Inspiration From The Distant Past

Inspiration From The Distant Past
Found note in an old book... warms the cockles of my bookish heart...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Top 10 Picks; YA books


This week the clever Jillian has asked us to give our favourite YA books. I am afraid some of mine are a bit juvenile, but I have included them because rules were meant to be bent!

A Wrinkle in Time series, but I need say no more, since I notice it on several lists.




Twilight. Yes, I know all the criticism leveled at them, and I do agree to a point. But there is no denying the pull, the absolute NECESSITY of reading them if you are a young woman or spend time with young women. Hey, if a juggernaut rolls by I am going to jump on!

I started reading them after confiscating four books in one day from my high school students. These were only books the girls were actually reading during my class time, you know, while I was trying to teach them something else. Can you imagine how many girls were reading outside of my lessons? Stephanie Myers has done a great thing for girls, in my opinion, by getting them to read, discuss books and express their opinions (Edward or Jacob?) (Hate the books or love them?) (Fave in the series?).



The Black Stallion. I was never a horse-y girl, but I did love horse books. Walter Farley's characters, both human and equine, captured me and I wanted to live on a deserted island and race horses. I must see the movie some day.




Le Petit Prince is a book I read in French at university. I just loved the simple story that left so much to the reader to work out. Reading it made me feel intellectual, and I loved the little drawings. The idea of little planets and little princes is so enchanting.


Have you ever read The 21 Balloons? Oh, my! Diamond mines, balloon carousels, adventures, secret islands, daring escapes, fantastic homes, volcanoes and amazing food, riches, and celebrity. This book by William Pene du Bois has everything.

7 comments:

  1. Definitely loved A Wrinkle in Time -- love that cover!! and The Little Prince. Glad to have you with us this week, De Lynne!

    By the way, I have an award for you 3 girls on my blog!

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  2. +JMJ+

    I almost read The 21 Balloons several years ago. I can't remember what stopped me . . . Thanks for reminding me that there is still one great book in my future just waiting to be acknowledged and loved!

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  3. @Jillian, Well, Lesa has to do all the hard stuff, like tell me the theme, link, etc. But I get to do the fun stuff. Great relationship, I say! That cover is the edition I still have from my YA days!

    @En, Oh, I do love 21 Balloons. So adventurous without real scary/gory parts. I plan to make it our next bedtime chapter book.

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  4. Hmm... maybe I'm getting the short end of the stick here!!

    I wasn't too horsey either but I remember reading Black Beauty but I don't remember the Black Stallion.

    I found Bella irksome but I enjoyed the whole story of the Twilight series. I'm with you-- if it gets girls reading that is a good thing. I did think it kinda weird that 7 and 8 yr olds at school were talking about it-- their moms and sisters were reading it.

    I think Jillian had the Little Prince on a previous top ten-- I gotta find that one--- and 21 Balloons-- never heard of it!! But I'm on the look out for it now.

    So fun that all 3 of us participated-- we monopolized Jillian's Mr. Linky but maybe she doesn't mind!

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  5. Hi! Top10Picks:Young Adults' Mr. Linky had a bit of a technical problem and erased all our links!! :/ If you don't mind linking again, please do so over here. Thanks sooo much and sorry for the trouble.

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  6. I haven't read 21 Balloon -- will have to remedy that! Thanks for being brave about Twilight :) I enjoyed the series, even tho I was hoping for more drama or confrontation at the end. Not a fan of the movies -- Bella (or Kristen) has the exact same expression in every scene in both movies, so far.

    I think it's great (like with Harry Potter) when adults and youth all over the world are reading the same book at the same time!

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  7. Kim, I found the Twilight series unputdownable. I am just keeping it real here. 1 am stuff. They are a bit sickly after a while, but I did love reading something my girl and my students were reading.

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