Contemporary YA discussion

Where do you find new books? How do you know if they're good?

I tend to look at the library, also GR recommendations of books similar to those I'm reading. If I like one book by an author, I'll read more.

And, I read a lot of award-winners. YALSA is the most popular website for YA that I know of. Here's a list of...lists...lol.

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawa...

Great list..thanks for sharing. I find new books by utilizing GR, word of mouth and lots of researching. I have found the books with the most ratings on GR are almost always a good fit for me, but not always. I have found a few gems in YA paranormal that weren't so popular.

Here is a list of National Book Award winners.

Young People’s Literature
1996: Parrott In the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
1997: Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan
1998: Holes by Louis Sachar
1999: When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt
2000: Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
2001: True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
2002: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
2003: The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
2004: Godless by Pete Hautman
2005: The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
2006: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1:
The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson
2007: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2008: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
2009: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
2010: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
2011: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
2012: Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
2013: The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata

I follow you on Goodreads. Okay, I check out one of the library association web pages, but mostly watch the Goodreads groups to see what's getting the most attention. If not for that, I wouldn't have realized how much I love contemporary. Which is now what I'm writing for my next book. I'll check out the link you posted here, too. Always looking for new sources.

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/1577953...

Agree? Disagree? Discuss?

I think I saw this as a FB post a few years ago and marked the ones I'd read. I don't know if I"d agree with all of them, but there are some good books on there.

Fahrenheit 451 is YA? I think Jodi Picoult is more adult, too. The characters are teens, but more of an adult read (though one of my all-time favorites). I see Tom Sawyer didn't make the list. How's that possible (I suspect it's not PC enough for NPR). And no Moon Over Manifest. That one is far better than many of these. Maybe they were only going by sales figures. I should probably read it again.

A lot of schools assign Fahrenheit 451, so it's considered YA, like Catcher in the Rye, Illustrated Man, or others like that. Jodi Picoult, I'd say is not ya.

Moon Over Manifest--that is more middle grade than YA, I think.

Jodi Picoult is being assigned in schools too. Much to the chagrin of some of the parents.

I had one of my readers tell me that my writing reminded her of Jodi Picoult, and I wasn't sure what to think of that. I was complimented, but on the other hand, my writing does not contain graphic sex, and I was surprised (knowing her personally) that she would even read Jodi PIcoult!

Does Jodi Picoult write graphic sex? The few of hers I've read had very mild sex scenes. I just think most of her themes are more adult. But maybe I only think so because they are marketed as adult.

I have to say, I have not read the book in question, but this isn't the only case I've seen:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014...

I know I ended up putting aside at least one of her books because it was too graphic for me, but I am very conservative in my tastes.

I have read 19 Minutes. I can see it being assigned in schools, since it's mostly about young people (but also about their parents). I do think schools should notify parents about books with graphic sex/violence, but I would probably let my high schooler read that if I had one. The scene the article mentions was disturbing to me, not because it was graphic but because the sex was not entirely consensual.