Edgy YA discussion

My recommendation is Nicholas Dane by Melvin Burgess.Currently, I'm reading his book Smack.

Marita wrote: "My recommendation is Nicholas Dane by Melvin Burgess.Currently, I'm reading his book Smack."

I LOVED Nicholas Dane! In fact, one of my students from last year still has it and I just sent her an email demanding she give it back. She's read much edgier books and her mother is an author, so she was fine with me throwing whatever books I could at her. (I just wish she had returned the better ones...)

I love this list, so I'm going to need to add to it. With pictures!

is a wonderful book that reminded me quite a bit of Oliver Twist. Initially I bought it for the pretty cover, I won't lie.

This is the most popular book with my girls. They all - every one of them - have fallen for Alex, and I admit I will do. It's very reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet with the flavor of West Side Story thrown in, and a little bit of Grease. There are two sequels that deal with Alex's brothers, but to be honest I haven't read them. Students do say they are awesome.

Twelve stories that focus on LGBT characters and their identity. Sex is brought up often, though not all stories have it.

I'm sure I'll have more to add as I read them.

Wow, I'm SO SO SO happy to see people are reading Melvin Burgess. He's one of my favorite authors and I've read everything my library has by him. But whenever I tell people about him, they give me a blank stare. In fact, I just reviewed Smack on my blog this week. http://lenahillbrand.blogspot.com

Other edgy YA authors I've enjoyed a lot are Laurie Halse Anderson (pretty mild compared to some stuff out there, but is on a lot of banned-book lists.

Also recommend . I've read Zarr's newest book and it was also a bit edgy but not nearly as good. Her books are so raw and real, though, that I have to love them. There's something refreshing about reading books that feel like they're real and not just pushing to shock the reader intentionally by being excessively graphic.

Okay, you want edgy books? I just read two that are AMAZING but which I cannot put in my classroom due to the graphic nature. They are amazing reads though, and are part of a series.

The first, , deals with Famine, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It puts modern teens into the Riders places.

The second, , was even more edgy than the first. It made me blush because of the sexual situations the teens are placed in, and the main characters dealings with her anger as the new War.

Incredible books, but one of them is considered appropriate for seventh grade which I would never put in my classroom.

These sound amazing! Thank you for posting them- I have never heard of these two and I plan on them being my next purchases!

I enjoyed the series so far and will definitely be picking up Loss when it comes out soon. They're creative and powerful, dealing with taboo topics like cutting and anorexia.

A suggestion is Dark Song by Gail Giles . She writes about a girl who goes from riches to rags and while thinking about revenge on her father for not protecting her and their family from the downfall, she is courted by a predatory boy willing to "get the job done" for her.