation that makes their faces and bodies perfect. Before the operation they are known as "uglies," and after as "pretties." After the operation they live in New Pretty Town, enjoying a life of constant partying and pleasure. Tally can't wait. Shortly before her 16th birthday she befriends Shay, who tells her about the Smoke, a secret community of those who refuse the operation. When Shay runs away to join the Smoke, Tally is given a choice by the Specials, the secret police: help them find the Smoke and betray her friend, or remain an ugly forever.

I can't believe I didn't find this series before now. It was great. The premise is wonderful: if beautiful people have a societal advantage, why not give everyone surgery to make them all beautiful and level the playing field? The dystopian society is believable, and I like how Tally grows from someone who goes along with the status quo to someone who questions everything around her. Shay is a great character, too, and a great counterpoint to Tally. And the romance in this book is mostly MacGuffin, which is nice as well :D


#5 - Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund

The hunt continues…

Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully-trained unicorn hunter, but she’s learning she can’t solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend Giovanni has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers seem to be mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid fears that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are nothing but impossible dreams.

So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover The Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants…or can she? At the Gordian Pharmaceuticals headquarters deep in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and – most of all – her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?

Killer Unicorns are AWESOME! and so is this book. The sequel to Rampant is a great book, which, to me, dealt a lot with inner turmoil and the price of "selling out". I love the "Buffy" vibe with a fresh, new direction and outlook. And the Astrid character is great, fighting so hard to leave her family behind and yet it always keeps catching up with her.


#4 - Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

This book was seriously disturbing in a very good way. Although I was incredibly surprised at how short it was (when I got it I felt like I was holding a con program), but it was packed with goodness and really didn't need to be longer. It was a great look at anorexia and how difficult self-image is to a teenage girl, as well as how hard it is to *want* to change, and how much harder it is to actually start that change. I am greatly looking forward to the sequel: Rage.


#3 - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

Full of awesome. I know a lot of people weren't happy with how this book went, but I thought it was really good. I think most of the problems came with how dirty and costly the rebellion/war was, which is one of the things I really liked: war IS dirty and messy and costs A LOT of lives. I think this book told that, but in a way that young people could identify with. I also think it was a plausible, almost predictable, end to a book about a reality show where dozens of teens are killed for entertainment.


#2 - StarCrossed by Elizabeth Bunce

Digger thrives as a spy and sneak-thief among the feuding religious factions of Gerse, dodging the Greenmen who have banned all magic. But when a routine job goes horribly wrong and her partner and lover Tegen is killed, she has to get out of the city, fast, and hides herself in a merry group of nobles to do so. Accepted as a lady's maid to shy young Merista Nemair, Digger finds new peace and friendship at the Nemair stronghold--as well as plenty of jewels for the taking. But after the devious Lord Daul catches her in the act of thievery, he blackmails her into becoming his personal spy in the castle, and Digger soon realizes that her noble hosts aren't as apolitical as she thought... that indeed, she may be at the heart of a magical rebellion.

The best high fantasy I've read in a while. Love how Digger was not a 'gem waiting to find her superpowers' like a lot of these stories, but instead was really just an exceptional girl for her character and her curiosity. The plot was brilliant, and, although I don't want to spoil the fun, the lack of romance was really great because there really are times when a woman's life is too busy for love, just like a man's.


#1 - Eon by Alison Goodman

Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragoneye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death. After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon's affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon's desperate lie comes to light, readers won't be able to stop turning the pages...

I think this will be one of my all-time favorite series. I keep calling it Tamora Pierce writes Avatar: the Last Airbender. Eon is totally believable as a girl disguising herself as a boy. I love the gender identification turmoil that goes along with it: there are many points that Eon wonders if she could be happy living life as a girl at all,something that most other girl-in-hiding books gloss over. They think that of course the girl must be upset that she has to hide who she really is, but I can imagine more than a few girls who would be happy living the life privileged life of a man in a patriarchal society and enjoying all the benefits that brings. The magic laws and plot of the book aren't bad, either :D