More Holiday Gifting Help from Your Friends at BookstorePeople.com–you don’t have to thank us
C. Leigh Purtill is a YA writer whose novels have passed the Annie Test–my daughter would barely raise her head and acknowledge anyone’s existence while reading Leigh’s two wonderful books, Love, Meg and All About Vee. Leigh also has a blog that you should check out. She’s just a terrific, honest, and interesting writer.
Anyway, I figured who better to put together a list of great YA novels than a great YA novelist? So here are Leigh’s top thirteen (for no particular reason–just the number we ended at) YA novel picks. Some of them were written specifically for the YA readership; others were written for adults but really resonate with that age group. All of them would be appreciated by the young adult in your life.
1. GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo – Korean-American overachiever, very funny and sweet.
2. IN YOUR ROOM by Jordanna Fraiberg – 2 teens fall in love through email when their families swap houses for the summer
3. ALIVE AND WELL IN PRAGUE, NEW YORK by Daphne Grab – a teen whose father is suffering from Parkinson’s moves from Manhattan to a small town in upstate New York
4. BOY PROOF by Cecil Castellucci – her earlier novel about a geeky teen girl who falls in love for the first time
5. SEEING EMILY by Joyce Lee Wong – a novel in verse about a Chinese-American teen girl in Virginia
(Leigh points out that the following books are edgier than the preceding ones, so caveat emptor.)
6. QUAD by CG Watson – a school shooting told Rashomon-style
7. LIVING DEAD GIRL by Elizabeth Scott – a teen who was kidnapped as a 10 year old is now 15 and is “scouting” for her replacement – a harrowing and heartbreaking story
8. WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr – an urban fantasy about a girl who can see faeries (not your typical Tinkerbell-types…)
9. SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson, if not a classic, then destined to be one. Anderson won an NBA for her current novel.
10. WICKED by Gregory Maguire, this book is far superior to the Broadway musical and is thought-provoking and topical.
11. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon. The narrator, who has Asperger’s syndrome, tells a story that is both funny and poignant. [Note from Claire: as a parent of a kid on the spectrum, I found this novel incredibly believable, compelling, and moving. Buy it for the adults in your life, too.]
12. THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold, a story told by the victim of a violent crime from the afterlife.
13. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving, my very favorite of all of his books.
Tags: gifts, young adult
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Kelsey has been buried in a YA series by Libba Bray – “A Great and Terrible Beauty,” “Rebel Angels,” and “The Sweet Far Thing.” She has read them multiple times. The main character is a spunky girl who bucks the system (my favorite kind). It has elements of supernatural, which will be attractive to the Twilight set, and takes place in the Victorian era.
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