Young Adult Fiction

One of Apprentice Writer's regular refuelling stops in cyberspace is 'The Booksmugglers'. Ana and Thea read a range of fiction, and always provide thoughtful, cogent reasons as to why they do or don't like their smuggled selections. AW may not always agree with their ratings *KOFF how-can-anyone-fail-to-see-the-splendor-of 'Melusine' or 'Darkborn'! KOFF, KOFF* but she must admit that the smugglers handle their stash thoroughly and have a knack for inviting discussion without dissing any dissenting views.

This month, the smugglers turn their spotlight on Young Adult Fiction - a pool where AW has done very little dabbling since the time she personally passed the target age demographic. Her sum total of experiences is as follows:

- The Alice Trilogy ('Alice, I Think', 'Miss Smithers', 'Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last') by Susan Juby are some of the most screamingly funny books she has ever read.
- The Harry Potter collection, which AW loved except for the final installment which in her opinion left too much open and contained one whopper of an unexplained injustice.
- The Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey, introduced to her by junior apprentice writer #1 and which inspired her manuscript subtitle ('An Epic Novel of Love and Home Improvement'),
- 'Wicked Lovely' by Melissa Marr. AW fell in love with its gorgeous cover, but gave up reading halfway through. This was not so much because of active dislike, but because it was due back at the library and she could not summon enough interest in the main character to expend the energy to renew it. All that endless, unrelieved angst. Maybe this was a generational dividing line thing?

So, all told, YA seems like an area where AW could do with broadening her horizons. The smuggler's upcoming YA week promises to do just that.

Gentle Reader - any exceptional YA titles you'd like to share?