Top YA Fiction of 2011
YA fiction this year has for the most part continued 2010′s trends. Based on the promoted covers in bookshops, you could be forgiven for thinking that today’s youth cares only about true love and corsetry, but paranormal romance is slackening its grip on the market as some of the most popular series come to an end.
Two of the most woeful of the marketing-to-Twihards trilogies limped forward another step, the execrable Fallen trilogy by Lauren Kate, and the actually -not-that-bad Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater.
The House of Night series strides forward in it’s neverending quest to take over your teenager’s bookshelf with Awakened and Destined, the eight and ninth books in the series, plus the novella Dragon’s Oath all published in 2011.
One of the most disappointing entrants in the para-emo genre was Meg Cabot, writer of the excellent, witty and readable Princess Diary series (the first book of the series still makes me howl with laughter in the same way as Louise Rennison).
Cabot fulfilled both sides of the market this year with Abandon (wimpy girl falls irrevocably in love with non-human) and Overbite (spunky girl falls irrevocably in love with non-human – and kicks some ass). Less nonsense, more wit next time please, Ms Cabot!
Fantasy wise, dystopia did quite well this year, with the excellent Delirium by Lauren Oliver giving us a world where love is a disease, and Meg Rosoff getting into trouble with church schools over her portrayal of God as a teenage boy with There is No Dog.
Patrick Ness’ 2010 novel Monsters of Men, the third in his Chaos Walking series deservedly took home the 2011 Carnegie Medal. This excellent series is quite heavy going, but for fantasy lovers, it’s a must.
Elsewhere, the Eragon Trilogy miraculously turned into a Cycle this year with the eagerly awaited (not by myself, you understand) Inheritance. How long Christopher Paolini can keep this series up is anyone’s guess.
My favourite YA novels this year, though, were the ones that covered real life issues and history. The incredible Bali Rai, who writes mainly about issues with Asian communities with real skill and appreciation for his audience released Killing Honour this year.
It is an astounding book about the loyalties between a family and community and well worth a read. Rai is an author that librarians, and teenagers love, but doesn’t get half the amount of press he deserves, probably because his covers don’t have pale girls in corsets on them…
And of course, one of my favourite books of the year, The Cry of the Go Away Bird by the lovely Andrea Eames. Her second novel, The White Shadow, is out in February and one of the books I am most looking forward to next year. If you haven’t read this book of growing up in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe do, it is an utter must.
Which YA books were your favourites in 2011?
Jess Haigh
I LOVED DELIRIUM. When I saw the title of this feature I instantly hoped you had read it and included it.
Such a good read, totally different to ‘Before I Fall’ and in my opinion much better.
As for Twi-hards, such a sad case. I thought the first book in the Fallen series was actually okay, just a shame the second was so awful I didn’t even consider getting the third from the library…
Just read your original post about Delirium, I had no idea it was a trilogy?! Best news today.
Fans of Delirium, The Hunger Games and the Uglies series should try Divergent by Veronica Roth. I thought it was very enjoyable and one of the best of the pile of dystopia out there.
On the more contemporary side, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson took me by surprise (although my opinion is slightly swayed by the beautiful edition I have, which looks like a Moleskine notebook). It’s about coping with grief, which is also most superbly done in the brilliant Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I cried quite a bit reading both.
I loved Delirium too, and can’t wait for Pandemonium to come out in the New Year. I think I preferred Before I Fall though, but it might be because I read it whilst a little emotional (I ended up finishing it on a plane, sobbing into my free peanuts). I’m planning to read Hunger Games this weekend, excited!