Bitch Magazine has just released a list of 100 YA books for the Feminist Reader. This is so me on so many levels. I love lists, YA books, and kick-ass female leads. Perusing the list I realize I haven't read as many as I might have thought. I'd like to think that I seek out these types of books, but apparently I've got a long way to go. The list is a PDF otherwise I'd copy/paste it here. So instead I'll point out the books I've read and the ones I've got on my to read list. (Books I own in italics. I tend not to buy/keep a lot of books. So owning them is kind of a big thing for me.)
I was really impressed with the blend of fantasy and realistic fiction. I love fantasies, but with those I feel like the feminist ideas sometimes get watered out a little. It's easier to set up a female in a leadership or as a strong role when they have some sort of power. I like having female heroes like that, but sometimes I crave real-world girls dealing with real-world problems. That's why I'm so glad to see Frankie (44) and NTKOG (87) are on the list. My autographed copy of those books live right next to my complete collection of John Green books on the coveted top shelf of my YA bookcase. Yes, I have a bookcase just dedicated to my Young Adult books. What of it? Oh, and I do sort of rank my books. My top shelf are my favorites (and the library stuff). Those spots are currently held by the two I've already mentioned, all of John's books, Geektastic, Zombies v. Unicorns, How to Say Goodbye in Robot, and Leviathan. Soon to be joined by Same Difference and a special YA-exemption The Lover's Dictionary. But that's another story for another blog post. Oh, and I was excited to see how many of them were already on my YA Book Primer :)
Read:
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
16. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
17. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castelluci and Jim Rugg
23. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
24. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
41. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
44. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
46. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
50. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
56. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
68. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
77. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
84. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
87. Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
90. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
To Read:
9. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black**
10. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
28. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
29. For the Win by Cory Doctorow**
49. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
51. Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier**
93. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
94. Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
99. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
100. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
**I have started, but not yet finished.
I was really impressed with the blend of fantasy and realistic fiction. I love fantasies, but with those I feel like the feminist ideas sometimes get watered out a little. It's easier to set up a female in a leadership or as a strong role when they have some sort of power. I like having female heroes like that, but sometimes I crave real-world girls dealing with real-world problems. That's why I'm so glad to see Frankie (44) and NTKOG (87) are on the list. My autographed copy of those books live right next to my complete collection of John Green books on the coveted top shelf of my YA bookcase. Yes, I have a bookcase just dedicated to my Young Adult books. What of it? Oh, and I do sort of rank my books. My top shelf are my favorites (and the library stuff). Those spots are currently held by the two I've already mentioned, all of John's books, Geektastic, Zombies v. Unicorns, How to Say Goodbye in Robot, and Leviathan. Soon to be joined by Same Difference and a special YA-exemption The Lover's Dictionary. But that's another story for another blog post. Oh, and I was excited to see how many of them were already on my YA Book Primer :)
Read:
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
16. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
17. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castelluci and Jim Rugg
23. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
24. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
41. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
44. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
46. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
50. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
56. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
68. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
77. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
84. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
87. Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
90. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
To Read:
9. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black**
10. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
28. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
29. For the Win by Cory Doctorow**
49. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
51. Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier**
93. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
94. Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
99. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
100. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
**I have started, but not yet finished.
I didn't realize you hadn't read The Book Thief yet! Did you take my copy to read?
ReplyDeleteImpressive. I found this yesterday and I was sad to realize I had only read 12 of them. There were several that are on my to-read list, but quite a few I hadn't even heard of. Great list.
ReplyDelete@Manda I took your copy to read a long time ago, got through part of it, never finished and finally gave it back to you thinking I could just borrow the library copy when I needed one. :)
ReplyDelete