YA Books

Last month for the Young Adult (YA) books class I take every year, we read historical fiction, and as always I read some books that were really fine.  One in particular I want to mention is Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein.  This one is a companion to a book we read last year, Code Name Verity, by the same author.  Both books are about WWII and the active roles some young women took during that war as transport pilots and gatherers of information/disseminaters of misinformation.  

Again, I encourage you to read either or both of these books even though they are marketed for the YA audience.  They are extremely well written.  Do look them up and see if they would interest you or someone you know.  While they are fiction, they do give a fine feel for the time period covered. If you have or know of someone in 8th grade or in high school who is studying, will be studying, or is interested in WWII, you might wish to recommend these two books.

Now this month we are reading mystery, and I have been pleasantly surprised.  I have mixed feelings about the first one I read, Panic by Sharon Draper.  Do not give this one to a youngster without reading it yourself and talking it over with the parents of the child.  It is recommended for high school students and is a cautionary tale of what can happen if a young woman goes off with a stranger or if a young woman stays in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend.

Currently I am reading Splendors and Glooms (Laura Amy Schlitz), All the Truth That's in Me (Julie Berry), and The Girl that was Supposed to Die (April Henry).  I'm farther along in the last two books and am involved enough in the stories to want the heroines to be successful, but not far enough along to tell you much about either one.  Splendors and Glooms also has me very interested but also rather skeptical as it is very "British-Literature-for-Young-Persons".  Having cut my eye teeth on books like this, I am intrigued with the story so far but am wondering how far it will go with 4th grade (age of its target audience) Americans.  Vocabulary alone will have it left on the shelf unread by many, but to be fair, I haven't finished it yet and so shouldn't judge.

More on these as I read more.  Do check out Elizabeth Wein's books!