Lara Zielin

Man, can I just say — there is SO much good young adult (YA) fiction out there! Hoo boy. The quality of everything I read just keeps going up and up and up. I love it. Here are a couple of YA books I’ve read recently that I wished would never end:

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. The first sentence of the back jacket copy starts: I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy’s Buick …

The novel was a National Book Award finalist, and little wonder. The main character, Deanna, is raw and tough and still likable, which is no mean feat. The story represented a snapshot of Deanna’s life at a crossroads, and I loved how the author showed her wrestling with obligations toward family, with her reputation as the town’s slut, and with believing something better was out there for her. Zarr is officially my hero — and Deanna, too.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. The main character, Sam, is smart, pretty, popular — and shrugs at her easy good fortune. Things are sometimes hard for people. They’re not hard for her. That’s just how it is.

Sam isn’t aware of how her life impacts others until she relives the day she dies again and again — sort of like Groundhog Day but much, much deeper. The way Sam becomes alive through dying is beautiful and heart-wrenching. I read this book in one solitary sitting. And it’s not exactly a slight tome. It’s YA lit at its best.

On my to-read list? Well, there’s never a shortage of books there, but here’s a snapshot:

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

What books have you read/loved lately, and what’s on your reading list?