The Let's Go Librarian

Highlights from YALSA's 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults

Via YALSA, my comments on each book in green.

Each year, YALSA presents the Best Fiction for Young Adults list after ALA's Midwinter Meeting. This year’s list of 112 books was drawn from 211 official nominations. The books, recommended for ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens. The list comprises a wide range of genres and styles, including contemporary realistic fiction, fantasy, horror, historical fiction and novels in verse.

In addition to the full list, the Best Fiction for Young Adults committee also created a Top Ten list of titles from the final list, denoted here by an asterisk.

“The members of the Best Fiction for Young Adults committee worked countless hours, reading, discussing and finally selecting the 2012 list.  Many members of the committee read more than 400 books over the past year, searching for the best titles for teens,”said Chair Patti Tjomsland.  “The resulting list represents exceptional teen literature from a variety of genres that will appeal to teen readers.”

Full list is after the jump.

Aguirre, Ann. Enclave. Freak Hunters Deuce and Fade are exiled from their underground enclave, and face even greater dangers above ground. I haven't gotten a chance to read this one, it kind of got lost in the YA dystopian-lit avalanche this year.

Almond, David. My Name is Mina. Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press, 2011; 978-0385740739; $15.99. Through the process of writing in her journal, Mina, a misfit, discovers herself. Immediately brought this one home for my husband, who still raves about Skellig.

Beam, Chris. I am J. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011; 978-0316053617; $16.99. Transgender J, a genetically assigned female, struggles against family, friends, and body to become the man that he really is. Part of a small handful of YA novels with transgender protagonists. Not spectacular, but solid.

Black, Holly. Red Glove. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing /Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011; 978-14424033980; $17.99. Cassel’s adjustment to being a curse worker is hindered by his unusual family of cons, an unpredictable mother, a girlfriend who is the mob bosses’ daughter, and the FBI agents who are on his trail. I so love this series. A well-written, believable incorporation of magic into the real world.

Blake, Kendare. Anna Dressed in Blood. Moving from town-to-town, Cas slays murderous ghosts, seeking revenge for the death of his father. Along the way, he meets Anna’s ghost, and discovers new insights into the complexities of ghosts. Yet another with a picture of a girl in a fancy dress on the front. On my "eventually I'll get to it...or not" list.

Bondoux, Anne-Laure. A Time of Miracles. Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2010; 978-0385739221; $17.99. Blaise, an orphaned teen, recounts his attempts to escape the war torn Caucasus region and gain French citizenship. In moments of despair, storytelling revives his passion for survival. I have definitely been meaning to read this one, it keeps coming up in book blogs and "best of" lists.

Bray, Libba. Beauty Queens. When an airplane full of teenage beauty queens crashes on a remote island, the surviving girls are forced to push themselves to the limits in order to survive. I love Libba Bray's snarky, sarcastic tone, and while it's fun to see flat, beauty-queen characters resolve into other, more progressive stereotypes, they still remained pretty one-dimensional.

Brooks, Martha. Queen of Hearts. Marie-Claire, a young Canadian woman, along with several of her family members, are diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a sanatorium in 1940. This one looks awesome but has not garnered a lot of student interest.

Brown, Jennifer. Bitter End. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011; 978-0316086950; $17.99.
Alex has fallen head over heels for Cole, the charming and sweet new boy at school. Cole’s love, however, comes with dangerous consequences. Meh. I appreciate the educational value, and I think there's definitely an appeal to teen readers, but it was pretty predictable--what else would you expect from a story centered on boyfriend abuse?

*Carson, Rae. The Girl of Fire and Thorns. After being kidnapped, Princess Elisa, bearer of the Godstone, and secret wife of a king, is forced to hike across a desert and ends up in a horrific war. This one is literally sitting right next to me on my "to read" stack.

Chayil, Eishes. Hush. After many years, Gittel finally knows why her friend, Devory, took her own life yet when Devory tries to tell, her ultra-conservative Jewish community won’t listen. I was really excited about this one, but haven't read it yet. I read Sister Wife instead.

*Cohen, Joshua C. Leverage. An unlikely friendship between a stuttering, emotionally shattered, talented football player and a short, competitive gymnast, creates a bond that may help them stand up to three football bullies. I hadn't even heard of this one until very recently, and everyone who's checked it out has had great things to say about it.

Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. Being grounded for the entire summer might be the best thing that could have happened to Jack and his blood-spurting nose. I love Jack Gantos, but haven't gotten to this one yet.

Gier, Kerstin. Ruby Red. Gwenyth upsets her family when she inherits the time traveling gene instead of her cousin, Charlotte. Soon Gwenyth finds herself unexpectedly involved in mysterious, dangerous, and intriguing circumstances. An interesting take on the "teen revealed to have magical powers" oeuvre. I'm wondering, as I await the next in the series, whether some unevenness in the plot is due time travel events that haven't "happened" yet or are just weaknesses in the writing.

Handler, Daniel; Why We Broke Up. After Min and Ed break up, she takes the box of memorabilia she has collected and writes Ed a letter about each item and its relationship to their breakup. The narrator's voice and style take some getting used to, but otherwise this is a lovely book.

*King, A.S.  Everybody Sees the Ants. Lucky faces a bully, meets a girl, and tries to bring his POW/MIA grandfather home from meetings that take place in his dreams as he struggles to find himself. So. Amazing.

Lu, Marie. Legend. June is hunting Day, the outlaw she believes is responsible for her brother’s death. What will happen when the two meet and discover the government is corrupt? Solid dystopian fare. Read if you liked Hunger Games, Divergent, or other in the same vein.

Mullin, Mike. Ashfall. After a super volcano erupts under Yellowstone, Alex, who has been left home alone for the weekend, treks through the ash and snow covered terrain to find his family. I was SO EXCITED to get my hands on this book, but the writing style was so stilted awkward to read.

*Myracle, Lauren. Shine. Abrams/Amulet Books, 2011; 978-0810984172; $16.95.
When Cat's friend is brutally beaten in a hate crime, Cat feels driven to find out the truth about the assault and the attackers. Good. I think I preferred The Less-Dead a little bit more.

Oliver, Lauren. Delirium. HarperCollins Publishers, 2011; 978-0061726828; $17.99.

Deadly armor deliria nervosa has been eliminated with a surgical cure. But, as disturbing details about loveless life are revealed, Lena wonders if the cure is really safer than infection. Not my favorite, but hard to stop reading. The sequel, Pandemonium, was excellent.

Oppel, Kenneth.  This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. Fifteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein stops at nothing to save his ailing twin, helping create the Elixir of Life from a formula found in a hidden library of forbidden texts. Great writing. I loved the push/pull between Victor's singleminded, often destructive quest for knowledge and his love for his family.

Perera, Anna. Guantanamo Boy. While visiting family in Pakistan, 15-year-old Khalid Ahmed is captured, imprisoned and tortured at Guantanamo Bay prison after being falsely accused of being a terrorist. Terrible, awkward writing, especially dialogue. I was so hoping this book would be amazing, but what started as a fascinating plot was obscured by the weak delivery.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. Beatrice lives in a society where people are divided into five factions that determine work, lifestyle, and even friendships. Unusual results on her faction aptitude tests place her in danger. I really loved this series, although I found myself not really liking the main character and unable to describe why I liked it so much.

Sharenow, Robert. The Berlin Boxing Club. In 1934, Karl’s Jewishness has never been an issue, but suddenly it is. Offered the opportunity to train under a champion, Karl grabs it and boxing becomes his refuge. This was an interesting book, mostly because it's the first YA offering I can recall about a Jewish character in the beginnings of the rise of the Third Reich who has his own prejudices against Jews.

*Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Karu questions how she came to be raised by the chimaera Brimstone. When she meets the seraph Akiva, events unfold that could answer her questions—but at great cost. Great book, especially if you don't "like fantasy." The details of the fantasy world are revealed so gradually and after you really have come to like the main character. I will be elbowing kids aside when the sequel comes out in November.

Whaley, John Corey. Where Things Come Back. Cullen’s tired of small-town life, and expects to spend the summer before his senior year with friends fighting off boredom and dreaming of girls—then his younger brother disappears. This book won the Printz award this year, and I'm not quite sure why. It just didn't grab me like I was hoping.