Every year the libraries have a competition to read the most children's literature, and every year it's a constant effort for me to find new children's titles to read. I try to keep in the spirit of things by reading books I've never read before, so the list is constantly thinning.
Currently I have a passel of Scott Westerfield lined up, and I think I'm still on the list for the last Artemis Fowl. The last four years that I've been participating I've ended up reading most of the common titles and more than a few obscure ones. Therefore, I'm opening the floor to suggestions.
Hit me with some good titles. I tend to prefer high-level J or YA, but anything well written will do. I'm not exceptionally picky about subject matter, either. Some of my favorites from past years have been Kira Kira, The Changeling Sea, A Step from Heaven, The Gospel According to Larry, What Happened to Lani Garver?, and The Eyes of the Amaryllis. Those range from high fantasy to teenage angst with everything in between. If I haven't read it already, I'll give it a shot.
Let the suggestionfest begin!
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6 comments:
Do what I do: flip through one Captain Underpants and call it a day.
I can almost always find a number of things on the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) lists each year that I like. Remind me at work and I can email you the annotated versions.
Also really good reviews at Reading Rants.
Random brainstorm: Just finished reading Dairy Queen, about a girl in a family of Wisconsin dairy farmers and football players; anything by Pete Hautman (I've read and loved Godless, Invisible, and Rash); Out of Order by A. M. Jenkins (really accurate depiction of a teen male jock); King Dork; Fly by Night; Monster Blood Tattoo was decent; Franny K. Stein (5 books); Olivia Kidney (2 books); The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane; you could try the new one from M. T. Anderson, The Pox Party, which is supposed to be amazing and impressively ambitious but rather repulsive and unenjoyable (won the National Book Award); Website of the Cracked Cookies; A Great and Terrible Beauty and the sequel Rebel Angels; The Minister's Daughter; how i live now; Airborn; Poison by Chris Wooding; Saving Francesca; The Year of Secret Assignments; E. R. Frank; M. T. Anderson; Looking for Alaska; Fat Kid Rules the World; Fray by Joss Whedon; the Bone books by Jeff Smith; Boy Proof; I could go on if you need . . .
The Hobbit
if you're going to read one. and you haven't already read it. Looking for Alaska.
I second Degolar's recommedation of Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, and its sequel, Skybreaker.
Stray Voltage by Eugenie Doyle. When I read it a few years ago it made a quiet emotional impact that I couldn't really describe now. I'm curious to get a second opinion from someone.
Read so far:
The Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky
Wintersmith
Whales on Stilts
The Secret Hour
Touching Darkness
Blue Noon
Peeps
Thirsty
The Four Ugly Cats in Apt. 3D
I've got many of your suggestions lined up for the future (Degolar, I'll have to ask for an annotated list, since your textblock was hard to decipher), so keep them coming. I need all the titles I can get.
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