best books young adults 2012 image
Lovely-Ros
Since summer is right around the corner, I'm already starting my summer reading list but I can't think of any books to put on it! Anyone know any good young adult books to read ? I'm up for anything !
Answer
Try Nokosee: Rise of the New Seminole and its sequel Nokosee & Stormy: Love & Bullets. Both are contemporary "pre-dystopian" books where the world is on the tipping point of environmental collapse written from a 17-year-old girl's POV. Stormy Jones, the girl in the stories, is a tsundere character (as is Nokosee) that will stick with you for a long time.
Cherry by Mary Karr. A memoir about teens, sex, drugs and growing up in rural Texas as told through the gritty, beautiful prose of one of America's best writers having taught at Harvard and currently teaching as the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University. It's a book every teen girl should read. If the opening paragraph doesn't do it for you, nothing will. On June 5, 2012, she released her first music CD as a co-writer with Rodney Crowel called "Kin."
The Liar's Club by Mary Karr. Another moving memoir recounting her earlier years (you should probably read this one first and then Cherry).
Jennifer Millerâs debut novel The Year of the Gadfly is a tale of prep school scandal and secret societies starring a very precocious 15-year-old young lady named Iris Dupont, whose best and only friend is the chain-smoking ghost of famed broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. The novel is compulsively readable and feels a little something like a cross between The Secret History and Gossip Girl, although with significantly more masturbation scenes than the former and more dusty tomes than the latter. As reviewed by Emily Temple, Flavorwire
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. A critically appraised and touching semi-autobiographical story of a 16-year-old girl battling schizophrenia in a mental hospital. Also a 1977 movie starring Kathleen Quinlan.
Carol Rifka Brunt's debut novel Tell the Wolves I'm Home. âA fresh yet nostalgic debut novel about a 1980s teen who loses a beloved uncle to AIDS but finds herself by befriending his grieving boyfriend. Filled with lost opportunities and second chances, the book delivers wisdom, innocence and originality with surprising sweetness. Its cast of waifs and strays will steal your heart as they show each other the way to redemption.â âShelf Awareness. Listed as one of the ten-best debut novels of 2012 by Flavorwire.
Mary Stewart Atwell's debut novel Wild Girls. "This daringly imagined, atmospheric, and original book is part coming-of-age story and part supernatural tale about teenage girls learning their own strength. Kate Riordan fears two things as she grows up in the small Appalachian town of Swan River: that sheâll be a frustrated townie forever, or that sheâll turn into one of the monstrous wild girls, fire starters who menace the community. Struggling to better her chances of escaping, Kate attends the posh Swan River Academy and finds herself divided between her hometownâand its dark historyâand the realm of privilege and achievement at the Academy. Explosive friendships with Mason, a boy from the wrong side of town, and Willow, a wealthy and popular queen bee from school are slowly pulling her apart. Kate must decide who she is and where she belongs before she wakes up with cinders at her fingertips." Review by Flavorwire.
The Adults by Alison Espach is the "defining novel for recovering debutantes from Connecticut. The novel is narrated by Emily, a high school freshman, who grows up in the privileged world of investment bank commuters and desperate housewives. Her padded life suddenly unravels when she wakes early one morning after a sleepover, and looks out her kitchen window to witness her neighborâs suicide. Grace is found in the secret, illicit relationship that develops between Emily and her English teacher. Amidst a world of cheese platters and art auctions, their relationship simply surfaces as something real while everything else in Emilyâs world just seems sterilized... (This is) white girl fiction.â by Geoff Max for Flavorwire.
Hick by Andrea Portes. Teenage Luli is fed up with her drunken parents brawls and decides to leave Nebraska for Las Vegas. Along the way, a wily con artist and a sullen cowboy each try to lay claim to the conflicted girl's future. Also a 2011 movie starring Chloe Moretz and Blake Lively.
The Death of Bees: A Novel by Lisa O'Donnell. Set in Glasgow, Scotland, this just released beautiful and darkly comic coming-of-age mystery surrounds 15-year-old Marnie and her little sister who know more than they want to reveal about the deaths of their parents who they buried in the backyard.
Try Nokosee: Rise of the New Seminole and its sequel Nokosee & Stormy: Love & Bullets. Both are contemporary "pre-dystopian" books where the world is on the tipping point of environmental collapse written from a 17-year-old girl's POV. Stormy Jones, the girl in the stories, is a tsundere character (as is Nokosee) that will stick with you for a long time.
Cherry by Mary Karr. A memoir about teens, sex, drugs and growing up in rural Texas as told through the gritty, beautiful prose of one of America's best writers having taught at Harvard and currently teaching as the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University. It's a book every teen girl should read. If the opening paragraph doesn't do it for you, nothing will. On June 5, 2012, she released her first music CD as a co-writer with Rodney Crowel called "Kin."
The Liar's Club by Mary Karr. Another moving memoir recounting her earlier years (you should probably read this one first and then Cherry).
