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YA Books for Oldsters


julie

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Hi Folks

I noticed yesterday that one of the moderators (sorry I don't remember who) posted a note about having some YA authors do interviews, etc and we are allowed to think of questions to ask them .

 

I know YA books right now are hugely popular among adult readers also .

 

I'm sort-of a picky reader ,as I don't like reading romance and not a fan of sci-fi  or end of the world books .

 

Knowing that, can anyone recommend something that would be a YA book that doesn't fall under any of those restrictions ?

 

I think I might enjoy reading something that would be funny , maybe something about school days , school dances ... funny neighbor kid type books . I'm not exactly sure I can describe what I'd like .

 

I have watched truckloads of reviews on youtube that are YA books ,and most  of them fall under the above things -- end of the world, romance, sci fi .....

 

I also don't like namby-pamby books like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm . I may have liked those 45 years ago, but is there anything for someone my age group that you can think of ?

 

I think Adrian Mole books may be considered YA . I DID enjoy them about 10 years ago ,so books like that, where it's a teen talking about life,school, other kids, etc with some humor thrown in .

 

 

Thanks for reading ....

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It's definitely not a funny book, but knowing the true life stories you like reading, I think you might enjoy If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch.  I read it a couple of months ago after it was mentioned in an article about adults reading YA books, and I thought it was a fantastic read.
 
It's set in Tennessee, and here's the blurb from the cover:

What happens in the woods, stays in the woods...

Carey is keeping a terrible secret.
If she tells, it could destroy her future.
If she doesn't, will she ever be free?


For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived in a camper van in the heart of the woods with her drug-addicted mother and six-year-old sister, Jenessa. Her mother routinely disappears for weeks at a time, leaving the girls to cope alone. Survival is Carey's only priority - until strangers arrive and everything changes...

 

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Do you like crime? Kimberley Derting has a series which starts with The Body Finder. It's a serial, but with a YA slant on things. More here.. http://www.kimberlyderting.com/body-finder.php

 

Edit: I'm struggling a bit, because most which I like have a sci fi or dystopian element. 

 

Geekhood by Andy Robb seems to be just for teen boys, but I got a lot out of it, and it's funny.. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11985-geekhood-by-andy-robb/

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Thanks Claire and Michelle

 

I'll check and see if I can locate any of the ones you mentioned at our local libraries . I do tend to like nonfiction, but also like fiction if it's something that deals with subjects which help me learn more about life, different people's situations, how they handle things that may be difficult to handle. I *think* possibly John Green is it, who wrote Looking for Alaska ?   I may be wrong on the subject matter of that, but I'm thinking it's teen suicide or something pretty disturbing . I wouldn't deal well with that subject ,or with school shootings ..

 

Those are both way too difficult for me to handle .  Sorry if I posted this in the wrong spot. I saw that you can't post replies to the post yesterday so thought I'd put this in here .

 

And yes, I like crime books, so they'd fit the bill too .

 

I'm gonna make a library run this morning and see what I come up with . I'll look for those you both mentioned . Thank you .  :)

Edited by julie
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It's funny that you should mention John Green, Julie, because that's who I immediately thought of when I read your original post. I haven't actually read anything by him myself, but I know that The Fault in Our Stars is aimed at young adults and it has been very popular here on the forum (and everywhere else in the world, apparently). I believe it's about cancer and is therefore a sad read, so I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for.

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Although not funny, I have read a few YA that were fantastic, and not involving teen love, vampires et al.

 

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (I think?)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne (harrowing but a great informative read)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, the author's name escapes me and I didn't know it was YA at the time but one of my favourite books of all time.

Torn - David Massey (this does involve war but is sensitively done and very enlightening) 

 

I really need to read some more light hearted books! :D

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Ok here are a few books I hope that some of them might be what you are looking for,

 

The Dark is Rising by Susan cooper (great books you don't notice that they are YA for the most part)

 

The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin (pure fantasy, these books are wonderful. Full of depth and are fast moving.)

 

Alvin Maker series by Orion Scott card

 

And maybe the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

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Hi guys

Back from the library (and a few dozen other errands) . I hit the jackpot on YA books. :D

 

Claire, I found the one you mentioned , and Michelle , I found the first one you mentioned . I actually found a stack of them, and will post the list below . I was lucky ,one of our librarians is a MAJOR book lover and she reads all types and ages of books. She likes being well informed if people ask her for recommendations ,so she found me a nice pile of books that may fit the bill. No sci-fi, romance or end-of-the-world stuff, and some even sound funny .

 

Kylie

Thanks, I knew the  one you mentioned was popular but didn't know much about it ,and that it was a YA book . None of our local libraries have it, but will check the next town over maybe tomorrow . They are closed today for computer upgrades to their system .

 

Chalie

Thanks for the list. As soon as I get my stuff put away from the store, I'll check online to see if our library has any of those you mentioned .

