for my friends who read YA fiction

[serene]

Okay. I thought the first couple of Harry Potter books were fine. I put
down the series a few books in, halfway through the book, because I
stopped caring.

I liked The Golden Compass and am enjoying The Subtle Knife.

I'm a HUGE Francesca Lia Block fan.

Any other YA recommendations from my friends who read it?

Comments

[snippy]

Diane Duane--anything.

Robin McKinley has done some nice YA things, including retelling the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast *twice*, both good, and different from each other.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

The Dark is Rising: http://www.thelostland.com/darksequence.htm
The first one isn't compelling, but it's background, and from then on out, it's compelling.

[cheshyre]

Try Jonathan Stroud, the Bartimaeus Trilogy.
Here's an old review of mine with excerpt

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

(I planned our travel itinerary in Great Britain in '99 so I could see parts of where the book was set, and I fell in love with the series in '81. And I still re-read it fairly frequently.)

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

Almost anything by Louis Sachar, author of "Holes". Diane Duane's Young Wizard books, and Tamora Pierce.

More when/if my brain starts functioning again.

Also, Pullman has another set, the Sally Lockhart books, which are in some ways better than His Dark Materials.

[joyce.livejournal.com]

She's general fiction, not sci fi/fantasy, but Cynthia Voigt writes some of the best YA fiction there is, especially the Tillerman saga.

[nmc.livejournal.com]

Sorcery & Cecilia and The Grand Tour, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.

I assume you've hit Gaiman's Coraline.

Zelazny's A Night In The Lonesome October is questionably YA and very difficult to find (at least to buy), but one of my favorite books.

[j00j.livejournal.com]

Jane Yolen (pretty much anything of hers is good)
Madeleine L'Engle (particularly _A Wrinkle in Time_ and sequels, though I'm sure you've heard of these)
and I've liked what I've read by Diana Wynne Jones.

[catya.livejournal.com]

i am *jealous* of the itinerary! seconded, susan cooper.

[catya.livejournal.com]

robin mckinley, susan cooper.. have you read dragonriders of pern?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

We stayed in Llanberis, a little north of there:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42614915@N00/search/tags:wales/

But we took the train from Shrewsbury up to Porthmadog, so we went through Machynlleth ("no wonder Welsh babies dribble a lot"), and we went right past the strand where Will and Bran find themselves after visiting the Lost Land, and wow, it was wonderful. As the train went past the strand, I found myself staring out into the Irish Sea, looking . . . .

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Dia Calhoun! Her best is White Midnight.

Scott Westerfeld writes excellent plots. I hear Peeps has fine parasitology, too.

E. Rose Sabin's A School for Sorcery is charming.

You do know Diana Wynne Jones already, I hope. There is much love of Fire and Hemlock in the world, but I'd start people on Charmed Life if it were up to me.

Patrice Kindl! Owl in Love is wonderful.

Susan Palwick, Shannon Hale, Laurie Halse Anderson, Tanith Lee's Wolf * books, Sherwood Smith; why don't more men write YA books?

I concur with:
Tamora Pierce, newer generally being better; I love Alanna but she truly is about as big a Mary Sue as you can get.
Cynthia Voigt.
Diane Duane, though I think you might have to hit them at a certain age for the Wizards books to really take.
Robin McKinley, definitely. I've liked all of hers I've read, though some are not YA.

(I hated Bartimaeus. Narcissism can be lovable, but not if the one committing it is so dumb.)

[firecat]

This is all old stuff.

Wizard of Earthsea trilogy by Le Guin
Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander
The Hobbit by Tolkien
Roald Dahl (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach)

And more recommendations for Robin McKinley, Diane Duane, Sorcery & Cecilia, Coraline (and also Neverwhere might be YA, but I'm not sure), L'Engle, McCaffrey.

Others, not necessarily classified as YA but I enjoyed them when I was one:
Various Arthur C. Clarke, especially Childhood's End and Dolphin Island (which is YA)
Isaac Asimov, Foundation trilogy
Frank Herbert, Dune
Ursula K. Le Guin short story collection The Compass Rose

Others, not necessarily classified as YA, but might be enjoyed by same:
Vonda N. McIntyre, especially The Moon and the Sun
Julian May, Pliocene and Milieu sagas (especially for YAs who like long chewy series)

[patgund.livejournal.com]

Gonna have to chime in. Diance Duane's "Young Wizard" series.

[hermorrine.livejournal.com]

I second Tamora Pierce - strong female lead characters - and add Holly Black - she writes modern faerie tales and they just rock. Tamora has too many books to list, but Holly's first two are Tithe and Valiant, and she's working on her third now.

[wuluf.livejournal.com]

I'm the same the last 2 Potter books were both long winded and she is becoming less original a lot of the plots, just seem a mismash of ohter fantasy stuff. Though the Chamber of secrets is a good movie.
I was suprised how much I was drawn into Pullman nitoda bought the books I was not keen on the first one It is called the Nortern Lights here not the golden compass It was not adult enouth, but I picked up the sublte knife and could not put it down his writing changed a gear and it came a lot darker and adult.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

What she said!! I love Susan Cooper.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander.

[malte.livejournal.com]

Well it's not like I read a lot of YA, but Mark Haddon's The curious incident of the dog in the night-time (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400032717/102-4055904-7336118?v=glance&n=283155) (detective work by a teenager with Asperger's) is brilliant. Then there's Erlend Loe's Naive. Super. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841952516/qid=1134737414/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4055904-7336118?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) which is Norwegian and understated and nice.

And probably one should read drood's oeuvre, I think, him being the queen of YA lit round here and all that.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

Primary suggestion:
YA books with a REALLY good humor base that literally made me laugh out loud while reading them are Craig Shaw Gardner's "Difficulty With Dwarves" series (A Difficulty with Dwarves, A Night In The Netherhells, An Excess of Enchantment, A Multitude of Monsters, A Malady of Magicks)

These books are long out of print so you can't buy them new, but I see them sold all over the place, used bookstores always have them and Amazon has lots of copies available for just a few pennies a copy...quick and VERY entertaining reads!


Secondary suggestions:
Anything by Tamora Pierce, definitely.

David Eddings is also really good (Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Castle of Wizardry).

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

Oh and other really enjoyable authors:

Terry Pratchett (Might be a little mature in places for YA but very entertaining)

And if you're big on puns:
Piers Anthony's Xanth Books (there are over 30 in the "trilogy" but the first three are A Spell For Chameleon, The Source of Magic, and Castle Roogna)

Robert Asprin "Myth" books (M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link, Myth-Told Tales, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Taken Identity)