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All YA Love: YA Books That Have Changed You
Filed in All YA Love , The Spellbound Lover Posted on September 22, 2010 @ 6:00 am
5 comments
I’ve always been a big reader and have been known to read a book a day (on a good day). So when you calculate that with the amount of years I’ve been reading. That’s alot of books. It gets to a point though when I can remember the title but not always what it’s about, until I flip the book over and read the synopsis that I remember I’ve read it.
But, there are those books that stick with you long after you’ve read the last page. Some that leave you with that light feeling in your chest when the outcome is good, or those that have you sobbing and reaching for another kleenex. It’s those ones that I’ll forever be changed by. Whether it be dramatic or subtle some books have that capability to make a difference, be it on purpose or otherwise.
One thing I have noticed is regardless of whether I’ve finished a book, stopped halfway through or the content was shocking at best, I’ve always learnt something from reading them.
For instance, who would have thought of all those ways of killing vampires from decapitating, to silver bullets, to killing the head honcho vamp to get rid of the rest. What would we do without Bram Stoker, Stephenie Meyer, Kirsty Eagar etc writing about those things. I’ve had those dreams where I’ve run into a vampire and time has frozen and all I could think about asking is “So which sort are you? The Twilight Edward type that sparkles, or the freaky scary type that will try to bite me in a dark alley just because you’re thirsty? Would a blood bag do or do I have to get out that silver stake and a lighter?” See if I hadn’t read these books where would I be without learning something. Who knows when I’d need that info. And yes, I have a very active imagination 😉
Here are a few YA books that have done their part for me.
The Messenger by Markus Zusak
Synopsis
Meet Ed Kennedy — underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?
Winner of the 2003 Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award in Australia, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love
Synopsis
Tessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her ‘To Do Before I Die list’. And number one is sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out. BEFORE I DIE is a brilliantly-crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge.
(The Tomorrow Series got me thinking alot)
Synopsis
When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they’re leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong–horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured–including their families and all their friends. Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.
So, which books have changed you?
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Haha, love your vampire dream story, thanks for sharing! 😀
From these I've only read Before I Die, and I agree, it was quite an emotional yet somehow uplifting read.
If I think about books that changed me or that I've learned from the first that jumps to my mind is Death is my Trade by Robert Merle. This is an adult book, about Second World War, the concentration camp at Auschwitz, so not a light read, but such an amazing one! I read it when I was 15 and to this day it remains one of my favourite novels. I want books to make me feel, to make me experience emotions and not just keep my hands busy with turning pages.
But if I have to say a YA book that I've learned a lot from it is the Anne series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. That is my alltime favourite YA series!
I don't know about specific things I learned from a YA book, but the one that left the biggest impression on me was Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence.
It's a post-apocalyptic SF book about the immediate aftermath of a nuclear war.
Prior to that book I was largely reading historical fiction and high fantasy….but that got me on the SF train pretty quick. And jumpstarted my development as a social justice activist.
I'm not sure about learning from YA books (except that I am glad never, ever to be a teen again), but Margo Lanagan's "Tender Morsels" got me so riled up that, not only did I wish I had never read it, I gave up on all YA books for weeks. I sorely needed books with definite HEAs and nothing post-apocalyptic or dystopic!
I also read Carrie Ryan's "The Dead-Tossed Waves" (post-apocalyptic zombies) and Swati Avasthi's "Split" (domestic violence and child abuse) around the same time which probably contributed to my YA book stoppage.
Thanks for the great comments!
I'll have to check out the books you've mentioned.
Cories5: It's a shame you had a bad run with the YA books. There are some really good ones out there. I noticed alot of YA books these days are getting into the gritty stuff though.
If you ever find yourself wanting to read something in the YA again I really liked Meridian by Amber Kizar and A Match Made in Highschool by Kristin Walker.
Thanks, Melissa. It's not that these three books were bad, but that they were way too depressing for me ("Tender Morsels" had rape, incest, gang rape, and sodomy although none were overtly stated, but Liga, the character that suffered the most, did not have a happy ending which just killed the book for me). Perhaps I should just stick to books by E. Lockhart, Jaclyn Moriarty, Meg Cabot, Cassandra Clare, and Terry Pratchett. Safer that way.