 

 

OK

 

I got :

If You Find Me - Emily Murdoch

The Body Finder --Kimberly Derting

The Ghost's Grave -Peg Kehret

Freakie Fast Frankie Joe -- Lutricia Clifton

The Cross Roads --Chris Grabenstein

Ocean at the End if the Lane - -----------------is this YA ????

Graveyard Book  -- Both Neil Gaiman

Happyface- Stephen Emond

This is What I Did - Ann Dee Ellis

Dairy Queen -Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Next is a set--  ----by Caroline Cooney

Face on the Milk Carton

Whatever happened To Janie

Voice on the Radio

What Janie Found

Janie Face to Face

 

* Number 1 and 4 are out ,so will wait til they get those in before reading any of this set )

 

Last but not least -- They suggested Gary Paulsen , as he writes YA books without the stuff I don't like ,plus I liked the titles and covers ::

Liar, Liar

 

And I already started this :

The Glass Café  OR The Stripper and the State, How my mother started a war with the System that made us kind of rich and a little bit famous .

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Ok, just looked up the others you guys mentioned ...

 

Our library has Book Thief and Boy in the Striped PJ's

 

I reserved a Monster Calls  and   The Dark is Rising  ..

 

 

That should give me quite a nice selection ,shouldn't it ?

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I've linked all of these to my reviews - if you want to find out more.

 

Between Shades of Gray ~ Harrowing tale of Stalin's deportations

Out of the Easy (both by Ruta Sepetys) ~ Fantastic story set in New Orleans during the 50s

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - superbly clever WW2 story about a female ATA pilot and her spy friend.

The Pure Trilogy by Julianna Baggott ~ Seriously amazing & beautifully written post-apocalyptic trilogy.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young ~ cross between a Western, dystopian & post-apocalyptic. First 50 pages slow but after that really good.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve ~ My favourite series of all time, light steampunk/sci-fi (not really though) about Cities eating Cities - the opening line: “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.” And if that doesn't catch your imagination, nothing will ;)

Chronicles of the Icemark by Stuart Hill ~ excellent high fantasy with very large, well written battles and lots of original ideas (no dragons/elves/dwarves etc etc) also wonderful female protag

Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman ~ excellent little contemporary about a boy who knocks up his (ex)gf and has to deal with the consequences

Airman by Eoin Colfer ~ author of Artemis Fowl, Airman is in my opinion his best book. Historical, about flying machines. v. exciting

Here Lies Arthur ~ highy original take on Arthurian legend, by Mortal Engines author.

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells ~ horror with some supernatural elements about a sociopath. Bit like Dexter.

 

That should last you a while - if none of those suit you, you can look through the recommended pages on my blog.

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Thank you Palagrin . What a big list you have there . I will take a gander through it to see what strikes my fancy . I tend to lean away from sci fi ,fantasy,etc ,so some wouldn't be up my alley . Not saying there's anything wrong with liking them, we all have our own tastes in books. They must be extremely popular right now ,as so many people read and enjoy them .

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Although not funny, I have read a few YA that were fantastic, and not involving teen love, vampires et al.

 

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (I think?)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne (harrowing but a great informative read)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, the author's name escapes me and I didn't know it was YA at the time but one of my favourite books of all time.

 

Can I also recommend these ones of Chalie's? All excellent.

 

I'd also add The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (see you've got this one. Also Stardust by him although it does have a romantic theme)

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time by Mark Haddon

 

The Messenger by Markus Zusak

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Thanks Poppy

I'll definitely look for the others you mentioned too . Lots of selections to choose from ! I finished one last night ,so they are fast reads too, which should make my reading list build up a bit.

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I've read quite a few YA books and have more on the TBR but it's hard for me to estimate which ones someone your age would like, since I'm not that age yet myself and don't know many people with this age etc (I know some but none of them read YA). There's quite a few books mentioned here that I liked or that are on my TBR or wishlist. Most YAs are fast reads for me too. I hope you find some you like, julie. If you want I can go through the list of ones I've read and think about which ones I'd recommend (strangely enough I can think of which ones I wouldn't) that don't have too much love stuff or things you don't like. At the very least I can second Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time, I loved this book. I also recently read Marcus Zusak - The Book Thief, if you like historical fiction taking place in World War II, I think you'd like this book. About The Ocean and the End of the Lane, I think it's an adult book but I'm not sure. I know Neil Gaiman has written books for both adults and young adults (and younger children I think). I have his Graveyard book on the TBR and several others on the wishlist (including The Ocean and the End of the Lane). I watch YouTube videos of certain people, mainly young adults, talking about books, mainly the young adult genre. That, and this forum, is where I get most of my YA recommendations from (and adult recommendations, just this forum mainly).

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Thanks for the recommendations, Athena .. I'll definitely pick up a few more that our library has on hand.... leaving here in a few minutes to go to the one next town over,as they have a couple that ours doesn't .

