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As this year draws to a close and I realise I’ve made it through 3 months of blogging now and am getting into the swing of this, I wanted to celebrate with my own Best Of awards for 2011′s YA books:
Best Vampire YA
The Radleys- Matt Haig.
This book has been placed and sold in the adult and young adult sections of bookshops, which in my opinion is about as brilliant as it gets for YA- showing the literary quality and authenticity of the piece (it’s my dream if I ever get my own book published to do this too). The Radleys wins points for being a sort anti-Twilight and is simply brilliant. A suburban family hiding the fact they are vampires? Such a fun idea and it is really well written. Okay, so it was technically published at the very end of 2010, but the majority of its sales, publicity and success has happened this year so I felt it warranted inclusion.
Best YA Sequel
Where She Went-Gayle Forman
If I Stay is one of the most powerful books I’ve read in the last few years and is incredibly well written so I was beyond excited to hear about a sequel being published. Where She Went does not fall short of its predecessor. If anything, I believe it exceeds If I Stay and is a stunning read taking place over one night about love, the past, the present and second chances.
Best YA Novel (Non-paranormal)
Wintergirls-Laurie Halse Anderson
A poignant, impressive and originally written novel about the difficulties of anorexia. Anderson breathes fresh life into this theme with her use of strikethrough, compelling narrator and exploring such a topic with sensitivity rather than as a way to create a romance.
Best Dystopian YA
Unwind-Neal Shusterman
This is just a terrifying idea and as Shusterman himself has commented in the afterword, it’s not that hard to imagine with the right technology and the fact organ donations are still hard to come by. This book follows three teenagers due to be unwound; where every part of their body is harvested and given to someone else in a sort of retrospective abortion parents can elect their child for as teenagers. This is more frightening than any scary legend because when we’re teenagers that is exactly when we mess up and our parents can reach the end of their tether with us. While I was a pretty good teenager, the idea if I screwed up that my mum could send me off to be cut into lots of little pieces? Yeah, stuff of nightmares.
Best Paranormal YA (No vampires)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children- Ransom Riggs.
This book is indebted to its use of creepy vintage photography but the prose is engaging and fun. It is a little derivative, one review I read compared to Professor X’s school, but it has this brilliant atmosphere of the uncanny (Das Unheimliche if I want to show off my arts degree and sound very pretencious) particularly due to this photography. If you’re bored of werewolves, paranormal romances or vampires but still want a little bit of creepy in your book then this should be a refreshing read for you.
Best YA Debut
Divergent-Veronica Roth
A highly enjoyable dystopian novel and debut. The world is well built, the plot is engaging and fast paced and the romance in it doesn’t feel stuffed in to appease readers. Tris is strong and brave and a welcome heroine in the lines of Katniss in the Hunger Games.
Best Standalone YA
Entangled-Cat Clarke
Think If I Stay meets Stolen and consider this a truly stellar debut by Cat Clarke. At its heart as well, this novel explores depression and betrayal and this is really well done and sensitively handled. The narrator isn’t perfect, is capable of being selfish and makes mistakes, but you understand her and why she behaves like she does. Highly recommended!
Best Use Of Media or Alternative Styles of Narration in YA
Every You, Every Me by David Leviathon
The use of photography in this novel is really interesting and works in a way I don’t think Miss Peregrine… did so for me had to be mentioned in this category. Like Wintergirls it also uses strikethrough well and the entire novel is a really interesting exercise in form that as an aspiring writer and arts student I couldn’t help be really admire and appreciate.
What are your ‘Best Of YA’ choices for 2011? Do you agree with mine or is there a book you would have voted for or category you would have liked to have seen? Next year I’m planning to include at least one category that you can vote for, ideally more but I was unable to this year. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions for this year though!
The Morganville vampires series is one of my favourite YA series in recent years, however in the last couple of books I felt something I couldn’t pinpoint was missing. Whatever it was, it made a more than triumphant return in Caine’s most recent addition to the series: Last Breath.
In this novel, several vampires have gone missing, which is unusual enough in a small town like Morganville, but all of them saw the same person last before vanishing- a newcomer in town, Magnus. As Claire tries to find out more about him, she realises he isn’t a human, but it’s not certain if he’s a vampire or something else. The stakes in Last Breath, no pun intended, reach what I would say is the highest point of the series so far.
