Do share some of your favorite YA titles–which are they and why??? Thanks!
Karen
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January 14, 2008
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Do share some of your favorite YA titles–which are they and why??? Thanks!
Karen
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Hello all~
Welcome back to Spring ’08! I hope everyone had a healthy, happy & safe break. 🙂 The following is a brief list of my top 5 favorite YA titles:
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
LOVELY BONES
BOY’S LIFE
SOLD
See you all in class.
~Jessica Exter
Comment by jexter1 — January 20, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
Hi Everyone,
I hope you all had a nice rest, and I look forward to seeing everyone next week!
Here’s some of my favorites:
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier- I learned a lot from this book. It can give YAs a wider, worldly perspective.
Persepolis- same reasons as above.
Harry Potter Series – Obviously. (This might not technically count as a YA, I guess)
See you all next week!
-Allison Porzio
Comment by allison — January 20, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
Hey guys!
Here are some of my favorite YA titles:
Some Contemporary Novels:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Originally I read this because she was a local author and it was recommended by a friend who teaches, but once I picked it up I could NOT put it down. It was such an odd narrative, unique, with a disctict perspective that is definatley not heard from often. This book is a great way to show the process of healing and also demonstrates the consequences of kids treating other kids with judgement and disrespect. A must read!
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
This is another novel about the consequences of human behavior, specifically the disrespect of classmates in high schools and the damage that it can cause. A great read that will change the way you look at everyday interaction.
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
This is a novel that is about society’s views on what is aestetically pleasing and how we should be happy with the body and soul that we were given. The author creates amazing characters and a crazy setting several years in the future but still focuses on sending the message that maybe there are some serious things wrong with the way we view ourselves and the way we live day-to-day. It makes you think, but is still interesting and fun… I was pleased to find out that there was a sequel!
Some Classics:
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
This was a book that I was forced to read in Middle School but ended up falling in love with. One of my all-time favorites, a classic story of friendship and tough decisions!
The Outsiders by S.E Hinton
A great classic for obvious reasons. Are we always what we seem, or is there more to us than our appearances and where we live?
Go Ask Alice
I believe this was written by an anonymous author
who offers insight into the life of a teenage drug addict who is trying to kick the habit of using. A tough book to read because of the “real” content, but it sure hammers home the idea that drugs are not something to mess around with.
This was a hard assignment… to see more of what I have read and what I am reading add me as a friend on goodreads.com (it is basically a “myspace” for book nerds!! ) http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/80311
See you in class!
~Kari
Comment by kredmond — January 20, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
Lots of good ones listed so far.
Last year I read The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, about a teenage father.
I’ve also had a lot of success with a book called Making Up Megaboy, which I’m planning to bring to class.
I loved reading and teaching Maus, by Art Spiegelan.
A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer, has always been a favorite with my students.
Looking forward to talking more YA Lit on Thursday.
Sarah
Comment by sostrom — January 22, 2008 @ 5:08 am
Fun books.
My all time fav HAS to be The Catcher in the Rye. I remember staying up all night long, hanging on to Holden Caulfield’s every word. I had a really old copy- the pages were yellow and it smelled like it was in someone’s basement for fifteen years before I unearthed it at a local thrift store. Killer book.
Also, I love A Clockwork Orange. Are kids reading that nowadays?
Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man. Who could forget the kid who got locked in the closet on the one day the rain stopped? Amazing stuff.
1984. Animal Farm. Anything Orwellian.
See you all soon,
Joyce
Comment by joycehansen — January 22, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
So it begins…
I trust everyone had a good break and is looking forward to a good semester. Here’s a brief list of some of my favorite YA titles.
-Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie–This a is a great fantasy about the power of storytelling. Very hard to put down, I read it in one sitting over break.
-American Born Chinese by Gene Yang–I’m sure I’ve talked everyones ear off about this one, but this book is hilarious.
-Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury–A classic. Very dark and compelling.
-Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi–After seeing the trailer for the film, I had to read it. I am almost finished. Great artwork (unlike most comics I’m used to) and a good story. Can’t wait to see the movie.
-Heavy Metal and You by Christopher Krovatin–Short and sweet. I’m a fan of the music so I’m an easy sell on this one. Constant references might be a bit much for the average reader, and the characters aren’t very well developed, but the love story is realistic and so is the main character’s holier than thou teenage attitude.
That’s it for now, look forward to seeing you all in class tomorrow.
Godspeed.
Raph
Comment by traverse02 — January 23, 2008 @ 5:07 pm
Hi everyone!!
I have read quite a bit this vacation and have found several new titles that I really enjoyed, in addition to ones that I have loved since I was younger. The best YA book I read over break was entitled Tamar, which is a fictional account of the Holocaust. It is a relatively new title and was absolutely fantastic. I also read Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, which was incredibly graphic and disturbing, but a great read nonetheless. I read Laurie Halse Anderson’s Catalyst, which was ok, but not as interesting as some of her other works, such as Twisted, which was great, especially for male adolescent readers. I just finished The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, which was very interesting, and I look forward to reading the second volume.
Some of my favorite older YA titles include:
-Beyond the Burning Time: a story about the Salem Witch Trials
-The Indian in the Cupboard Series
-The Ruby in the Smoke trilogy by Philip Pullman (the author of the Golden Compass series as well)
-The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
-several titles by Ronald Dahl
-Anne of Avonlea series
-Harry Potter
See you tomorrow,
Mandy
Comment by mandygrl101 — January 23, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
A few of my favortie YA books are:
It Happened to Nancy
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Night by Elie Wiesel
Erica
Comment by Erica — January 24, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
Hello!
Some of my favorite YA titles have to be:
-Looking for Alaska
-Hoot
-The Westing Game
-Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie or any of Jordan Sonneblick’s other novels. He is definitely my favorite YA author!
Kate
Comment by katefrazer — January 30, 2008 @ 8:58 pm