My Life in…

Well, we’re getting to the end of December and I’m one book shy of 100 books read this year so I figure this is a good time to list my favorite books of the year.  They aren’t necessarily the most literary, but they are the ones I enjoyed the most and have stayed with me.

Best Books of 2008

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Girl, Hero by Carrie Jones
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
I Know It’s Over by C. K. Kelly Martin
Kendra by Coe Booth
Paper Towns by John Green
Harry, a History by Melissa Anelli
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Honorable Mention

My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson
Swindle by Gordon Korman
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Peeled by Joan Bauer
Footfree and Fancyloose by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
All We Know of Heaven by Jacqueline Mitchard
I Want to Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuenhert
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

BookEval Review:

Meghan Ball is easy to overlook, even though she’s the fattest girl in school. She spends her days faking headaches to avoid classes, especially gym, and watching her fellow students. Aimee Zorn, the new girl in school, is a poet who wants to join the school literary magazine, but doesn’t really want to make friends and definitely doesn’t want to eat anything. The two girls become unlikely allies when a girl from the lit mag takes advantage of Aimee. While the long pages of description from Meghan’s point of view might turn off reluctant readers, this book will attract an audience. Despite the two girls’s eating disorders (binging and anorexia) this is not an issue book. The book is very character driven and a great book to read.

Grade: B+
Book #99 of 2008

BookEval review:

Take Me There is told in alternating sections by three narrators. Rhiannon whines about her boyfriend breaking up with her before making a big move to get him back. Nicole sort of misses her ex, crushes on her teacher and has disturbing dreams alluding to past abuse. James realizes that he likes his best friend Rhiannon. Unfortunately the structure of the story means any time you start to get interested in one of the characters, another one takes over for fifty pages, and interesting subplots about an abusive couple and a loveable old lady are cast aside and left undeveloped. The slang used in the book feels artificial and dated, and even though the book takes place in New York City the characters seem extra naive. The book does contain some cursing and the revelation of Nichole’s past abuse. Your teens might like this, but this is an optional purchase at best.

Grade: C-
Book #98 of 2008

I don’t read fantasy books.  I read two this summer for our book clubs and I thought that would be it for the year.  But then JHunt season rolled around on Adbooks and I found myself with a large pile of fantasy books to catch up with.  I picked Graceling up because it had the best cover.

To my delight, it was one of the best books I read all year.  I walked into the library, handed it to our children’s librarian and told her she had to read it.  I gushed so much that at least three other librarians and my husband all want to read it.  Graceling is the perfect book.  There is action, adventure, romance, a unique plot and a strong female heroine.  The book both borrows from tradition and turns it on its head.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say it took me a while to get into it, so if you’re not a fantasy fan, really give this one a chance.  You won’t be disappointed.

I hear there is a prequel in the works, but I’d REALLY love a sequel.

Grade: A+
Book #97 of 2008

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is excellent, but I think it’s not a YA book and will be voting it off the JHunt Island very soon. Sometimes I wonder if I give Gaiman too much credit because everything sort of sounds better in British English, but there are lots of lines in this book that just stand out as great writing. It was a bit episodic to me and the end was interesting but the narrative should have gotten to that part of the story sooner, but I think this would be a great book to booktalk to sixth graders. Just tell them about the first chapter, and that will hook them in.

Grade: A-
Book #96 of 2008

Getting the Girl started out a little too slowly for me, and I’m starting to see a real trophe in the use of the beta teenage male. Don’t get me wrong, I love beta males, but I think that the overuse of them in YA literature isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when written by women writers. In spite of this, I did like the main character a lot, and loved how the defiling was resolved, but overall I didn’t think this was super special. Great cover though.

Grade: B
Book #95 of 2008

Harry, a History was really interesting. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and from the release of book five on was an obsessed fan, reading fanfic and gobbling up all the news on the fan sites. I didn’t learn a lot I didn’t know from this book but it was interesting to see how everything unfolded in the Harry Potter universe, and I liked Melissa’s personal story and anecdotes just as much. My only quibble was that in discussing fandom, she used people’s real names often without mentioning their handles, which made it difficult for me to connect the authors I love to her comments. It took me half the book to realize her friend was Arabella even though she’s one of the biggest and best fanfic writers out there. You’d have to be a huge fan to enjoy this book but it is worth the read.

Grade: A
Book #94 of 2008

Deadville was a departure from Ron Koertge’s other books, and I think I was a bit disappointed at the dreary negative tone. His other books are much more humorous and rely on depth of character more than the angst typical in a lot of other YA books. It was well written and enjoyable, but I just think I like his other books better.

Grade: B
Book #93 of 2008

Let It Snow was a little uneven, and I think I’m just not a super huge fan of novellas. Maureen Johnson’s story in particular would have been much stronger if it had a full novel to develop over. I liked John Green’s story the best, and enjoyed how Lauren Myracle’s story tied the three stories together so successfully but overall, I think I’d just rather read their novels.

Grade: B
Book #92 of 2008

I loved Heavy Metal and You, and even though I was less excited about this book based on the description, I am very glad I read it.  The characters really stood out and I loved the odd parties they had.  The only other book I can think of about a teen with anger management issues is Breathing Underwater.  That was also a strong book but had a different spin on the issue.  The narrator in that book was already going through recovery and was also a bit unreliable.  Locke is reliable in his storytelling and is very honest about the rage he is feeling.  Angry and unusual teen boys will like this one.

Grade: B+
Book #91 of 2008