I've always felt that the best young adult fiction is worth reading again and again, no matter what age you are. The Los Angeles Times recently published an article about how adults are reading more and more young adult fiction, and that young adult fiction sales are up 30.7%, in an otherwise sluggish book market.
It doesn't surprise me a bit, considering the obvious success of crossover hits like the Twilight
and Harry Potter series, and the perennial appeal of books like The Witch of Blackbird Pond
After the LA Times article came out, cultural website Flavorwire published its list of top 10 Young Adult novels, and I liked the list--it has a few of my favorites on it, including The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, as well as two of my husband's favorites, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, which was also a sweet independent movie. Also on their list are a couple of books I've been wanting to read for quite some time, The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, and The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.
The list didn't include some YA books I've heard a lot about lately, The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, What I Saw And How I Lied, by Judy Blundell, and Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief series.
And then there are those books out there, like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, and Black Swan Green: A Novel, by David Mitchell, that have young adult protagonists but aren't necessarily categorized in young adult fiction...
What are your favorite Young Adult titles? Do you feel they have crossover appeal? If so, why?
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7 comments:
My book group picked The Book Thief for April. I just bought it this past weekend and plan to start it this weekend.
I LOVED The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Your Hub has good taste.
I think The Hunger Games is another book that crosses over well. I had some quibbles with it but have recommended it to all sorts of people and they all seem to enjoy it for the page-turning nature of the writing.
I also think the Life as We Knew It books do well in adult hands. I wouldn't call these classics by any means but I wouldn't say that about Twilight either.
I don't read much YA at all, but I do think it's an exciting genre at the moment. I read Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now several years ago and thought it was an amazing book. Incredibly powerful. And over Christmas I read Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl, and although it wasn't in the Rosoff league, it was charming and engaging and I would certainly read books like it again.
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.
The Book Thief is far and away my favorite. The book brought me to tears and I am still thinking about it more than a month later and unable to review it!
Ti--let me know if you and your group enjoy The Book Thief. And I'm planning to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, too. A friend of mine said The Hunger Games was a real page-turner, so I've put it on my list, too!
litlove--I remember you mentioning Meg Rosoff a while back--must put her on my list!
Little Miss Nomad--haven't heard of it, I'll have to check it out--thanks :)
Kathleen--so many people say The Book Thief brought them to tears--it's definitely on my list!
You should check out The Looking Glass Wars. It's a take on Alice In Wonderland, but dark and different.
Kerri--sounds interesting, I'll look into that one :)
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