Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Latest Helping of the Teen Menu

YA News

The American Booksellers Association recently announced the finalists for the 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards. Booksellers at ABA stores are casting their ballots in eight categories, including two categories that include some familiar young adult authors and titles. Winners will be announced in April.

Young Adult

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (Dutton Juvenile)
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.) (Simon Pulse)
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking Juvenile)

Most Engaging Author

(The author who is an in-store star as well as having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to the community.)

  • Isabel Allende
  • Laurie Halse Anderson
  • Libba Bray
  • Michael Chabon
  • Kate DiCamillo
  • Abraham Verghese
YA Reviews

I haven't been able to read any YA books in the past month because I've been judging the RITA contest. I finally finished my judging on Sunday, one day before the scores were due. I had some large books to read, but they were enjoyable. Good luck to anyone who entered the contest! Finalists will be announced (including in the YA category, in which I'm entered) later this month.

Last night, I was able to start reading a YA, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Look for my review of it next month. It's got an interesting concept, dark but different.

In addition to the many, many YA books I already have to read, I'm looking forward to some titles coming out in the next few months or that released recently. Here are a few looks at my anticipating list.

Shadow of the Moon by Rachel Hawthorne, the fourth in her werewolf series (Releases March 23)















Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, a witch book -- I like books with witches as characters. (Released March 2)
















The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, a faery book -- I bought this one last Friday and love the look of it. (Released Feb. 1)



















Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey, a modern-day retelling of the classic tale. And if Fantaskey is the author's real last name, what a fantastic YA author name! (Releases May 3)















Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, the follow-up to Shiver, which I really enjoyed (Releases July 20)



















Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy -- I love this series and can't wait to see how it ends. Well, I guess I will have to wait until August, huh? (Releases Aug. 24)















What upcoming YA releases are you eagerly anticipating?
Posted by at 12:01 AM
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21 comments:

  1. Hey Trish! Have you read any of the books or authors that are up for the awards?
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  2. Thanks, Trish, for the recommendations! I really love some of the covers. I haven't read many YA's in quite awhile--busy reading books for review (which have been great!)--but I'm definitely adding some of these books to my list. I love witches in books, too. :-)
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  3. Hey Trish!

    I'm so excited that Isabel Alllende is a finalist for one of the most engaging authors. I LOVE her books - I can still remember the first time I read The House of the Spirits, it blew the doors off my imagination and took me to a place I'd never been. She became an auto buy for me. I only wish I could read Spanish so I could read her work in the language it was originally written in.

    I read some great reviews on The Iron King and I'm most intrigued - I've ordered it and I'm looking forward to reading it.

    Hey Trish - have you seen the new TV show Life Unexpected? If you liked the Gilmore Girls I think you'll really like this one.

    And Good Luck with the RITA nomination!
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  4. My goodness, Trish! I am going to have to start checking out YA books for myown reading pleasure. I look at books that are for 9- to 12-year-olds and don't look much beyond that age group, so your YA posts are great for letting me know what's out there.

    I remember reading a YA book when I was in my mid-20s and loved it. It was Time Enough For Drums by Ann Rinaldi. Not really any romance in it, but it still captured my interest.

    Thanks for posting today. :)
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  5. I always enjoy your YA posts, Trish.

    I've read Going Bovine, and while I enjoyed the satire, I am less enthusiastic about it than I am about Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy. The only other book on the list I've read is Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls, which I thought was her best since Speak.

    My most recent YA read was one I read with the ten-year-old grand, a middle-school book called The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet. It managed to be both laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, and both the grand and I loved it.

    I'm looking forward to the new collaboration between Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.
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  6. Buffie, I've read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater -- really enjoyed both. While I've not yet read Going Bovine by Libba Bray, I loved her trilogy that began with A Great and Terrible Beauty. And I haven't read Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, but I loved his Midnighters series. I've also heard wonderful things about his Uglies series, though I've not gotten to that one yet. It's on my rather extensive to-be-read list. :)
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  7. Gannon, YA really has become quite excellent in the past few years. There was even an article in the L.A. Times a couple of days ago about how YA has really exploded in popularity among people of all ages.
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  8. Marisa, I've read Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende and enjoyed it.

    I love Life Unexpected. Such fun characters and interesting situation. It's fun to see Shiri Appleby (Kate) in something again. I liked her on Roswell.

    And as far as the RITA, I just entered the contest. I have no idea if I'll be lucky enough to final. Scores are being tabulated now. Though it would be incredibly awesome to final since the awards ceremony will practically be in my back yard and my husband could attend.
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  9. Deb, would you believe Time Enough for Drums is on my TBR bookshelves somewhere? If I'm remembering correctly, it's Colonial-set and I love that period. I even have the Patriot Barbie. :)
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  10. Janga -- yes, the Gemma Doyle trilogy. That's the one that starts with A Great and Terrible Beauty. I loved that series. I just couldn't remember the heroine's name. I'm foggy brained this morning. The allergies that attack me each March like clockwork have arrived, and my sinuses are staging a revolt. Ugh.
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  11. I loved Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy!

    Trish, there was an article in the Charlotte Observer yesterday about a YA author, Carrie Ryan, whose second book --they're about zombies--was just released yesterday. When she submitted her first manuscript to an agent, she received a six-figure offer from Delacorte for a two book deal....in three days!!

    Pretty sweet!
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  12. Hi Trish! Looks like a lot of great reading ahead. I have yet to join the throngs of people reading YA books. It's not that I don't want to but more a matter of just not having enough time. Need to remedy that.

    Good luck with the RITA contest! Also, congrats on the upcoming release of your Harlequin American Romance book, THE FAMILY MAN. I'll be picking it up the day it hits my local store!
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  13. Gannon, the stories of those types of deals does make an author daydream. :) Carrie's first book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, got a lot of good buzz. Something else that's on my TBR list.
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  14. PJ, we must remedy the YA situation. :) If you're a historical reader, you might try the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. They are excellent books. They're a mixture of YA, historical and paranormal.

    And thanks for the book mention. I saw it on the shelf at Books-a-Million last Friday. Did a little silent squee. :)
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  15. Hey, Trish! I know this is your YA column, but I wanted to say "Congrats!" on your new release!!

    Is it just me or do YA books have some of the most gorgeous covers?! Some are simply stunning.

    I have to ask: Did you get a chance to go see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief? If so, what did you think?
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  16. Thanks, Andrea! I hope everyone likes The Family Man. Hey, if nothing else, you can appreciate the yummy guy on the cover. :)

    I haven't had the chance to see Percy Jackson yet. I've been up to my eyeballs with a revision deadline and then trying to get all those RITA entries judged. I'm afraid I might not get the chance to see it before it comes out on DVD.
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  17. Oh, and yes, YA books have some fabulously beautiful covers. I like to just stroll through the YA section of the bookstore and oohh and ahh at them.
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  18. The YA I can't wait to read is The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong. I really want to know how the trilogy ends!
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  19. Spav, oh I need to read those. Wow, I wish I was a way faster reader.
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  20. Hi, Trish--Thanks for all the tips. I don't read a lot of YA, but what I do read leans toward the paranormal (I'm certain you're shocked!).

    I'm looking forward to the next installment of the Faire Folk series by Gillian Summers, but I don't think it's due out for a while.
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  21. Nancy, picture me fainting away in shock. :) There are some fantastic paranormal/fantasy YA out right now.
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