The results are in! NPR collected suggestions, tallied votes, and have compiled the top 100 best ever YA novels. Okay, so I’d still argue that books like Harry Potterand Anne of Green Gables aren’t exactly YA, but it’s a giant reading list of awesome. It’s hard to argue against that. Still, a couple of quick thoughts:
- Not at all surprised to see Harry Potter topping the list. I think this series will be beloved for a long time, and it connects with readers of all ages.
- I think Speak should be higher than #26. It’s stunning and a necessary read.
- Really surprised to see My Sister’s Keeper above #50. I don’t think of that as YA at all.
- Really surprised not to see more M.T. Anderson on the list. Dude is a genius.
Scanning through, there are still a bunch I haven’t read. Might have to take this on as a long-term reading project.
Share your thoughts on NPR’s list in the comments!
Hooray! I just went and requested the top three that I hadn’t yet read (Perks of Being a Wallflower, Paper Towns, and City of Bones). Would you believe I haven’t read Speak? It’ll be in my next set-of-three request, I promise!
No way! Oh my gosh, let me know what you think once you’ve read it. Also, very curious to hear your take on Perks. I wasn’t as big a fan as I thought I’d be, but it’s been a while.
Maybe we should add some of these to the book club list!
Yes!!
Seconded! (Thirded?) Here are the ones that I haven’t read but am particularly interested in reading… have you guys read them? Would you like to?
– A Great and Terrible Beauty
– Unwind
– The Maze Runner
– Betsy-Tacy
Those are just the ones that look most interesting to me, but I’m up for whatever — I’ll probably read through all of the 39 that I haven’t read (at least the first book in each series). Since they released the list, I’ve already finished Paper Towns and the first book in the Mortal Instruments series. Both very good! (I was laughing so hard near the end of Paper Towns last night!)
I would characterize most of that list as surprising to me. It’ll be a little while before I’ve processed this enough to say more.
That’s a fun list that will add a lot for books to read. My sister’s absolute favorite book is on there, which is The Blue Sword by Robin Mckinley. I read it and enjoyed it, and then lent it to her. She’s now read it about twenty times. My original paperback copy wore out, so I bought her a hardback copy. It seems to be holding up fairly well.
I thought the list was a bit surprising. Harry Potter was obvious, but The Hunger Games being second was a bit odd to me. I guess its position is partially due to current popularity and not much more. I’m not saying it’s a bad series, just not as good as second place.
I was really glad to see almost all of my favorite books, especially The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, as those are often overlooked. There are still many I have not read, but if they are as good as those that I have then I really look forward to them.
The only disappointment for me was the inclusion of so many very similar vampire books. My fiance’s sister is obsessed with vampires – I’ve seen her read every single vampire book on this list – and even she wasn’t too impressed with most of them. But the list was done by popular vote, so clearly someone was…
I challenged myself to do more reading, when I realize that though I’m a YA librarian, I’ve only read 25% of the top 100!
I share your disagreement about of the few of the YA designations, but think it’s a great list overall, even if it is certainly influenced by current trends and popularity.
Thanks for posting this – I teach high school English and am glad to see my students have read many of these books!