Attack of the Young Adult Novel!

Ok, so I've been reading a TON lately. Thanks to my participation in a graduate-level English/Education combined course, I've read 24 young adult titles in the last month. Yes, you read that right...twenty four. OK, so I did read the first 7 of them "early" (before the class started) but I've read the last 17 since late-May. I started to originally blog on each individual one, but I've decided to just sum up. Here, I've listed the 17 works read in my "LOVED IT!" order - 1 being my favorite, 17 being my least favorite. DISCLAIMER - I really liked all of these works...about midway through the rankings they're all the same! LOVED them! I will include a few brief notes on each. Here goes!

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini; not really YA but excellent book about women in Afghanistan in the 70s to present day. Beautiful and powerful.
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Alexie; wonderful work of fiction that is also semi-autobiographical about a kid who chooses to attend the white school but still lives on the Res; about identity and coming-of-age as a Native American.
3. Dramarama - Lockart; yeah, I already blogged on this one...in short...LOVED IT.
4. Little Brother - Doctorow; Sci-fi book about surveillance and abuse of power; an homage to Orwell's 1984.
5. Alabama Moon - Key; can't beat a Southern work by a Southern writer set in my homeland. Beautiful coming-of-age adventure story of survival and friendship.
6. Persepolis - Satrapi; Stunning graphic novel memoir of the author's childhood in Iran.
7. Charles and Emma - Heiligman; well-researched and well-written biography of the Darwin family; poignant, touching and utterly human.
8. The Killer's Cousin - Werlin; Mystery/psychological thriller; INTENSELY captivating and creepy, but ultimately moving story of a family and its secrets.
9. The Chocolate War - Cormier; classic YA story of a boy's rebellion against the norms in his private school and all the events it triggers.
10. Code Orange - Cooney; Sci-fi thriller that follows a young man who inadvertently comes across smallpox scabs in an old book as he tries to survive long enough to possibly save the world from the disease
11. Tenderness - Cormier; Suspense Thriller about a young man recently released from juvinile lock up for murder and a young woman who has become obsessed with him; you think you see the ending coming...but you'll be caught by surprise.
12. Deliver Us from Evie - Kerr; coming of age tale about a young woman and her family coming to terms with her sexual identity
13. Sandpiper - Wittlinger; again, I've blogged on this one already; coming of age tale about sexual activity among teens and the emotional and physical repercussions
14. Something Out of Nothing - McClafferty; biographical book about Marie Curie and Radium; scientific yet informative and compelling
15. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God - Rennison; book 2 in a 10 book series of the diaries of Georgia Nicholson, a British teen going through the ups and downs of teenage life and love.
16. True Believer - Wolff; book two in the Make Lemonade trilogy, this novel explores LaVaughn's continued education and her desires for a boyfriend (Jody, especially) and her discovery of love and heartbreak
17. Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! - Kerr; this book explores four teens and their emotional ups and downs, dealing with weight and body issues, rebellion against authority, friendship and first love (I will admit, I didn't really like this one at all...)

So there they are! One more to read before I complete the final project: The Midwife's Apprentice by Cushman. I am actually going to listen to the audio book, as that was part of the assignment. Should be fun! Happy reading! (Go, read these books I've read and tell me what you think!)