Best YA of 2008

The Adbooks mailing list nominated 12 books for their annual JHunt award:

o The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson
o Graceling by Kristin Cashore
o The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
o Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
o The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
o Paper Towns by John Green
o Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
o The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
o The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
o The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
o Nation by Terry Pratchett
o Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I've read 11 of these (all except Nation! Which is on my desk right now and I'll get to it Very Very Soon!) and I was going to make a big huge post on them but I think I'd just as soon tackle them a couple at a time. For the record, as of this moment my top picks are:

Octavian Nothing
Tender Morsels
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
The Knife of Never Letting Go

...And if I had to pick just one it would be Morsels or Knife. I think. Maybe. It was an extraordinarily good year for YA, and especially for YA fantasy, although you can find fantastic books any year if you're paying attention.

Little Brother already got voted off, so perhaps I'll start with that and with the other science fiction book that didn't seem particularly special, The Adoration of Jenna Fox:

( Reviews below )

While I'm rounding up the year's reading...

Did I manage to read even a single book not in English from beginning to end?

Well, two or three manga. But otherwise, nothing.

It's not that I'm not reading Japanese at all. Some magazines, some attempts at starting novels, some essays. I have to give myself a little slack here because I'm working ten and eleven hour days - but I really don't want to lose my Japanese. Well, there's fifteen days left in the year, I guess I could attempt to muscle my way through a light novel on the subway.

I guess I must have read most of Yoshimoto Banana's "Pineapple Head" this year, because I was in my place on Woodbine St., but I didn't quite make it to the end. Well - I can do that much, right?

Oh, bother.

Do I have enough time to get my passport photos taken before the 24th, and whatever else I need to do so that I can have people I know sign them while I'm in NC?

Wait -- I just checked the requirements and I can go through the Simplified Renewal thingie without having to go through the rigamarole of getting guarantors. Huzzah!

Amused

People are surprised when I know about manga.

People are astonished when I know about urban fiction.

I've been at this for two and a half years. At the first library I worked in, "street fiction" and mellower domestic African-American fiction made up most of our demand for adult fiction; here, it's bestsellers and street lit. Ever since I had such trouble finding Flyy Girl when I didn't know it was spelled Flyy, I've been making an effort to keep up with titles and authors... it's kinda fun to psych people out.