Jennifer Millerâs debut novel The Year of the Gadfly is a tale of prep school scandal and secret societies starring a very precocious 15-year-old young lady named Iris Dupont, whose best and only friend is the chain-smoking ghost of famed broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. The novel is compulsively readable and feels a little something like a cross between The Secret History and Gossip Girl, although with significantly more masturbation scenes than the former and more dusty tomes than the latter. As reviewed by Emily Temple, Flavorwire
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. A critically appraised and touching semi-autobiographical story of a 16-year-old girl battling schizophrenia in a mental hospital. Also a 1977 movie starring Kathleen Quinlan.
Carol Rifka Brunt's debut novel Tell the Wolves I'm Home. âA fresh yet nostalgic debut novel about a 1980s teen who loses a beloved uncle to AIDS but finds herself by befriending his grieving boyfriend. Filled with lost opportunities and second chances, the book delivers wisdom, innocence and originality with surprising sweetness. Its cast of waifs and strays will steal your heart as they show each other the way to redemption.â âShelf Awareness. Listed as one of the ten-best debut novels of 2012 by Flavorwire.
Mary Stewart Atwell's debut novel Wild Girls. "This daringly imagined, atmospheric, and original book is part coming-of-age story and part supernatural tale about teenage girls learning their own strength. Kate Riordan fears two things as she grows up in the small Appalachian town of Swan River: that sheâll be a frustrated townie forever, or that sheâll turn into one of the monstrous wild girls, fire starters who menace the community. Struggling to better her chances of escaping, Kate attends the posh Swan River Academy and finds herself divided between her hometownâand its dark historyâand the realm of privilege and achievement at the Academy. Explosive friendships with Mason, a boy from the wrong side of town, and Willow, a wealthy and popular queen bee from school are slowly pulling her apart. Kate must decide who she is and where she belongs before she wakes up with cinders at her fingertips." Review by Flavorwire.
The Adults by Alison Espach is the "defining novel for recovering debutantes from Connecticut. The novel is narrated by Emily, a high school freshman, who grows up in the privileged world of investment bank commuters and desperate housewives. Her padded life suddenly unravels when she wakes early one morning after a sleepover, and looks out her kitchen window to witness her neighborâs suicide. Grace is found in the secret, illicit relationship that develops between Emily and her English teacher. Amidst a world of cheese platters and art auctions, their relationship simply surfaces as something real while everything else in Emilyâs world just seems sterilized... (This is) white girl fiction.â by Geoff Max for Flavorwire.
Hick by Andrea Portes. Teenage Luli is fed up with her drunken parents brawls and decides to leave Nebraska for Las Vegas. Along the way, a wily con artist and a sullen cowboy each try to lay claim to the conflicted girl's future. Also a 2011 movie starring Chloe Moretz and Blake Lively.
The Death of Bees: A Novel by Lisa O'Donnell. Set in Glasgow, Scotland, this just released beautiful and darkly comic coming-of-age mystery surrounds 15-year-old Marnie and her little sister who know more than they want to reveal about the deaths of their parents who they buried in the backyard.
What are some good dystopian books that are similar to delirium and divergent?
sweetloves
I am a total bookworm! I absolutely love love love delirium and pandemonium! I couldn't pick up another book for weeks. I was too stuck in that story line. Ha ha. Divergent was also one of the best books Ive ever read. I need to find some similar. Although I'm 23 I still really like the young adult novels. And if you can recommend a book series that similar it would be even better
Answer
I am well past the "young adult" stage, but YA is still my favorite. In particular, I like YA dystopian themes like the two you mentioned. These are my current favorites.
The Shore of Monsters by David J. Nix â 2011. Five generations earlier, a horde of monsters nearly obliterated humanity. All males are dead or ruined by a monster plague; words like 'father' and 'romance' have lost meaning. When teenager Sky joins an expedition to the shore that falls apart, she must survive amongst the monsters that roam the ruins. She gets unexpected help from a very surprising source. Mystery, action, and romance follow!
Blood Red Road (Dustlands Series) by Moira Young â 2012. In a post-apocalyptic future, 18-year-old Sabaâs twin brother is stolen by black-clad riders. When tough-as-nails Saba launches a relentless search to recover him, she must fight for her life in gladiator cages, overcome enemies both creature and human, and learn to trust others for the first time. And try as she might, she canât help but fall for the charming scoundrel Jack, who just may understand her more than she knows. The author tells Sabaâs story in a raw first person format that blows you away. Must read for dystopian lovers!
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan â 2010. Seven generations have passed since the Return, a plague that reanimates dead humans into creatures that feed on the living. Teenager Mary lives inside one of the last enclaves of uninfected, protected by a chain link fence that surrounds her village. When the fence is breached, Mary flees the village with a small band of survivors. Their flight toward an uncertain salvation is both harrowing and revealing, as they try to determine if they are humanityâs last hope.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher â 2007. Incarceron is a prison so vast that it is self-sustaining. Generations of prisoners are born inside, doomed to a life in prison. The novel weaves two story lines: that of 17-year old Finn, who hopes to become only the second person to break out of the prison, and Claudia, the warden's daughter who hopes to escape an arranged marriage. When each discovers a crystal key, they find that they can communicate through the devices, and pledge to help one another. The story lines merge in a fantastic twist you wonât see coming.