The entire book was a huge roller coaster of action, emotion and more twists and turns than ever before. I don’t want to spoil it but I would happily say it is the best of the series so far. Caine has really developed Claire and Shane and their complicated relationship is well executed. When you consider everything they have gone through in the series, it’s a sign of Caine’s writing that you don’t doubt them or get bored by their troubles. They are the couple I root for the most in the series.
Claire has also grown into a real heroine. She is just a human and has limitations because of this, but she is loyal, resourceful and brave. She makes mistakes and she learns from them, as she has throughout the series. The Claire in Glass Houses is great and I loved her, but the Claire here is much stronger, as after everything she’s been through she would have to be.
As a wide reader of YA, I couldn’t help imagining Magnus as Cassandra Clare’s Magnus at first, but within a few pages, it was more than clear we were dealing with something a lot more sinister.
What I really liked about Last Breath was that Caine was unafraid to take her writing or plot to places that were big gambles- ones that I would say paid dividends though! I don’t want to spoil the plot too much for you because part of the enjoyment of the book for me was the “Whoa, did that just happen?” moments (just know there are lots and one in particular was one of them will hit you a bit like a freight train at first).
I cannot wait to see where Caine takes this series which has been extended to 15 books. I really don’t want to leave Morganville or its characters behind just yet. I definitely recommend this book to fans of the series, it might just be the best one yet.
Links:
I decided to try a meme and I really liked the idea of In My Mailbox which was started at thestorysiren.com and several blogs I read also take part in so thought I would start taking part in this myself.
Bought:
Cat Clarke by Entangled
Cat Patrick by Forgotten
Borrowed:
The true tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond who is one of my favourite British YA authors ever and I was lucky enough to meet when I was younger.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
Momentum by Saci Lloyd
Received for review:
Burnt Children and Stone Bearers by RE Washington, received via the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics R2R group on Goodreads.
So what have you got in your mailbox this week then?
Ugly To Start With is a collection of interrelated short stories following Jason Stevens, a teenager growing up in 1970s Virginia. It is quite unusual to get short stories in YA, though the Merry Sisters of Fate have an excellent website devoted to short stories, beyond paranormal anthologies containing several already highly successful novelists so this was a really pleasant surprise.
Cummings has won several awards for his writing and there is no question as to the quality of his prose. There is something inherently nostalgic about it and a sense of lyrical poetry, even in the moments with simple language. This is definitely Literary YA writing.
Perhaps because of this more lyrical prose, there is the one small difficulty I had with the book: at times it felt more like an adult than a YA novel. I think this may be partly because of the fact it is set in the 1970s and so I automatically placed it, and the narrator, in a different time. It might have been because of this that I found the first couple of stories a little slow to get into, but once I got past this I devoured the stories and I really loved the book.
The titular story in particular was a personal highlight for me. It is about a stray cat called Skinny Minnie the family take in. The personal resonance for me was probably because my grandma is that person who would take in strays and they’d very sweetly worm their way into the family. The Fence is another standout story, possibly the strongest I would say, as I was drawn in from the opening paragraph:
It was early May and still raining. Dad had us on our new mountain property, all hunkered down in the lean-to, doing crum- my little things. Not “property” the way normal people would see it, but woods full of milk jugs and rusted bean cans. He had the no- tion that we could clear the land—cut trails, build a cabin, pretend we had found paradise a kind of back-to-nature, Robinson Crusoe, Foxfire thing. page 31.
I found this really pulled me in, particularly the introduction of the fanciful parent with all their brilliant schemes and sceptical teenager, which is something we can probably all relate to- particularly if you replace the woods with the dreaded words ‘project house’, or even worse ‘renovation’.
Serious themes are tackled within the book: adultery, racism, concern about not achieving your dream, single -parent households, sexual harassment, domestic violence, the complex relationship a teenager has with their parents and all of the typical issues that are faced by teenagers and explored in YA literature. As a series of short stories, Cummings was able to devote time to more than one issue and so the book ended up containing at least one theme or issue being a teenager that the majority of people have gone through.
The Fence in particular beautifully depicts the complicated lives of families and impact of adultery as seen through a teenager. The way in which Cummings used the fence as well as a uniting force for a family on the brink of imploding warrants merit. From this point on, I have to say I had reached a point where I did feel really emotionally invested in Jason’s narration and life.
There are some really standout lines within this book and if I was to quote every line I enjoyed this would be an exceptionally long blog but I would say my favourite stories were The Fence, The Wallet and Mountain Wake and I highly recommend them, and in fact the whole book, to readers.
