Good YA

So lately on my Tumblr tag books (of course) I’ve seen a lot of people searching for quality Young Adult fiction. Ever since Twilight it seems as if there has been a downward spiral in the quality of YA which is really a shame since I used to read A LOT of YA because it was usually so much better then the adult fantasy/sci-fi (mostly because at the time I was still a little too young to really wrap my head around the hard core science in most adult sci-fi and fantasy books lol). And it was usually such a pleasure to peruse the YA shelves at the library and book stores. Now I just feel vaguely embarrassed to be caught there because it seems as if the shelves are dedicated to this new “paranormal romance” stuff. So if you’re like me, and always on the look out for QUALITY YA fiction, here is a list of authors and titles that I have loved and that I personally believe are way better than anything Stephanie Meyers and her knock offs can pull off.

The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling - OK so I’m very biased on this one but I really love Harry Potter, the stories are so captivating and the message of love, loyalty and friendship are exactly what a hormonal teenager needs to hear.
Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith- This is by far one of my favorite books ever and I usually read it about once a year. This is about a Countess, her Rebellion, the people around her, and how she manages to overcome her enemies, fears, and even stop an even bigger war.
The Prydain Series by Lloyd Alexander- This is the series that Disney based that awful movie The Black Cauldron on (ugh it was terrible!). This series follows Taran, an orphan boy as he grows into manhood via a few wars, quests and love all with a nice background of Welsh mythology.
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis-Do I really need to go into why this series is amazing?
The Inkheart Series by Cornelia Funke-This is a series about people who love books and can read them to life…yes that’s what I said READ THEM TO LIFE!
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins-Is just amazing, and every little girl out there should be wishing to be a Katniss rather than a Bella
Stardust by Neil Gaiman-Because everything Neil writes is pure gold, plus this is a lot different from the movie and is worth the read.
Robin Mckinely- She wrote a lot of great books including Beauty, which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, other great books by her include The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, and The Outlaws of Sherwood (which is by far my fav retelling of the Robin Hood stories).
Patricia A. McKillip- She also wrote a ton of great fairytale/fantasy stories including The Song of the Basilisk, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and The Bell of Sealey Head
Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce-Is a great series about a young girl who trades places with her twin brother in order to learn to be a knight-at a time where female knights were unheard of. The series starts with her training and ends with her deeds as a Knight and the guardian of the King
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare-I just wrote a review about why I love this book..you can read it here
Libba Bray-She wrote A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine, while I really liked AGATB, I LOVED Going Bovine, it was funny, sad, heart breaking and set in modern times
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern-I don’t really know if this counts as quality but I really enjoyed it because of the imagery
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine-This is a amazing retelling of the Cinderella story that I just adore! Ella is such a great heroine, witty, courageous and lovable.
Sabriel by Garth Nix-I haven’t read this series since high school, but I remember Sabriel kicking ass and that alone is worth it, seems like this series is due for a reread.
Madeleine L’engle-Mostly the Time Series (A Wrinkle in Time etc) I loved the whole series as a kid and read them all in Middle School, the time traveling in it is what really fascinated me.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman- This are really great even though they’re pretty melancholy, also, these are pretty dense for a YA series so I would recommend them for more mature reHolesaders (15+)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones-While the movie is AMAZING!! I would def recommend reading the book as well-it actually explains a lot of what was missing in the movie even though the two are actually very different.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riodan-I love Greek mythology, and these books are a little cheesy, but the mythology makes up for all of it.
Holes by Louis Sachar-Loved the book, loved the movie ‘nuff said

OK, now that I have an impressive list (or at least I think so) feel free to contribute anything I may have forgotten! I’ll probably make this a page and try to keep it updated as often as I can/when people point out the books a forgot!

Happy Readings!

<3 The Book Worm

Tags: YA, books, fiction, good, harry, hate, i, much, potter, so, More…twilight, ugh