 

I know there are tons of youtubers who love YA books . I watch a lot of their videos too, just because I like listening to people talk about books and how much they enjoy them .

Edited by julie
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I got :

Ocean at the End if the Lane - -----------------is this YA ????

Graveyard Book  -- Both Neil Gaiman

 

Next is a set--  ----by Caroline Cooney

Face on the Milk Carton

Whatever happened To Janie

Voice on the Radio

What Janie Found

Janie Face to Face

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is more of an adult book, I think.

 

Ooh, I used to have the TV movie of The Face on the Milk Carton on VHS! Did you ever see it? I watched it so many times and I always cried. I only found out reasonably recently that there are books. I'd like to read them one day, so I look forward to your thoughts on them. :)

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Yep, Kylie

It'd be the same book - I never saw the movie but I'm not a movie person . My daughter read the book when she was young ,but I don't know if all the extra "parts " were written then or more recently .

I'll definitely put reviews up when I read them --waiting on the part 1  -- I'll maybe see if the other library has it in this morning and get it there .

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Thank you Palagrin . What a big list you have there . I will take a gander through it to see what strikes my fancy . I tend to lean away from sci fi ,fantasy,etc ,so some wouldn't be up my alley . Not saying there's anything wrong with liking them, we all have our own tastes in books. They must be extremely popular right now ,as so many people read and enjoy them .

Sure- tha'ts why I recommended so many historical fiction stuff! (It also turns out that YA is really, really good for engaging, clever and powerful historical fiction). The fantasy/sci-fi books I have included aren't too heavy on those elements - which is what I think puts a lot of people off - and I would suggest you try them even if you aren't immediately hooked by the premise as at their core are powerful emotional story arcs.

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An excellent idea for a thread, Julie! :)

 

I would recommend The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, it's great :) Unfortunately that's the only one that comes to mind at the moment. I'll get back to you if I can remember more.

 

I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread, I want to read this type of books too! :smile2:

 

Edit: I'm so happy that you have such nice and amazing staff at your library, Julie! :)

 

Also: I just remembered Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. That's another great one.

 

Both of the books I've mentioned are about teenage boys and their lives, fiction, no supernatural elements. Just life as it can be.

 

I hope you enjoy the books you borrowed, what a great big stack, should keep you busy for a while :D

Edited by frankie
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Frankie

So funny you should mention Perks of Being a Wallflower this morning .I went to the library next town over ,and filled a shopping basket with YA books . Guess which one I picked to read ? The Wallflower one. I stopped for a sandwich at the drive thru and sat in the parking lot reading the book. I'm up to pg 75 already !!

 It's great writing and the subject matter is handled in a way that isn't too graphic . I really have no interest in reading about the exploits of any aged person in the bedroom ,so I avoid those books like The Plague , but this one is done in a way that isn't too bad .

Anyhow, that library has shopping baskets so I filled one full of YA books.

Another library (the biggest and nicest one in our area actually has shopping carts to use for all your selections . I thought about making a run up there, but I think I'd better pace myself a bit. I already have a huge pile from yesterday and a new one from today ,so that should do it for awhile. We have another 3 more branch libraries within about a 10 minute drive, depending on what direction you point your car .

 

Will go out and grab the books I found today and list them here next ....

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I'm glad to hear you like The Perks of Being a Wallflower so far. I liked it but didn't love it (I believe I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, or 7 or 8 out of 10). There were great elements in there and I enjoyed the story but there was a lot of hype for me surrounding the book and it didn't live up to those high expectations. I think I would've perhaps enjoyed it more if it hadn't been so hyped for me at the time. Enjoy your reads :)!

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Thanks Athena. I'll definitely post a review when done. I hadn't heard any of the hype of the book ,so I am going into it blind by knowing nothing .

 

Here's a list of what I found today :

 

A Monster Calls -Patrick  Ness

Coraline-  Neil Gaiman

The Truth About Truman School- Dori Hillestad Butler

An Abundance of Katherines -John Green

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe -Benjamin Alire Saenz ( The COVER sold me on this one,beautiful )

Winger- Andrew Smith

The Printer's Devil- Paul Bajoria

Al Capone Does My Shirts -Gennifer Choldenko

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time-Haddon

The Watcher in the Shadows -Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Freaks - Annette Curtis Klause

The Seer of Shadows -Avi

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Frankie

So funny you should mention Perks of Being a Wallflower this morning .I went to the library next town over ,and filled a shopping basket with YA books . Guess which one I picked to read ? The Wallflower one. I stopped for a sandwich at the drive thru and sat in the parking lot reading the book. I'm up to pg 75 already !!

 

Off to work so only a quick reply, I'll come back later to check the other posts.

 

What a funny coincidence :D I'm so happy you're enjoying the book!! :) I agree, this book was done with good taste. Very well written and so interesting and readable :) Enjoy! :friends3:

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