BTW, Consuela, thanks for the TWTWB recommendation way back when. Very fun.

I am allowing myself to be enthusiastic about the Tomorrow movie that's about to be released in Australia, although I doubt a movie could match Marsden for excitement. He really writes the best action scenes.

How many books are in that series? Is there a drop off? Are they all worth it?

I was just coming in here to rec stuff for megan/friend! And figuring Suela would be awesome at it too, yay! :)

Mockingjay is next week, I think? Or is it the week after that, even? I wanna say the 26th...but that's a Thursday, and books come out Tuesdays usually, so maybe the 24th.

I second "Graceling". Just read one from the library that was interesting "Borderline" about a Muslim kid whose dad gets arrested for terrorism (...though that was only the last third of the book really). I was a bit frustrated with parts of it that had to do with bullying, though that may be more about my own history and issues.

For gay teen stuff, there's a YA blog www.leewind.org that has some recs. I like Ellen Wittlinger (who is our own Kate P's mom!), especially "Hard Love", but also others of hers. Alex Sanchez is also great. So is Nico Medina--I love that there are gay kid books that AREN"T all about "OMG I'm GAY, and I have to figure out how to come OUT!", as well as those books (because those are fun and drama-y too). Julie Anne Peters has a couple for the girls.

Sharon Shinn had a few YA books--"The Truthteller's Tale" and a few others--which I wanted to hug and hug.

Oh, one I read the latest in last night--the Gallagher Girls series! "Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover", "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy", etc

Let's see--from the couple years that I tracked my (300+) books read, YA books that skimming back, I took note of or remember:

A Map of Home - Randa Jarrar Initiation - Susan Fine Enclave - Kit Reed Shrinking Violet - Danielle Joseph Princess Ben - Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Shine Coconut Moon - Neesha Meminger (YA--not sure if it was the earlier list, or later on this one--this book is about a girl in NJ who tries to reconnect with her family's Sikh roots after 9/11, and then there's another one I read about a girl in Australia who starts wearing a hijab...)

Does My Head Look Big In This? - Randa Abdel-Fattah (YA- this would be the Australian hijab one)

Castration Celebration - Jake Wizner Tempting Fate - Esther Friestner Read My Lips - Teri Brown (YA - about a girl who is deaf but doesn't sign, and reads lips. I found it a little unbelievable that she could lipread so well, but it was an interesting plot device and character)

The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

Say the Word - Jeannine Garsee (YA - about a girl whose mom left her to be a lesbian, then dies. Depressing and messed up, but interesting!)

A Mango Shaped Space - Wendy Maas (about a girl with synaesthesia)

Beige - Cecil Casetelluci (YA) (Cute, uptight girl has to stay with her aged punk dad for the summer)

First Daughter-White House Rules - Mitali Perkins (first daughter was adopted from Pakistan at age 3 and now that she's in the white house wants to not be whitewashed)

More I found (as I went further back I had more comments on stuff I'd read, as opposed to just "I haven't listed the last 100 books!)

My Life as a Rhombus - Varian Johnson (YA - this one, otoh, was awesome, though I don't want to say too much and set up expectations and stuff. One thing I didn't realize until I was reading it, since I don't remember seeing it in the summary, was that the main character (and really everyone in it) is black. Which is cool, that it wasn't a thing (that's not at all what the story is about, really, though there's obviously a few moments here and there where it's quite relevant))

Band Geek Love - Josie Bloss (YA - I found a link to some random publisher, and was delighted to be able to find a number of their books in the library system to put on hold, if they sounded interesting. This one was kind of adorable, and I need to remember to get the sequel if/when they order it) and now I HAVE, and they HAVE IT!

The Other Half of Me - Emily Franklin [about sperm donor kid meeting half sibilng]

Hacking Harvard, Robin Wasserman (YA). Also fun, in a theoretical sort of "how could you make this happen" way.

ETA: Those are all from the 2008 list, y'all (but not every YA from the 2008 list!). I read too much, damn. And clearly can't afford a Kindle, because almost all those are from the library, and while the library does have a number of things available in ebooks, it has MORE available audiobook, and it isn't easy to browse through. Sigh.

Anyone see anything weird about this?

To add to the weird, I had the EXACT same experience as your friend...with the Tripod series.

One more thumbs up for LHA here. I used to teach Speak, but her books are just amazing in general.

Go Dog Go was my brother Chris' favorite book for a long time. We are still known to greet each other with "Do you like my hat?" "No, I do not like your hat."

Adds many, many books to TBR list.

When meara comes to town your first stop will be at a local used bookstore where she will rip through the shelves buying up a basket of OOP Fantasy, SF and YA.

I have read "Does my Head Look Big In This??" For a while, Mom brought home some of the newest YA from the high school and I offered some opinions on them. That was one of the best ones.