Favorite YA Books of 2011

When all the "Best of" lists come out at the end of the year, I always feel frustrated because there are always books I haven't read. I feel like a slacker no matter how much I read. Here, in alpha author order, are the books I DID read and loved. Some are new this year, some are older titles.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
Warped by Marissa Guibord
The Summer series by Jenny Han
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Legend by Marie Lu
The ENTIRE Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer (audiobook preferred)
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Shine by Lauren Myracle
The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal
Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
The Queen of Water by Laura Resau
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Lost and Found by Shaun Tan
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

If I had to name a favorite "new" book of 2011...I'd probably have to say I'll Be There and Anna and the French Kiss would be tied for first.  For my favorite "old book," I'll cheat and say the entire Bloody Jack series.

Many of the books that are showing up on the lists now I've tried to read and just haven't gotten into. I'm going to keep trying on Chime and The Scorpio Races.

2012 is shaping up to be a good year in YA fiction. New John Green, new Markus Zusak, and lots of new additions to series I love.  What's more exciting though, are all the new authors out there whose voices we haven't yet heard.

YA National Book Award Nominees

The nominees for the 2011 National Book Award were announced this week. Here are the finalists in the Young People's Literature category.

Franny Billingsley, Chime
Debby Dahl Edwardson, My Name Is Not Easy
Thanhha Lai, Inside Out and Back Again
Albert Marrin, Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
Lauren Myracle, Shine
Gary D. Schmidt, Okay for Now

Check out the judges: Marc Aronson, Ann Brashares, Matt de la Peña, Nikki Grimes, Will Weaver. They know their stuff!

I've only read three of the titles (Shine, Inside Out and Back Again, and Okay for Now). I am terrible at "calling" these sorts of contests because each book has a different audience and a difference. The most powerful read for me was definitely Shine (which has an amazing epigraph), but the book I just want to pick up and hug and read again someday is Okay for Now. I've heard great things about all of these titles--except for My Name is Not Easy. Which means that this title will probably win because it's the one book I haven't heard of and haven't read. That's how it always is.

Happy reading and may the best book win!

Great Printz Award Post

I just discovered Sarah Couri's blog Someday My Printz Will Come over at SLJ. She's written a great post today about how the Printz Award is chosen. It's long, but well worth the read.

Coming soon: A review of Holly Goldberg Sloan's I'll Be There.