After much deliberation and some rereading I have arrived at my Top Ten Teen Titles of the Year for The Scotsman.
This year's list includes one Australian, three American and seven British novels. (There is a tie for tenth place.)
A number of titles prominently featured in award shortlists are not in my Top Ten - an example being Not The End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean, a book so superlatively good that it should be entered for the Booker Prize. It is not, however, in my view, a book that speaks predominantly to a Young Adult audience.
Other books from the Guardian and Whitbread shortlists are also missing from my Top Ten. Although a re-reading of one of them has persuaded me to give it a place, I am not persuaded that it should have displaced some of my higher-placed titles from the aforementioned shortlists.
There will be a prize for the person who can most accurately replicate my Top Ten prior to its publication in The Scotsman. Suggested Top Tens can be posted here on the Blog, via Comments, or on ACHUKACHAT.
1.Freaky Green Eyes
2.SKARRS
3.Boy Kills Man
4.Knife Edge
5.Simple Gift
6.Sharp North
7.Kissing the Rain
8. Moth Diaries
9. Millions
10. Looking Glass Wars/Be More Chill
1. Freaky Green Eyes
2. SKARRS
3. Kissing the Rain
4. The Simple Gift
5. Skarrs
6. Sharp North
7. Apocalypse
8. Knife Edge
9. Boy Kills Man
10 No Shame No Fear/Useful Idiots
1. Freaky Green Eyes
2. SKARRS
3. Kissing the Rain
4. The Simple Gift
5. Moth Diaries
6. Apocalypse
7. Gangsta Rap
8. Knife Edge
9. Boy Kills Man
10 No Shame No Fear/Useful Idiots
1. Freaky Green Eyes
2. SKARRS
3. Kissing the Rain
4. The Simple Gift
5. Moth Diaries
6. Sharp North
7. Gangsta Rap
8. Knife Edge
9. Boy Kills Man
10 No Shame No Fear/Useful Idiots
Please ignore previous one due to typo
1. Freaky Green Eyes
2. SKARRS
3. Kissing the Rain
4. The Simple Gift
5. Skarrs
6. Apocalypse
7. Gangsta Rap
8. Knife Edge
9. Boy Kills Man
10 No Shame No Fear/Useful Idiots
1. Freaky Green Eyes
2. SKARRS
3. Kissing the Rain
4. The Simple Gift
5. Skarrs
6. Sharp North
7. Gangsta Rap
8. Knife Edge
9. Boy Kills Man
10 No Shame No Fear/Useful Idiots