Young Adult Fiction

I've become quite the addict of YA Fiction. I think it's come a long way since I was a teenager. When I was little I loved reading and I was quite good at it. Then, came JR High and "assigned" books to read. I often didn't enjoy the books that were required reading or I didn't understand the symbolism I was supposed to uncover, so I got frustrated and disliked reading even more.

This trend continued all the way through college. I never read for fun. Then, while we were still newlyweds my husband bought me this book:

It was the first in a series of Historical Fiction Novels about the organization of our church. Based completely on fact, but written from the perspective of a fictional family. I ate it up. I remembered how fun it was to read again. I discovered reading for pleasure! I was in heaven! My mother-in-law is a book addict herself and kept me well stocked with books to read. They were mostly church fiction, and mostly romances, but still, I enjoyed them.

Years passed, and I still wasn't reading much outside the LDS genre. Mostly because I didn't know what good books were out there. I didn't get a library card, and couldn't afford to buy books of my own. I have high standards and won't read a book if I find it's overly violent, trashy, or smutty. I didn't want to waste money buying books that might fall into this category.

Then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. I had somehow missed hearing about HP up until this point. My mom was curious and bought the set of books 1-4 at Costco, thinking they would be great to have around when the grandkids got older. She picked one up to read it, and didn't surface again until she'd wiped out all four. Then she drove them to my house and left them with me. Because Ian was just a week or two old, I had plenty of time to read. I read and read and read.

Harry Potter really opened the flood gates. I finally went to my local library and got a library card. I started searching out good books in the library. Then a friend invited me to come to a book club. I reluctantly went. In my mind, I would be back in English class, disecting every single detail and every hidden meaning. It was nothing like that at all. I loved it. I was hooked.

Over the years, I've read lots of books, discovered the fun of reading books in series, and picked over the YA section many times. I like YA books because they are often shorter, cleaner, and well, I don't know why... I just like them.

Here's my most recent YA find:

I can't even begin to describe what this book is about in any concise manner, but it will NOT disappoint. Here's a plot summary from Amazon.com:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

I just finished the second book in the planned Trilogy, Catching Fire. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I had an anxious pit in my stomach the entire book. I won't give you a plot summary here, because I don't want to blow anything from the first book for anyone who hasn't read them. I will say one thing that I was really touched by: Cinna. Love that character. Love his guts, love his style, love his skills, love his courage, and LOVED his "statement". When you read it, you'll know what I mean. But let's just say that it's going to be a long wait for book 3. A long, long wait.

So now that I have a whole year to wait... I need to distract myself with other good books. What's your favorite YA book or series? Please share... I might go crazy thinking about the Hunger Games!