Ever feel like there are just SO MANY AWESOME YA BOOKS out
there, it’s like Channukah’s come early this year?
Well, you’d be right.
Channukah has come early this
year. I’ll be lighting the first candle in just under a
week on November 27th, along with everyone who got a nod in Adam Sandler’s classic musical litany.
In fact, in honour of the Festival of Lights, I’ve written my
own version of the Adam Sandler Channukah song, featuring Jewish YA authors past and present. Cuz I’m just that cool:
Meg Rosoff spins the
dreidel
And Cassandra Clare –
what a fine shayna meidel*
Guess who’ll be
lighting a Channukah candler?
David Levithan and
Daniel Handler!**
Neil Gaiman’s family’s
Jewish-Scientologist – that good enough for you?
Just cuz you like
vampires doesn’t mean you’re a Morman,
Put on your yarmulkah,
it’s time for Channukah
Veronica Roth – not a Jew.
But guess who is? Another Roth, who goes by Matthue.
Some people think that
Stephanie Meyer is.
Well, she’s not, but
guess who is? Anthony Horowitz!
So many Jews are in
the YA biz,
*Shayna meidel =
Yiddish for “beautiful girl”
**You might know him
better as Lemony Snicket.
***Fried potato pancakes for Channukah.
****Well, his ghost anyways.
*****Judy Blume, of
course!
******Barry Goldblatt, who also represents Holly Black, Shannon Hale and Robin Wasserman. That's one hec of a list, right?
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed that musical nerd-out as much as
I did and didn’t mind the somewhat stretched rhythm and rhyme (to be fair,
Sandler’s song is about as stretched…).
Now, let’s get to the ultimate purpose
of this blog! It’s Channukah soon. Now,
as my parents were fond of reminding me, Channukah’s only been about presents
since it felt it had to compete with some of the *cough* other holidays that happen
around December (I mean Solstice, of course.
Happy Solstice, everyone!). But,
since it would have been *tragic* to deny us presents at all on Channukah, we
got small presents – books! And since you all know how I feel about books, I’m
sure you can imagine that that didn’t feel very “small” to me. It was basically the best idea of the
universe.
So, in honour of Channukah, I’d like to present you, dear
readers, with a literary gift of my own: my top 8 YA reads of the year. 8, you say? Isn’t that a random number? Not
so! There are 8 nights of Channukah, so it’s one YA book per night. (In some places, I’ve cheated, because the
books are part of a series. I have
decided this is allowed, as I love books SO MUCH and so talking about more of
them can only be a good thing.)
(By the way, I am deliberately not including David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing, even
though it is absolutely 100% amazing and mind-blowingly incredible, as the
lovely Lucinda Murray has already shot-gunned it as her Book of the Year. I am also not including David Levithan’s Every Day, as I think Josh Martin did it full justice in his post on all things Levithan. But suffice it to say, I give both those
books a fist-pump and think you should read them!)
First Candle: In Darkness by Nick Lake.
The Pitch: Trapped
underneath the ruins of a hospital building during the Haiti Earthquake of
2010, teenage gangster Shorty finds himself possessed by the spirit of Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution of 1791.
Why I Loved It: Crushingly beautiful prose, gritty truth-telling, and a unique voice make this a harrowing read. We rarely visit this part of the world in young adult fiction and the use of magical realism makes it a fascinating conversation between past and future Haiti.
The Pitch: Karou’s
just your average girl raised by monsters, travelling about the world through
secret passageways collecting teeth for magical purposes. But when she encounters the
deliciously-gorgeous-and-yet-oh-so-dangerous angel Akiva, she finds herself
thrust into in an epic battle between angels and demons. The sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight is pretty incredible, too. I’m holding my breath for book 3.
Why I Loved It:
Prague is the site of this well-imagined urban fantasy, and it’s high time
somebody turned the hometown of gollums and spooks into a setting for a YA
novel of the paranormal persuasion.
Taylor’s dialogue is sassy, the story exciting and I especially love
Karou’s best friend, Suzana, who provides welcome comic relief when the
narrative gets dark.
The Pitch: This
one’s been a modern classic since it came out in 1999, but it had a resurgence in
popularity recently due to the film adaptation starring Emma Watson (which
failed to impress me, unfortunately. But
don’t let the mediocrity of the film dissuade you from reading the book, which
is awesome sauce). Perks is fifteen-year-old Charlie’s coming-of-age story, told
through letters to an unidentified individual in Charlie’s life. “So this is my life,” he writes. “And I want
you to know that I’m both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how
that could be.”
Why I Loved It: Charlie’s
voice, experiences and emotional ups-and-downs ring with truth. Whether you’re
a teenager now or you’ve since moved on to adulthood, you’ll connect with
Charlie. He’ll remind you what it is to be wading through discovery and of
those rare moments of transcendence when you feel “infinite.”
The Pitch: In the
not-so-distant future, Nailer gets by working as a member of “light crew,”
responsible for the dangerous work of scavenging useful materials from broken
down oil tankers on the Gulf Coast. But
when Nailer comes upon a wealthy clipper ship during a hurricane, he makes the
life-changing decision to rescue the upper-class girl inside…
Why I Loved It: This isn’t your average
the-future-has-gone-to-shit-Dystopia – it’s highly credible, and not so
distant, presenting us with a world controlled by oil corporations and subject
to extreme weather patterns. Nailer is a
fascinating viewpoint character, constantly weighing loyalty, self-preservation
and altruism. And Bacigalupi’s cast is
incredibly diverse, something YA could always use a bit more of.
