Today I am sort of wishing I was back at work (almost) as I know I could have put together a great reading list and display in the library for UKYA. In case you have somehow managed to miss all of the amazing stuff happening on Twitter, UKYA day has been organised by Lucy at Queen of Contemporary. There have been some great Twitter Q&As and live author chats and I have really enjoyed checking it all out. Since I can't organise anything at work, I'm going to have to settle for a virtual reading list on here. Below is a list of some of my favourite UKYA books.
I loved this book! It's sort of a fantasy take on racial segregation, with lots of magic and action thrown in. I still haven't bought Half Wild and I meant to pick up one of the signed copies Waterstones had, but I think I've left it too late now, which is a shame.
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
I don't think I need to say any more. Although I do want to add that I am very excited about the illustrated version coming out this autumn!
She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgewick
I read this one in the library last year and thought it was brilliant. A thriller/mystery told from the perspective of a blind teenager.
Guitar Girl and the Diary of a Crush series by Sarra Manning
I read these books while I was at school and really enjoyed them. I think Diary of a Crush remains the only series my best friend has ever read, and she finished them all within the space of a week. I think one of the best things about UKYA is that it's so good to read about teenagers in British schools, doing very British things like going festivals or on school trips to France. I find UK contemporary YA is often easier to relate to than books from elsewhere.
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Another book where I really need to get hold of the sequel soon. It took me a little while to get into The Bone Season, but once I did I was hooked. It was mostly read in the early hours of the morning while up with my daughter.
I guess this series wasn't originally written as YA, but it fits the category well. I love the world(s!) of His Dark Materials and have always wished I had a daemon.
I'm going to cut this post short now as my daughter is having an 'I don't want to be put down' day, but other UKYA authors I love are Celia Rees, Adele Geras (Troy is the reason I love Classical mythology so much, it is AMAZING and everyone should read it), Annabel Pitcher, Anthony Horowitz and Patrick Ness. Hopefully at some point soon I'll be able to go back to this post and write a proper summary for each of these authors!
There. That would have looked so nice displayed on the library book shelf...
