I just finished reading the last of the young adult books on SFWA’s Norton Award ballot, and wow, these are a strong group of books. If you’re a SFWA member, seriously, make the time to read them all. YA SF and fantasy is an incredibly rich field right now, and many readers and writers of adult books only know a few small pieces of it. The ballot has such a wonderful breadth and depth to it. I loved these books. I want everyone to know and love these books.
Really, whether you’re a SFWA member or not, if you want to know what’s going on in YA SF and fantasy, you could do far worse than to read the 10 books from this year’s and last year’s ballots combined. Together they give a really nice feel for the range of what YA SF/fantasy can do.
This year’s ballot:
Devilish, by Maureen Johnson
Magic or Madness, by Justine Larbalestier
Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The King Of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
Midnighters #2: Touching Darkness, by Scott Westerfeld
Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld
Last year’s ballot:
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, by Holly Black
Siberia, by Ann Halam
The Amethyst Road, by Louise Spiegler
Stormwitch, by Susan Vaught
Since I just finished Devilish, I could rave about that one in particular right now (and I know I’ve raved about Life as We Knew It already), but really, they’re all amazing. Just read them all. Chances are your local library even has copies. 🙂