Teen fiction...and my latest book is out, called Cryer's Cross.

[Wheezy]

I know I've got a few fans around these parts. :) Just checking in to say hey! My previous books are the WAKE trilogy -- Wake, Fade, and Gone. Some of you helped me with the third book of that series by telling me about your experiences with alcoholic parents.

The new one, Cryer's Cross, is about a small farming community in Montana where teens start disappearing. Paranormal thriller, appropriate for adults & teens (and most middle schoolers too, I'd say -- a bit of language and it's a tad scary in parts). It's not a series, just a single title this time.

Other teen fiction I've read and loved recently:

The Hunger Games trilogy
Matched by Ally Condie
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
Fat Cat by Robin Brande
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
And a new dark dystopian series about to begin, the Chemical Garden trilogy -- book 1 is called Wither, by Lauren DeStefano and I think it comes out March 22 or so.

Any other teen fiction lovers out there? If so, what are you reading and loving? It's so curious -- I'm on the last bit of my book tour (Fairview TX tonight, Austin tomorrow) and my audiences are filled with adults who love teen fiction. I knew I wasn't alone. :)

[Luciferous]

1. I just finished the Mortal Instruments books and was going to start

the Hunger Games trilogy. My daughter has been raving about the first book, and a couple of the local librarians also recommended it. Your new book sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out :)

Some other YA books I like:

The Fablehaven series
The Percy Jackson series
The Graveyard Book and Stardust by Neil Gaiman

[Wheezy]

3. love Hunger Games -- I think the first one is the best.

My husband loves the Fablehaven series, my son devoured Percy Jackson, and I adored The Graveyard Book. I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman -- imagine my surprise when one day out of the blue he tweeted at me that his daughter was reading WAKE. I about fell out of my chair. :)

[Luciferous]

15. Just finished the Hunger Games and the subsequent books, and I

really enjoyed them. I think that you are right and the first book was the best. I looked for her other series at the library and they didn't have them, so I just started reading Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, which got really great reviews on Good Reads.

I think it's so cool that Gaiman tweeted at you :)

[Sabriel]

2. I didn't realize you were a DUer

My daughter loves your trilogy and will be thrilled to hear about Cryer's Cross!

Here are a few of my favorites. I read way more children's and YA fiction than adult fiction.


The Hunger Games
Wintergirls
Will Grayson Will Grayson
Good Enough
Out of the Pocket
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Sabriel (also Lirael and Abhorsen)
The Thief (and The Queen of Attolia/The King of Attolia)

So many good books out there right now and so different from when I was growing up.

[Wheezy]

4. I've been around DU since Cindy Sheehan made the headlines

(isn't it funny how we remember the event that brought us here? ) I used to post more but have been more of a daily lurker the past couple of years. I get all my news here. :)

I totally loved Out of the Pocket! Author Bill Konigsburg is a buddy of mine. Also loved Will Grayson x2 and Part-Time Indian. The rest of your suggestions I haven't read yet (except for Hunger Games, which I also loved).

I've been meaning to read Wintergirls forever. Thanks for the nudge!

There are soooo many great YA books now. Way better than having to choose between Sweet Valley High titles! :)

Say hey to your daughter for me!

[Sabriel]

8. I forgot to add Luna, too.

It's about a girl whose brother is transitioning from male to female. Really good.

[Wheezy]

9. I will check it out! Thanks! n/t

[LWolf]

5. I loved your WAKE trilogy.

I'll look for Cryer's Cross.

My middle school book club raged through "The Hunger Games" trilogy last year. This year, I can't keep it on the shelf. They keep disappearing. I am thrilled to have something move ahead of the mind-numbingly inane "Twilight" series.

Now I'll have to read the rest of your list!

[Wheezy]

6. Many thanks!

I have so many YA titles that I love -- maybe I'll post another list sometime too if there are enough people who read YA here. :)

Without being spoilery with The Hunger Games, I liked the first one the best (couldn't put it down) and the second one nearly as much as the first. The third for me was very dark but I still liked it quite a lot.

[LWolf]

7. I agree with your take on THG.

The third WAS dark. While I think I would have liked a different outcome, I think it was more realistic the way it was written.

Our after-school book club last year devoured the first, insisted on the second, and gnashed their teeth because the 3rd wasn't available yet. I gave them a copy, to be delivered in late August, as an end-of-year gift. We all read it in a few days and emailed our discussion.

A book is pretty powerful when adolescents want to read over the summer AND talk about it with, not just their peers, but their teacher.

My principal this year is a former high school lit teacher. He came in to chat about what's hot in middle school, and I pointed him to THG. He hasn't read it yet. His wife took it away from him, finished it, and got the other two from the public library.

I don't use your series with my class, since it's considered too "mature" for middle schoolers and I'd get parent complaints for recommending a book with sexual content. Of course, many parents wouldn't care, but many isn't all. My students do get to choose their own reading material for homework reading, and I have mentioned them once or twice to 8th grade in passing. Two of the 8th graders read them and loved them because they heard me say they might like them next year when they were in high school. ;)

[Wheezy]

10. totally understand!

I'm always wary when a middle school wants me to come and do a talk -- I make sure the librarian/teacher has read the entire series before hiring me. :)

Cryer's Cross is better for middle schoolers. It has a fraction of the questionable language and no drugs or sex (but there is still a love story).

My next series (book 1, THE UNWANTEDS, comes Sept 20) will be completely appropriate for ages 10 and up. And I'll keep writing the edgy teen stuff every spring too.

I agree with you on THG bk 3. It felt necessary. You sound like a cool teacher! Wish there had been a book club in my school when I was that age.

[LWolf]

11. I requested "Cryer's Cross" at my local library.

Since my school is rural, the county library system serves us; any student or teacher can go online, put a hold on a book (or in my case, many books, lol) and the library will deliver the books to school, where our library tech checks them out on a special county library computer. When we're done, we drop them off in the school library, where they are picked up when the next delivery comes. The deliveries happen every open school day.

That means I simply spend a moment on the 'puter, and in a day or two a book arrives. I love it.

After I read new stuff, I can purchase for my classroom library, recommend for our school library, and recommend to students.

You aren't the only DU author to be found in my classroom. We have an internal classroom blog about the books we are reading; awhile back a student read a book by my friend villager, blogged about it, and he responded. (I posted it for him.) The student was thrilled and the rest of the students were flabbergasted. It was fun.

[Wheezy]

13. So cool!

What a great library system, and very cool on your classroom blog -- love it!

[JeffersonChick]

12. Thanks for this list!

I've been looking for some titles to recommend to my 14 year old daughter.

[Wheezy]

14. You're welcome!

I'll post more suggestions again sometime.