owlectomy

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 )