The Teenagers Have Spoken

In a recent blog post, a librarian colleague mentioned that voting was taking place for this year’s Teens’ Top Ten, which is a list of books nominated and voted on by -- you guessed it -- teenagers.  Well, the results are in!!! After compiling over 32,000 votes, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) announced the official winners, making up the 2013 Teens’ Top Ten list of finalists.

It is no real surprise that Veronica Roth’s Insurgent is a favorite. The top ten titles, however, expand beyond the current “dystopian novel craze.”  Novels tackling diverse topics, such as espionage in Nazi-occupied France (Code Name Verity), living with memory loss (Pushing the Limits), as well as eating disorders and cyberbullying (Butter), are included in this year’s list of finalists. Additionally, the 2013 Top Ten contains its share of love stories (Every Day) and fantasy fiction (The Raven Boys), as well as a supernatural thriller (Poison Princess) .  For those of you who are hardcore dystopian fiction readers, never fear, a dystopian novel (Crewel) in addition to Roth’s Insurgent, made the final cut.

Mercer County Library System has all ten titles available for you via the library’s catalog.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must do to survive while keeping secret all that she can.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen.
In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth.
As war surges in the dystopian society around her, Divergent Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry.
Rendered a subject of gossip after a traumatic night that left her with terrible scars on her arms, Echo is dumped by her boyfriend and bonds with bad-boy Noah, whose tough attitude hides an understanding nature and difficult secrets.

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole.
In the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, sixteen-year-old Evie, from a well-to-do Louisiana family, learns that her terrible visions are actually prophecies and that there are others like herself--embodiments of Tarot cards destined to engage in an epic battle.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own--and that together their talents are a dangerous mix.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin.
Gifted with the unusual ability to embroider the very fabric of life, sixteen-year-old Adelice is summoned by Manipulation Services to become a Spinster, a move that will separate her from her beloved family and home forever.

Every Day by David Levithan.
Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross.
When sixteen-year-old Mira runs away to discover her secret past, she finds a place where Grimm's fairy tales come to life, and she cannot avoid her accursed fate.

Butter by Erin Jade Lange.
Unable to control his binge eating, a morbidly obese teenager nicknamed Butter decides to make live webcast of his last meal as he attempts to eat himself to death.

- Anna V.

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