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Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron as a fiction writer, comes out in theaters next week. We asked our readers what YA novels they'd read again. From classics like Little Women to '80s nostalgia like Sweet Valley High to contemporary favorites like the Gossip Girl series, here are 18 books to add to your list. The Giver by Lois Lowry Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Read more
On the Today show this morning, Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell shared details on her new SATC prequel, Summer and the City, which came out yesterday. The YA novel begins where The Carrie Diaries left off, the end of Carrie's senior year of high school and the beginning of her new life in NYC. Carrie has just met the first friend from the infamous fab four, Samantha Jones, and she gives Read more
Twilight may be bad for high schoolers' brains, but that shouldn't spoil our guilty pleasure reading. If I was going to pick up a YA novel, I'd get nostalgic with The Outsiders or A Separate Peace and maybe a Judy Blume just to see how it reads now. What about you? Source: Flickr User margolove Read more
Last week scientists, authors, and educators met to discuss how books and movies affect teenagers' brains, and the Twilight series was the number-one offender. It's not the first time its abstinence-until-marriage message was questioned or its acquiescent protagonist, Bella, was called a bad role model, but this new round of scrutiny makes it seem less like a parental delusion and more like a Read more
Two new trends in young adult publishing were praised today — gay characters with real problems and Christian novels with feminist messages. Though Christian publishers typically blacklist racy words and themes, female empowerment (let's put Twilight's teen marriage aside) seems to be on the do list. Old-fashioned ideals are still preached but not for the same, old reasons. Major careers like Read more
Now that the Twilight series's popularity has reached a deafening pitch with the release of Breaking Dawn, there is starting to be a bit of blowback, particularly concerning the messages it might be sending to young, female readers. Many have noted Bella's low self-esteem, stating that she may not be the best role model for the young tweens captivated by this tale of vampire love. But Twilight Read more
From the Buzzworthy young adult novel challenge, I know many of you are huge fans of the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series, so this news might interest you. The first of the series will be adapted for film, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (writer/director of Thirteen), and will star Kristen Stewart (Into the Wild, In the Land of Women) in the lead role. Variety continues: The film... centers on a Read more
Many thanks to all of you who participated in this week's Buzzworthy challenge to bookmark your favorite young adult novels! I now have a super long list of titles I can turn to when I need that special brand of teen angst, raw emotion and fluttery first love that always manages to comfort me and cut me to the quick at the same time. Most notably, it looks like our resident YA librarian, smart Read more
What with the CW's "Gossip Girl" and the recent announcement of the film adaptation of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (starring Michael Cera!), lately I've been thinking about those books that are technically for young adults, but are fantastic reads for adults as well. As an adult, I have found some real gems on the YA shelves, like Stargirl and Holes. For this week's Buzzworthy challenge, Read more
This month the American Library Association updated its list of frequently challenged books for the 2011 year, and one wildly popular novel is making its way up the rankings of this infamous list. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, which first appeared at number five of Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2010, is now third on the list for attempts to remove its contents from Read more