The Pitch: I have
to thank Lucinda Murray for throwing Sarah’s books at me until I agreed to read
them. Now, there’s no looking back. The Demon’s Lexicon stars sarcastic
anti-hero Nick, who’s been on the run his whole life from a circle of homicidal
magicians. He and his brother Alan do
their best to keep a low profile and stay alive. But when siblings Mae and Jamie show up
seeking “occult help,” it sets in motion a series of events that turns around
Nick’s entire world. The follow-up
novels - The Demon's Covenant and The Demon's Surrender - are equally enjoyable, and are narrated respectively by Mae Crawford and
Cynthia Davies, who’ll give the reader entirely different perspectives on
Sarah’s world.
Why I Loved It:
I’m always impressed when an author throws a character at me who is unarguably
an asshole and still somehow makes me love them. Also, Sarah expertly pulls off a plot twist
that shifts your entire reading of the first book. You’ll also be treated to witty dialogue,
characters so likeable and complex you’ll want to be friends with them, as well
as tons of well-written diverse characters and feminist role-models. The vivid descriptions of the Goblin Market
will make you wish Sarah’s world were real (minus, of course, all its petrifying
dangers!).
The Pitch: If it’s
possible, I liked these books *even more* than The Demon’s Lexicon. Kami
Glass has heard Jared’s voice in her head as long as she can remember, but
she’s always dismissed him as an imaginary friend. Or perhaps, an imaginary more-than-friend. But then a very real Jared shows up in her
hometown of Sorry-in-the-Vale, and moves into the sinister Lynburn manor…
Why I Loved It: I
bonded with Kami from the very beginning (as I think Lucinda knew I would),
since she’s the sort of person who’s always running around doing things. Says her best
friend Angela, “Your soul is like the soul of a thousand monkeys on crack, all
smushed together.” She is also a shameless, shall we say, “acquirer of
information.” It’s refreshing to see a leading lady of colour, especially one
whose heritage is significant to the plot and mythology of the world. Fans of diversity in YA will enjoy this book for... other reasons which I cannot reveal due to them being spoiler-y!!!!!
Unspoken is a book
that can be enjoyed on many levels. It’s
an exciting and entertaining fantasy, but it’ll mean even more to you if you’re
familiar with the conventions of gothic novels (which Sarah plays with and
subverts), teenage female sleuths, and Shakespeare. The sequel, Untold, is just as satisfying (but ends with a rather traumatic
cliff-hanger, so be forewarned!). I’m
definitely looking forward to Unmade
(book 3), which is scheduled to come out some time next year.
The Pitch: In a
world where human beings have computers implanted into their brains and are
subject to a constant feed of advertising, Titus meets Violet, a girl
determined to resist the feed…
Why I Loved It: This
isn’t your average boy-meet-pixie-dream-girl-story. You’ll be hooked from the first sentence,
which I actually think is one of the best first sentences I’ve ever read: “We
went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” This
book jumps between funny and tragic. I
appreciated the realistic, yet-heartbreaking way that M.T. handled Titus and
Violet’s relationship, and Titus’s growth as a result. Make sure you have a box of tissues.
The Pitch: A
retelling of The Odyssey set in
post-Apocalyptic LA, starring Pen (short for Penelope, of course). Instead of a ship, Pen travels through the
destroyed landscape in a large white van, searching for what remains of her
family. On the way she confronts
genetically-modified one-eyed giants, the siren-esque victims of too much
plastic surgery, and accumulates a following of survivors who find
companionship at the end of the world.
Why I Loved It: Dear
readers, I have saved the best for last! I am so obsessed with this book that I
want to snuggle with it in bed and cuddle it for hours and hours and hours because
it’s amazing. Francesca Lia Block’s
writing is so tactile and vivid, you will want to roll around in it. Her characters are beautiful and complicated
and so different from any one else
I’ve read about this year. Pen is so
much more than your cookie-cutter Strong Female Character – she’s allowed to be
intelligent, frightened, brave, perseverant, vulnerable, searching and a
leader. The post-Apocalyptic setting
lends itself surprisingly well to a mythological framework, and as with In Darkness, I loved seeing magical
realism in YA (there’s a very obvious nod to Gabriel Garcia Marquez here). This book makes
a substantial contribution to Diversity in YA, by featuring all sorts of
characters in a way that bravely normalizes but doesn’t efface – and in fact,
celebrates – their otherness. The scene that’s stuck with me weeks after I read
this book is where Pen and her companions make the perilous journey to the Los Angeles County Museum. When asked why
Pen wants to go, she answers, “‘I’m going
to remember…when there was art.’ The images are stories. They help me to
escape. They help me to see.” At end of the world, she needs to know that
art is still possible. For her, it’s “like food.” Pen is somebody who refuses
to let go of all the things that make her human, even at the end of all things,
and that’s why she’s such a fascinating character to follow through this ruined
and yet-somehow-still-beautiful world.
*
*
GREAT post, Y.
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed the song and the line about Are You There God?
I may even have to do an echo of your top books for the year, although i may have to nominate 9 rather than 8... we'll see.