Books to Read With YAs In Your Life
YWR #144
Friends, to me, there’s YA fiction and there’s YA fiction. Allow me to explain this distinction as I assume most of you have your high school years in the rearview mirror (but if not, HELLO and YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and you do NOT NEED BOTOX AT AGE 20 TIKTOK IS LYING TO YOU, NO CAP, DID I USE THAT CORRECTLY?)
In my completely personal, non-comprehensive and haphazard explanation, there’s the YA fiction (now “NA/new adult”) that may not be Paris Review-worthy, Joycean fiction. But as an adult you can certainly respond to and resonate with these kinds of books in the ways you might with other technically “adult” fiction, and the main distinction to be made is, perhaps, the sophistication of the form or writing.
Then there’s YA fiction where the protagonists are younger, the themes are simpler, the writing is easier and plainer. And while they wouldn’t be my first recommendations for the solo adult reader, they’re great for actual tweens and teens in your life yet still warm, sweet, or interesting enough that you can read it too.
Many of my friends and acquaintances have asked for suggestions about things their kids might like, to get them into reading. So this week, please enjoy a few suggestions of the latter. Find a youth in your life and share some great books.
Note: when I was a youth and tween I was absolutely reading Jackie Collins and Robert Benchley and Robert B. Parker and The Thorn Birds and everything else I had absolutely no business reading (plus the Babysitters’ Club). It was a different Gen X time, we were basically feral unsupervised urchins.
(And if you have no YAs in your life, if you have no interest in this week’s category, if you’re seeking more challenge - totally get it! You should probably go read How to Say Babylon as I’m sure most of you did not take my strongly worded suggestion the first time. Or check the archive and come back next week for something that’s more your speed.)
The Grace of Wild Things is a lovely reimagining of Anne of Green Gables, if Anne were not just an orphan but also magic. It’s the Clueless to Austen’s Emma, if a little more wholesome and basic.
Power summary: Young protagonist Grace, an unwanted orphan, finds herself as an apprentice to a witch. If she can learn all 1001 spells in the witch’s book, Grace can stay on, but if she can’t, the witch will take away her magic and send her away.
Satisfying themes of friendship, of resilience, of grief and loneliness. And you don’t need to know Anne of Green Gables to enjoy the book**, but if you do know it, you’ll be tickled by some of the capers. Though isn’t it interesting to compare these kinds of books with the “children’s fiction” of 1908, how it brings children up a level?
If you are new here and don’t know what business little lambs have in this newsletter, it is an IMPORTANT DIAGNOSTIC TOOL for your reading journey. See more here.)
I realize I don’t have a lot of suggestions for boys beyond Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but maybe The Inheritance Games will do the trick? It is a female protagonist but there are still compelling male characters.
Power summary: 17-year-old Avery Grambs is just hoping to graduate high school and maybe win a scholarship when she learns that the local billionaire dies and leaves her his entire fortune. But the grandsons are determined to thwart her inheritance and solve the twisted puzzle their grandfather has left for the trio to solve.
It’s fun. Knives Out meets The Summer I Turned Pretty meets The Westing Game, if any of you remember that!
Another light, fun book, A Wizards’s Guide to Defensive Baking is clever and a bit wry, adding a little spice to what could be a bland kids’ book. (Yes. I know. We both deserve better than that obvious bit of wordplay. I’ll try to do better.)
Power summary: Fourteen-year-old Mona doesn’t have any of the useful powers that the other wizards in her town have - she can only magically control her sourdough starter. But when dangerous forces come to prey on the magical folk of her town, Mona may be the only hope to protect wizards and the entire town.
A very clever premise (baking plus magic!) and a fun tale. Written to be accessible to a younger crowd, it’s still sweet and satisfying, with enough bite to add some tension to the read.
Okay, stay with me here. Because you’re looking at this dumb title and Very Specific Cover and wondering if I have lost the entire plot of book recommendations. BUT. If you have a teen girl in your life, consider Tell Me If the Lovers are Losers.
Power summary: In Ann’s first year at Stanton College during the Kennedy Administration, she’s thrown together with her two roommates of very different circumstances and perspectives. They journey through the year through highs (a volleyball team) and lows (when tragedy strikes the school).
So, I remembered loving this book as a tween/teen and was trying to hunt it down. With the help of bestie Danielle and Reddit, we found it and reader - it held up. It’s challenging and smart (with its thruline of Greek classics), it’s instructional (the power of teams, sports, striving for greatness, the quicksilver nature of youth and life), it’s pretty powerful to me as a middle-aged woman too. Who are the Cynthia Voigts writing today?
Please leave your best YA suggestions for other parents and people who want to bring the joy and gift of reading to their teens and tweens! Especially for anything your boys and young men have loved.
Mom! Mom! Mom! And other things you might hear all day:
Most links go to Bookshop.org, which is a marginally better way to buy books. Amazon < Bookshop.org < Indie bookstores. But we do what we can. I had to buy TMITLAL on Amazon because it’s out of print. Here we are.
Several of you have commented how this year’s crop of books are not doing it for you. I blame the lingering COVID hangover (A REAL THING) for the current batch of books as well as the elimination of editing and proofreading positions. Anyway, if you’ve been blown away by any books this year, please share them with the group.
**I happen to LOVE Anne of Green Gables so much that my bestie and I are going on an Anne of Green Gables visit to PEI. This will likely only excite one or two of you, but if that’s you, please let me know so I can regale you with a travelogue this summer.
Between my daughter (now 17) and my son (now 15), I feel like I have spent 15-18% of my life finding books for them. Re: my daughter, The Summer I Turned Pretty and the sequels would be very dog-eared if she read physical books vs the Kindle. She feel in love with Taylor Jenkins Reid after we listened to the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on a drive down to Santa Barbara. Not exactly YA but... :)
My son loves Brandon Sanderson. Series like Skyward and Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians are more for the younger crowd, and the Mistborn trilogy is an absolute fantasy classic. He also really liked all of the Jade War books by Fonda Lee, though I would say probably better for late middle school / high school. The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown was also a big hit and something he'll go back and re-read.
Anyhoo, I could do this all day! I love your newsletters. Thanks for making the time to write them.
My favorite book as a teen was The Grounding of Group Six. I think I may have my copy with the original cover in a bin somewhere and I must look for it. It too is out of print. You can get it off of Amazon but not with the original cover. Talk about feral unsupervised urchins… terrible premise I can’t believe I read.
I too have been to PEI and Anne’s “house.” Funny story: was on a family vacation, back in the early 90’s. Dad had his giant camcorder. We went there on a LONG family road trip because my mom and I wanted to go for Anne. We have on a video tape somewhere my dad zooming in on the plaque in front of the house and saying “What? She wasn’t even a real person?!” Side note: PEI is magical, and we ended up staying longer than planned.