Top 10 of 2010

2010 has been an amazing year of YA books, so what better way to celebrate '10 than by compiling a list of 10 top reads? Now, to be fair, I do have to add the disclaimer that the following list is comprised only of books published this past year that I've read. Doubtless there're numerous other great books out there (many of which I've been meaning to read, but haven't gotten around to yet) that aren't included. But anyway, without further ado, let's start the countdown:

Let's go in reverse order: the nineth and tenth spots go to Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA) and Epitaph Road by David Patneaude (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA), respectively. Brightly Woven had some really cool concepts and drew me back into the realm of fantasy. Epitaph Road was a very interesting take on a possible dystopian future of gender power reversal. Both are definitely very well worth reading!

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Seventh and eighth go to Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds (November 2nd, 2010 Little Brown) and Elizabeth Scott's The Unwritten Rule (March 16th, 2010 Simon Pulse), respectively. Both of these are contemporary YA novels that were well-written with realistic characters and credible plot lines.

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For fifth and sixth we have Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (March 2nd, 2010 Harper Collins) and All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab (January 12th, 2010 Delacorte). How could I not include these two? Both are contemporaries (although Before I Fall also has paranormal facets) that deal with mortality and the aftermath. Both are beautifully written and quite thought-provoking.

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Next we have The Duff by Kody Keplinger (September 7th, 2010 Poppy/Little Brown) and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (May 4th, 2010 Simon Pulse). The Duff by teen author Kody is a funny and endearing contemporary novel with a very real, in-your-face attitude. Basically, it's a pretty badass read. Shade explores some very interesting concepts and creates an intriguing paranormal world very much like our own, yet quite different.

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My top two picks for 2010 probably really won't come as a surprise. We have Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien (March 30th, 2010 Roaring Brook Press) and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (August 24th, 2010 Scholastic). Mockingjay... well, it's Mockingjay. Enough said. Birthmarked - well, we all know I've been gushing about this one a ton lately. It's dystopian (love!) and it's got great characters, a strong female protag, a juicy love interest, and a fast-paced, action-packed, exciting plot line. It's also great that there's more of a science element (hence science fiction, right?) in this one than some of its colleagues. There's something more educated about the writing, which is also great. Plus it was a ton of fun to interview Caragh earlier this year as well.

And there we have it - a spotlight on some of the best YA books of the year. What made the cut for your list this year?

Epitaph Road Review

Epitaph Road - David Patneaude
*March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA

2097 is a transformed world. Thirty years earlier, a mysterious plague wiped out 97 percent of the male population, devastating every world system from governments to sports teams, and causing both universal and unimaginable grief. In the face of such massive despair, women were forced to take over control of the planet--and in doing so they eliminated all of Earth's most pressing issues. Poverty, crime, warfare, hunger . . . all gone.

But there's a price to pay for this new "utopia," which fourteen-year-old Kellen is all too familiar with. Every day, he deals with life as part of a tiny minority that is purposefully kept subservient and small in numbers. His career choices and relationship options are severely limited and controlled. He also lives under the threat of scattered recurrences of the plague, which seem to pop up wherever small pockets of men begin to regroup and grow in numbers.

And then one day, his mother's boss, an iconic political figure, shows up at his home. Kellen overhears something he shouldn't--another outbreak seems to be headed for Afterlight, the rural community where his father and a small group of men live separately from the female-dominated society. Along with a few other suspicious events, like the mysterious disappearances of Kellen's progressive teacher and his Aunt Paige, Kellen is starting to wonder whether the plague recurrences are even accidental. No matter what the truth is, Kellen cares only about one thing--he has to save his father.

With an innovative and intriguing concept, David Patneaude poses some very interesting and thought-provoking questions in Epitaph Road.

Nowadays, gender equality isn't an issue that [we] think about on a daily basis. But in history - and even presently - male dominance has driven society. Imagine this - a future where 97% of the male population has been wiped out, a society where females govern, a seemingly idyllic place. Dystopian fiction often has a satirical flavour, erecting hypothetical futures or taking one (flawed) feature of society and exaggerating it. With Epitaph Road, Patneaude has woven a very interesting potential future.

World-building is definitely one of the fortes of Epitaph Road. And interwoven with that is a nail-biting little mystery and a mind-blowing conspiracy. One of the cool things about Epitaph Road is the way it keeps you guessing. Just when it seems the characters have gotten the conspiracy figured out, another curve ball is tossed into the mix. Keeping the reader guessing is always great.

Some of the core requirements of good dystopian are originality and creativity. In addition to a great premise, the whole concept behind Epitaph Road is quite cool, as are the little epitaphs themselves.

Once the story got going, it was chockful of pretty action-packed adventure. The beginning exposition was a little slow-going to wade through though. In terms of characters, they were all interesting, but could've used a little more fleshing out, as they are kind of hard to relate to.

Thought-provoking and intriguing, David Patneaude's Epitaph Road creates a pretty cool dystopian world.

Goodreads | David Patneaude | Indiebound

In My Mailbox [18]

Brought to you by Alea & Kristi, Lucid Conspiracy presents In My Mailbox #18...

So, this is actually pretty ironic, but if you recall by post back in April about tense, I'd been marveling over the fact that there're so many books written in present tense nowadays. In fact, I've even gotten used to it. (Actually, my WIP is in present tense.) So it was pretty cool to see that the following three books are all written in past tense! Pretty excited this week :)

The Dark Divine - Bree Despain

Brightly Woven - Alexandra Bracken

Epitaph Road - David Patneaude

Philippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker's Daughter - Liz Kessler

Now that you've seen the contents of my mailbox, it's your turn - what was in yours this week?

*And while you're here, don't forget to enter the giveaway for a copy of After by Amy Efaw!