I received this book directly from John Michael Cummings and I am very grateful he choose ChooseYA as a site to review Ugly To Start With. I definitely will pursue his writing and am planning on reading his already published novel The Night I Freed John Brown as soon as I can.
Cummings’ publishers have made a free excerpt of Ugly To Start With available at this link
Ugly to Start With is published by West Virginia Press and is available both in paperback and as a kindle edition on amazon: Link
John Michael Cummings’ website: link
Lorraine at Bookwish asked me to let you know about a great competition running at the moment. It sadly is only open to US residents but I thought some of you might be interested. Plus the book mention, What You Wish For, has some great contributing YA authors like Meg Cabot and would be worth looking at:
Win a literary agent or acclaimed author’s feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers. This rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation. See http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.You could win a manuscript critique from:
- Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot
- Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau
- Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse’s Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust
- Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe
- Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors
- Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey’s Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue
All that separates you from this prize is a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation’s new anthology, What You Wish For. Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012 and winners will be announced around Mar. 1, 2012. If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript for critique (which means you can enter the contest even if you haven’t finished, or started, your manuscript). You can even enter multiple times, with essays about more than one of the contest stories, for a chance to win up to six critiques.If you dream of being a published author, this is an opportunity you should not miss. To enter, follow the instructions at http://bookwish.org/contest.
Good luck and best wishes,
Logan Kleinwaks
President, Book Wish FoundationWhat You Wish For (ISBN 9780399254543, Putnam Juvenile, Sep. 15, 2011) is a collection of short stories and poems about wishes from 18 all-star writers: Meg Cabot, Jeanne DuPrau, Cornelia Funke, Nikki Giovanni, John Green, Karen Hesse, Ann M. Martin, Alexander McCall Smith, Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Nate Powell, Sofia Quintero, Gary Soto, R.L. Stine, Francisco X. Stork, Cynthia Voigt, Jane Yolen. With a Foreword by Mia Farrow. Book Wish Foundation is donating 100% of its proceeds from the book to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to fund the development of libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad.
The Clockwork Prince is the sophomore novel of Cassandra Clare’s new series Infernal Devices. Set in Victorian England, it tells the story of Theresa “Tessa” Gray, a ‘warlock’ with no mark, who after the events of the first novel lives in the Institute with Shadowhunters.
It’s always a challenge to write in a setting and/or time you don’t live in and Clare has bravely attempted both. Her research definitely shows as she mentions fashions and even street names of Victorian London. However, at times I felt the dialogue was too modern and punchy, and at times too American. Before you take this a indictment of the book however, it is worth noting that as a writer for a YA audience sustaining the language and customs of the time is difficult. We’re more self-aware now, more outspoken and bold and able to stand up for ourselves, women have more rights and sex and desire is less taboo and is a key theme of YA.
Writing for this audience while keeping in touch with the restraint and decorum is hard and I think Clare’s effort is commendable. Her dialogue is highly cinematic and punchy, she has a great gift for it and this makes her characters more alive and the entire book more visual. Clare does manage to balance the natural teenage onset of lust and love with the social customs well and even when characters act in a way acceptable now, but I imagine beyond scandalous then, she does remember to insert the right amount of self-loathing afterwards.
Love triangles are a staple of Clare’s writing; while the Simon-Jace-Clary mess in the Mortal Instruments never truly felt much of a competition as it was obvious she should be with Jace, sorry just being blunt here, in this series its stronger than ever. As a reader, I emphathised with Tessa’s troubles with her attraction and pull towards both Will and Jem, both great in their own ways.
While Clockwork Angel set up Will as the one for Tessa, oh does Clare pull the rug from under your feet here. This is the book of Jem, the book of falling for adorable James Carstairs. What is even more commendable is the way even when you root for Jem, you feel a genuine sympathy for Will. By the last fifty pages, prepare for your head, heart and emotions to be all over the place as you shift from one extreme to the other. The final section in particular has a real pathos.
As for the plot itself, it’s snappy and makes many kickbacks to the poor position of women in Victorian times. Clare’s women are unusually bold and strong for their time, way way ahead by decade, yet relateable. The main plot concerns the search for the villain of the last book and for a character whose actual appearance is little more than a cameo, his presence is well portrayed and looms over the novel as we learn his history and motivations. I look forward to the next novel and progression of this as my only criticism is that this aspect of the novel at times lagged a little and felt like build up to the next book. That said, for fans of urban fantasy and Cassandra Clare’s other writing, this is well recommended and a fun, pacy read.
