I devoured YA books in 2009. I've always been a fan since I was a kid so I'm ecstastic that this genre has exploded during the last ten years. I'll probably go back to some of my first YA loves in later posts. Today, I'm going to concentrate on my top reads for 2009 (and include those that I haven't got my greedy mitts on yet!).
In order:
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
As good, if not better than The Hunger Games. Tight writing, perfect plotting, rounded characters. I have a personal satisfaction factor when reading a book - based more on feeling than measurement - and this scored 100%. Out of interest, I tried to summarise the chapters so that I could look at how she did it and it took me nearly one page for the opener! She really packs in the detail while keeping the prose v.readable. How does she do that?! It goes without saying that I can't wait for her next book.
Fever Crumb - Philip Reeve
A worthy prequel to the Mortal Engines quartet. A masterclass in world-building. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in Reeve's head - his writing is crammed full of movie and literary references, secret jokes (and terrible puns). He's still one of my faves. I always buy signed 1st eds when his novels come out.
The Bride's Farewell - Meg Rosoff
My heart sank as soon as I started reading. Too many horses! I like horses, but not that much. But being the diehard that I am (and a huge fan of Meg's novels), I kept on going and ended up blubbing at the end. Not that many books have that effect on me any more - I'm far too jaded. The writing was gorgeous, and the characters were so believable. The plot, not so great, but hey, I can overlook this.
Honorary Mentions
The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
Numbers - Rachel Ward
Ones to Read
The Pain Merchants (The Shifter) -Janice Hardy
Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alaska - John Green
Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
Think I'm going to be busy for while...
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