Best Young Adult

merrystar: I read this book until it fell apart as a young teen.

PitcherBooks: JF, YA, All Ages. Multiple award winner. The 1998 book that started it all, first & best of the 7-book series. Harry Potter learns he's to be a student wizard at Hogwarts and so escape his awful Muggle relatives. Despite the dire predicaments his new status brings him, he is buoyed up with new friends and a wizard mentor. If you read one, you'll end up reading them all ... Barney: There's nothing new under the sun.

aspirit: Not YA

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1974 Multiple Award Winner. Historical Fantasy. The 'Tam Lin' legend retold [human kidnapped by & kept by the faerie]. Set in 16th century Elizabethan England. Very well done.

aspirit: Not YA

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1962 Multiple Award Winner. SF&F classic. Loved this as a kid. Still do. First and best of the four book series.

aspirit: Not YA

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1975 Fantasy adventure classic. Sirius, former guardian luminary of the Dog Star, is helped by Kathleen, the luminary Sol (our sun), and his own quick wits as he tracks a lost cosmic tool in order to regain his former status. An intricate and intriguing tale. [Generally I am not a Diana Wynne Jones fan but this book is excellent.]

aspirit : Not YA

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. Award-Winner. 1. It's a well-written, interesting and altogether compelling piece of historical fiction. 2. You can't live in America without reading it at least once. 3. If you love the movie (who didn't?), the book is even better. 1960 Pulitzer Prize winner. "Deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Despite being Lee's only published book, it led to Lee being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of the United States for her contribution to literature in 2007. Lee has also been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees..." per Wikipedia. Simply the most outstanding & compelling read ever!

sturlington: Should be read by everyone, regardless of age.

aspirit: Not YA

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1958 Award Winner. Historical Fiction. Colonial Era, 1687 New England. 16 y/o orphan Katherine "Kit" Tyler leaves the relaxed and open Barbados islands to live with her aunt & uncle in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Superstitious Puritans immediately think her a witch for knowing how to swim. The strict and odd beliefs of the Puritans seem to continuously put Kit at risk for what would be non-issues for normal everyday peoples. A sometimes frightening culture clash. Excellent read!

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. Multiple Award-Winner. 1953 SF&F Classic. One of Bradbury's best. Dystopia. Societal ban on all books with book burning as the solution. One of the few high school reading assignments that I adored!

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1977 Multiple Award Winner. Fantasy Adventure. First and best of the Xanth series (stop after book 3). Magic, puns & humor.

sturlington : I wouldn't recommend Piers Anthony to anybody.

jain : Adult fiction.

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1983, Fantasy, Humor. The first of Pratchett's amazing & funny Discworld Series. One of the few authors I've found who's been able to maintain a quality (& lengthy) book series due to his excellent writing & top-notch humor. A good number of the books are award-winners. Series best read in order. You read one, you'll want to read them all. And you won't be disappointed!

pwaites : Not young adult (crosses age boundaries, but is primarily aimed at adults)

PitcherBooks: YA, All Ages. 1968 SF&F classic. The first of the Dragonriders of Pern series. Read one, you'll read 'em all. Because they're that good! ... The author was the first woman to win a Hugo award & Nebula award. In 2005, she was named a Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master & inducted into the SF&F Hall of Fame. - wiki ... Don't miss her books!

merrystar: While I loved this when I was younger, it hasn't aged all that well for me.

jain : Adult fiction.

aspirit : Not YA

jain : Adult fiction.

jain : Adult fiction, as well as vastly inferior to the short story.

merrystar : Read the short story instead

sturlington : Better for younger children.

sturlington : Better for younger children.

PitcherBooks: JF, YA, All Ages. 1950 BritLit fantasy adventure classic. Equally appealing to both boys & girls. The first and best of the somewhat uneven seven book Narnia series.

sturlington : Better for younger children

sturlington : Better for younger children.

sturlington : Better for younger children.

sturlington : Better for younger children.

merrystar : Great book, but more likely to appeal to younger children, not YA.

jain : Adult fiction.

merrystar : childrens, not ya

merrystar : childrens, not ya

merrystar : childrens, not ya

jain : Adult fiction.

PitcherBooks: JF, YA, All Ages. Politically Correct Kids Versions Available. Swift's Masterpiece. 1726 BritLit Fantasy Adventure Satire Classic. The original adult edition contains 4 voyages: 1. Lilliput (tiny people); 2. Brobdingnag (Giants); 3. Laputa (Flying Island, Impractical Music & Math, Preposterous Schemes & Silly Science), Balnibarbi, Luggnagg (Aged & Infirm Immortals), Glubbdubdrib (Magician & Ghosts), and Japan; 4. Houyhnhnms (Intelligent horses rule, Human animals act as beasts of burden). Milo Winters did excellent illustrations for an unedited edition. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet. Free ebook at Gutenberg.org ... Gang: Seriously, there are JF & YA editions of just about every classic title. And classics are classics for a reason - they stand the test of time. YAs certainly are capable of understanding satire. I read the original as a young teen. I think that each of us has to realize that not every reader has the same interests or reading ability. I appreciate your comments and views and keep 'em coming... On the flip side, I will state, not all PopLit is worth reading (case in point: Twilight and its baseball-playing vampires - does anyone think this series should be listed as a must-read classic that generations to come will derive great insights from? Not me)

sturlington : This is political satire, not YA

pwaites : Not all classics are young adult novels.