Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Top Ten "Older" YA / MG Books You Should Read


Today is a Top Ten Tuesday REWIND, so I chose Top Ten "Older" Books I Don't Want People To Forget (I adjusted the title and split my picks up by year originally published - I used Goodreads for the years, so they may or may not be correct).

Top Ten Older, Must-Read Books!



1993
The Giver by Lois Lowry: A story that can be appreciated at any age.

1997
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine: Magical, creative, and highly entertaining!

1998
Holes by Louis Sachar: Good film, and a great novel. This is such a fun story.

2000
Shadowland (Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot: This series is fresh, fun, and features a sassy MC. How can you go wrong? This series is my favorite from Cabot.

2004
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen: Easily one of Dessen's best works.


2005
Megan Meade's Guide the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian: Sports, boys, crushes...it's fabulously fun.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: Very creative and somewhat disturbing futuristic world.

2008
Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs: Hilarious and very entertaining!
Graceling by Kristin Cashore: Adventure, action, romance...this high fantasy novel has it all!

2009
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han: An easy book to pass on, but trust me when I say it's an emotional story that will surprise you. It's so emotional, and truly a great story.

What are some older (or slightly older) books that you want people to know about?

40 comments:

  1. Fantastic list! I have read and enjoyed all of these books except for McGowan boys and Oh My Gods…I actually have Oh My Gods on my shelf (signed!) but haven't read it yet. I need to fix that!

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    1. McGowan boys is a fun, light drama + romance kind of a story! Oh My Gods is fabulously fun too, you should pull it off your shelf sometime (it'd be a good summertime read).

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  2. Definitely The Giver. That book freaked me out (in a good way) when I read it the first time. A MUST!

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    1. The Giver is classic. I agree, I found it unnerving the first time I read it. But it's so worth it.

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  3. Great list! I've read some of these books and definitely agree!
    =My TTT

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  4. I have had the Uglies on my shelf forever and I really need to get round to reading it! I really enjoyed The Truth Bout Forever and have had my eye on The Summer I Turned Pretty for a while now, hearing that it is an emotional story has made my mind up, I really need to read it! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You should try UGLIES soon, it's different from most dystopian novels.

      Glad you enjoyed TTAF - and you should definitely check out TSITP. The title kept me away for the longest time, but the story inside is powerful.

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  5. Oh man Lea. I haven't read any of those! That's just sad really. I have been meaning to read Graceling for the longest time, I think this might be the year I finally get to it. For a while I thought fantasy was not the genre for me, but now I can't get enough, so Graceling here I come!!!!

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    1. NOOOO!!! You are missing out, Jenny!

      Well, at least you'll be starting with an excellent book. Graceling is fantastic! I hope you love it.

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  6. These books...especially GRACELING. Wow. I loved them all! Great list, Lea!

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    1. GRACELING is all kinds of amazing. I'm a bit tempted to reread it now.

      Thanks for stopping by, Melissa!

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  7. The Truth About Forever is my FAVORITE Sarah Dessen book! Most definitely a classic in my mind. I'm always recommending her at the bookstore for younger (or new-to-the-division) YA readers, and I start with this book. Fabulous.

    My TTT

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    1. LOVE TTAF! That one is my absolute favorite Dessen novel. So glad that's your favorite one too! Her books are great for everyone, but especially those are just starting out with YA.

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  8. Great list. The Giver and The Summer I Turned Pretty definitely stick with you. My choice would be The Stand by Stephen King. Nothing like an ultimate evil versus ultimate good with some bad government decisions tossed in kind of story to get you thinking.

    Hope you'll visit me today to see my list of 10 books I can't believe I've never read: http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2014/02/top-ten-tuesday-rewind-top-ten-books-i.html

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    1. Ooh, I haven't read THE STAND yet. I keep hearing it's worth checking out, though.

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  9. I haven´t read any of those books, I need to add them to my TBR list.
    thanks for sharing.
    Here is My Top 10 Tuesday

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  10. Great choices, Lea! I'm sad to say I haven't read any of these! I've always meant to check out the Lois Lowry books, though!

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    1. Ahh! You must check out at least one of them. The Giver is great, very unique.

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  11. I loved the Mediator series and the Uglies series. I honestly didn't know Ella Enchanted was a book until a few weeks ago when I friend told me. I'm been meaning to look into it ever since.

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    1. ELLA ENCHANTED is a wonderful novel, but it's slightly more serious than the film adaptation.

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  12. I've got Graceling on my to-read shelf - there's just too many other books that come before it, but I will read it. I've kind of looked into the Uglies series but I'm just not sure it's for me. My top ten list - on series I've not yet finished - can be found here: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/2014/02/top-ten-series-i-have-yet-to-finish.html

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  13. I love the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, definitely one of my favourite series of hers.
    I've been meaning to check out Ella Enchanted ever since I saw and loved the film.

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    1. *high five* The Mediator series is awesome. I love those books!

      You should check out EE - the book is a bit more serious, but outstanding.

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  14. GRACELING! My love. <3 I have only read that book from this list :) But it is my all time favorite. Sigh. Anyway. Amazing list. Thank you for sharing :D

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  15. FAB list. I do love The Giver and think fondly of Oh.My.Gods.

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    1. Why, thank you, Juju. Those are two great books, for different reasons :)

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  16. I've only read one of these =O Some older books that I've loved are: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse - 1997 and Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen- 2001.

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    1. *gasps* You need to check out some of the others. They're all fantastic!

      I've been meaning to check out FLIPPED - it sounds so interesting.

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  17. Great pick! I love this list, I especially don't want people to forget about the wonderfulness that is The Giver. I also loved The Summer I Turned Pretty. Nice list :) My TTT.

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    1. Love THE GIVER, it really is amazing. It's the kind of book that sticks with you.

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  18. So, out of these, the only ones I've read are Ella Enchanted and Holes (completely agree with both!), but the others are all on my reading bucket list for sure! I always hear such great things about them. I really, really hope I can get to some of these soon.

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    1. Aylee!! You need to check out the others! I hope you can get to at least a couple of them sometime in the future - they're all worth the time it takes to read them :)

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