Catching Fire

My favorite co-worker and I went out for lunch today, stopping at the bookstore on the way to pick up a copy each of Catching Fire. Then we sat at Panera for much longer than our company-sanctioned thirty-minute paid lunch, reading away. We've been planning this for over a months; yesterday I told her I was going to wear a tunic and a bow and arrow for Catching Fire release day. She didn't believe me, rightfully so.

I don't even own a bow and arrow.

I enjoyed The Hunger Games, the first book in the triology, a whole lot. There were some issues with it, but overall I found it to be very strong, extremely readable, and deliciously addicting. And it started me on this crazy Young Adult/Teen reading path I find myself on of late.

Anyway, back to Catching Fire. When I first read the synopsis (which is as far as I went, not wanting to be spoiled at all), I wasn't really into it. Oh, a revolution. Yawn. What I wanted to see was the psychological aftermath of the Games, the psychological ramifications of being forced, year after year after year, to send children to their likely death.

It turns out I underestimated Ms. Collins.

Catching Fire is so far (five chapters in) everything I hoped for and more. Collins doesn't shy away from the difficult thoughts and issues. This is so refreshing, considering that a lot of popular young adult literature right now seems desperate to stay away from hard and definitive decisions. (I've harped enough, so I won't call it out by name.)

WOOO! Off to read more now.

Pop Five YA Novels

According to my handy-dandy book notebook, these are the five YA books I've read this year that I graded the highest:

1. Cracked Up to Be. Courtney Summers. The first three quarters of this book read like every other "I have a secret" YA novel, and then the ending whips off in another direction. I honestly did not see the climax coming, which is always a pleasant surprise.
2. The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins. Heartbreaking. Honestly. Amazing. And sure, Stephen King was right, there are tons and tons of plot contrivances that get solved by lucky coincidences, but this book has so much heart those tidbits are easy to overlook. I have September 1 marked in my calendar for the sequel.
   
3. The Truth About Forever. Sarah Dessen. This book is so nearly perfect that it made me read all of Dessen's backlist. This one still stands out as the true gem, though.
4. When it Happens. Susane Colasanti. There is a "do I really want to go to college" subplot that is so subtle you could blink and miss it, but it's realistic. This is one of those first-person narratives that took me a couple chapters to get into, but once I was there I fell for Colasanti's characters.
5. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. J.K. Rowling. Haha. Snuck this one in. Technically I read it this year, so it counts. Or is this considered a children's book? I can never remember.
   

Research killed the rabbit.

It's been . . . a while. Because I'm a terrible, awful, inconsistent blogger. My apologies.

Seriously though, it's because I've been busy like whoa. Working, working, working, and just generally single-handedly saving the written word for all of humankind. Nothing too extraordinary really.

I joke.

In my never-ending quest to be knowledgeable about everything I want to be knowledgeable about (as opposed to being knowledgeable about things I should be knowledgeable about like the economy or public health care), I've been doing some research into the young adult book market. If you know me, you know that this quest was triggered by my ardent distaste for anything related to a certain pop culture phenomenon that begins with TWI and ends in LIGHT. I haven't read young adult books (I'm not including Harry Potter in this, because duh) since I was a young adult myself, and I was honestly curious to see if the genre had depreciated as much as this certain pop culture phenomenon would have lead me to believe.

(Please don't send me hate mail if you like Twilight. I have actually read all four books, so I'm not an uninformed party. I would never disparage something without all the facts. Therefore, I feel completely content in my dislike. Don't try to sway me. Though ignorant bashing is more than welcome.)

So, here are five things I have learned in my (half) summer of YA reading.

1. It's not Young Adult anymore; it's Teen. I don't actually know if this is a global shift, but I've noticed it in my personal bubble. My local bookstore rearranged everything last month, moving all the YA books and relabeling them Teen. Penguin rebranded their product line as Teen. I wonder if anyone else is bothered by this. To me, Young Adult seems so much more respectable than Teen. Am I alone on that? (I don't really run in YA circles, so I'm just wondering aloud.)
   
   
2. Moreso than in any other genre, the heroine is likely to end up with the misfit. It's like the 80s rom-com all over again. James Spader doesn't get the girl; John Cusack gets the girl. As a girl who has had a crush on John Cusack for as long as she can remember, I'm so on board.
   
   
3. I can read it really, really fast. Seriously, I read five Sarah Dessen books in one week. In one normal week of going to work, and cooking dinner, and cleaning the house, and caring for my furry dependents. Not too shabby.
   
   
4. Most are written in first person. In my typical reading life, I tend to steer clear of first person. I can't stand it. It always makes me feel like the protagonist is vapid, self-absorbed, exclusive. (Actually, first person narrative is what I first blamed my dislike of Twilight on. You know, before I wanted all of the characters to die painful deaths.) But I think this is what makes YA work. The narrators are teenagers, and teenagers (oh please forgive me, but I once was one and I speak from LOADS of experience) tend to be vapid, self-absorbed, exclusive. Even those of us who wandered around with our Dostoyevsky--seriously, we were the worst. There are certainly thoughtful teenagers, but I think being primarily interested in yourself and your experiences are part of the teenage process.
   
   
5. Musicians are hot. All the hot YA heroes are musicians. I believe it's the law. An artist may be substituted for a musician, but only if the artist utilizes quirky material. For example, an oil painter is a no-go, but a metal lawn ornament artist gets the green light (and the girl).

I will grace you with my favorite YA reads tomorrow. In the meantime, check out The Book Smugglers, who are celebrating Young Adult Appreciation Month.