A post about books. Imagine that.

We're coming down the homestretch. Two more months until my golden birthday book is done. Cuh-razy. I've been doing a lot of reading lately, A LOT, as part of my research, and I've come across several young adult fiction selections that I've quite enjoyed. (I've been reading a lot of YA, because that's what I'm writing. And it's fun to read.) So I thought I would tell you about a few of them.

1. One of my new favorite authors is Lynne Rae Perkins. I first read Criss Cross, a Newberry book, without knowing that it was the sequel to All Alone in the Universe. I read that second. I probably liked them in that order too, but both were good. I also read As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth, which was okay, but not nearly as good as the first two. Anyway, I just really like her writing. It is straightforward and unadorned but very insightful. I'll admit I'm kind of envious. Perkins also includes pen and ink drawings throughout her books, which just makes them that much cooler. She even writes children's books, and I read a couple of those to Anna. I liked them too. I guess I was kind of smitten with her work there for a while.

2. Savvy by Ingrid Law was another fun Newberry. A great middle grade book. It was a fun read and a clever story, kind of a tall tale, although it didn't do much to refute my belief that in order to win the Newberry medal, you have to write a quirky, small town story, using words like "fizzgiggly" and "foofaraw," or about some kind of troubled ethnic American experience. (Not that the Newberry is my goal, I'm just sayin'.) Regardless, this book was still fun, and I did like how it was set somewhere between Nebraska and Kansas and so the author called it "Kansaska-Nebransas." Clever.



3. Another author I've liked more than once is Karen Cushman. So far I've read The Midwife's Apprentice and Matilda Bone. Liked them both. They were both set in medieval England, which is a time period I don't read much about, so that was fun. Also good middle grade reading.








4. This one is a bit different. I think this summer I read a couple of Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries books and Avalon High. They were light and fun, yes, and probably not exactly the kind of writing I'm doing, but I wanted to read a few from a super huge YA bestselling author, and that she is. But it was a bit painful, knowing that I actually talked to and interviewed her a few years ago for an article I wrote when I was writing for the Daily Herald, and I had no idea who she was. I did a marginal amount of research on her, but I still did not understand her presence in the publishing world. Oh that I could interview her now . . .


Anyway, give some of these a try if you're in the mood or the market. I'm also just starting The Book Thief. I know I'm like several years behind everyone else on this one, so do you have any thoughts about it?

Or do you have any favorite YA books you'd like to share with the class?