Matched by Allie Condy â 2010. In Cassiaâs society, officials determine everything for you: what you will eat, what job you will have, and who you will marry. When Cassia is matched to her best friend, Xander, at a matching ceremony, she believes Society has made a good choice. However, a âglitchâ causes another face to be briefly revealed to her: that of a boy named Ky. Haunted by the face, Cassia begins to consider the unthinkable: of rebelling against the predetermined path of her life and choosing for herself.
Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi â 2010. In a near future of rising seas, no oil, and extreme poverty, a teenager works as a shipbreaker - one who salvages rusting ships for parts. When he finds a wrecked super-yacht after a storm, he thinks his days of poverty are over. However, he gets swept into an adventure when bad people come for the one survivor of the wreck - a rich, beautiful girl who owns the vessel.
The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield â 2005. In a future society, a mandatory operation at age 16 wipes out physical differences, turning "Uglies" into "Pretties". The Pretties are allowed freedom to play, while the Uglies jealously await their turn. Ugly Tally has gotten into trouble that may forfeit her operation. The menacing government offers her a way out: find a group of rebel Uglies, infiltrate, and betray them. Tally agrees, but upon finding the rebels comes to understand the terrible price of becoming pretty.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman - 2009. In post-war future, the abortion debate has been solved through compromise. Parents may elect to have their teenage children "unwound", a process where the teens organs and body parts are harvested for others. The story follows three runaway Unwinds, each discarded for behavior, religious, or economic reasons. As the trio embarks on a harrowing journey of escape, the reader will ponder very heavy moral questions, and wrestle with how much a bad decision can affect future generations. This is a masterpiece on every level!
I am well past the "young adult" stage, but YA is still my favorite. In particular, I like YA dystopian themes like the two you mentioned. These are my current favorites.
The Shore of Monsters by David J. Nix â 2011. Five generations earlier, a horde of monsters nearly obliterated humanity. All males are dead or ruined by a monster plague; words like 'father' and 'romance' have lost meaning. When teenager Sky joins an expedition to the shore that falls apart, she must survive amongst the monsters that roam the ruins. She gets unexpected help from a very surprising source. Mystery, action, and romance follow!
Blood Red Road (Dustlands Series) by Moira Young â 2012. In a post-apocalyptic future, 18-year-old Sabaâs twin brother is stolen by black-clad riders. When tough-as-nails Saba launches a relentless search to recover him, she must fight for her life in gladiator cages, overcome enemies both creature and human, and learn to trust others for the first time. And try as she might, she canât help but fall for the charming scoundrel Jack, who just may understand her more than she knows. The author tells Sabaâs story in a raw first person format that blows you away. Must read for dystopian lovers!
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan â 2010. Seven generations have passed since the Return, a plague that reanimates dead humans into creatures that feed on the living. Teenager Mary lives inside one of the last enclaves of uninfected, protected by a chain link fence that surrounds her village. When the fence is breached, Mary flees the village with a small band of survivors. Their flight toward an uncertain salvation is both harrowing and revealing, as they try to determine if they are humanityâs last hope.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher â 2007. Incarceron is a prison so vast that it is self-sustaining. Generations of prisoners are born inside, doomed to a life in prison. The novel weaves two story lines: that of 17-year old Finn, who hopes to become only the second person to break out of the prison, and Claudia, the warden's daughter who hopes to escape an arranged marriage. When each discovers a crystal key, they find that they can communicate through the devices, and pledge to help one another. The story lines merge in a fantastic twist you wonât see coming.
Matched by Allie Condy â 2010. In Cassiaâs society, officials determine everything for you: what you will eat, what job you will have, and who you will marry. When Cassia is matched to her best friend, Xander, at a matching ceremony, she believes Society has made a good choice. However, a âglitchâ causes another face to be briefly revealed to her: that of a boy named Ky. Haunted by the face, Cassia begins to consider the unthinkable: of rebelling against the predetermined path of her life and choosing for herself.
Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi â 2010. In a near future of rising seas, no oil, and extreme poverty, a teenager works as a shipbreaker - one who salvages rusting ships for parts. When he finds a wrecked super-yacht after a storm, he thinks his days of poverty are over. However, he gets swept into an adventure when bad people come for the one survivor of the wreck - a rich, beautiful girl who owns the vessel.
The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield â 2005. In a future society, a mandatory operation at age 16 wipes out physical differences, turning "Uglies" into "Pretties". The Pretties are allowed freedom to play, while the Uglies jealously await their turn. Ugly Tally has gotten into trouble that may forfeit her operation. The menacing government offers her a way out: find a group of rebel Uglies, infiltrate, and betray them. Tally agrees, but upon finding the rebels comes to understand the terrible price of becoming pretty.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman - 2009. In post-war future, the abortion debate has been solved through compromise. Parents may elect to have their teenage children "unwound", a process where the teens organs and body parts are harvested for others. The story follows three runaway Unwinds, each discarded for behavior, religious, or economic reasons. As the trio embarks on a harrowing journey of escape, the reader will ponder very heavy moral questions, and wrestle with how much a bad decision can affect future generations. This is a masterpiece on every level!
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