BlogHer - Literary Gift Guide for Young Adults - Comments

How I Live Now

sassymonkey — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:47:46 -0600

Read it! Well...listened to it on audio which is almost the same thing. I've also been hearing very good things about Michael Grant's Gone.

I told one of my friends that she wasn't allowed to read Life as We Knew It because she'd never sleep again. Pfeffer switched to a third-person narrative in The Dead and the Gone and I think she lost a bit in it but it still had me freaking out about a crank radio so clearly it still had an impact.
Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Great post!

KBestOliver — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:00:30 -0600

I'm reading Little Brother right now after rave reviews from anyone I know, although I'm not far at all.

I, too, loved Life As We Knew It, but haven't read the companion book. If you loved this, you should also check out How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Why am I so fascinating by global destruction?

A book I've given as a gift many times, to teen and adults alike, is Markus Zusak's wonderful The Book Thief.

I'm going to go on record and say, given a snow day with zero responsibilities, I can think of nothing lovelier than knocking out a few YA novels curled up on the couch.

Nope, no teens here

sassymonkey — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:49:25 -0600

And come to think of it I don't think I know any local teens. Maybe I read enough YA to fake it. ;-)

I figured Twilight fans preferred to pick out their own gear. Can you imagine the scene if someone on Team Edward got a Team Jacob t-shirt?

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

These are excellent recommendations

Denise — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:26:52 -0600

Are you sure you don't have a teen living with you? I mean seriously, these are really excellent ideas (and no sign of Twilight mania, excellent.)

Now, I'm going to look at my holiday spending budget to see if I can figure out how to squeeze some of these ideas under the tree.

By the way, the Prince loves the Kindle but I'm still glad I didn't buy it for him. :-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Literary Gift Guide for Young Adults

sassymonkey — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:20:16 -0600

If you have a teen in your life that loves books (or that you are trying to get to love books) you are lucky. The world of young adult literature is hot. Perhaps even hawt (I read the books, but I'm not down with the lingo). I know, books are boring right? Well as someone who loves to get (and give) gifts I don't think so but just to make you feel better I've offered up some companion gifts to accompany some of great books out there on the market right now.

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother made The School Library Journal's best of 2008 list. While you are checking out Doctorow's blog note that you can download the book on his site - for free. (Because he is awesome.) Of course you could pair this with a fancy schamncy e-book reader like the Kindle. Or you could go low(er) tech with this Swiss Army USB Knife.

Susan Beth Pfeffer's two post-apocalyptic novels Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone had me on the edge of my seat. They also had me wanting to stock up on canned goods and I do my best every time I see one to explain to my boyfriend exactly why we need a crank flashlight radio. Teens probably wouldn't want those quite as much as I do (and indeed I cannot convince my boyfriend that we need one) but they could ponder over this Sardine Can Survival Kit. It's sure make the list of things they really weren't expecting to get this holiday season.

If you are looking for something holiday-themed I just finished Let It Snow, a collection of three connected short stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. It prominently features a Waffle House, a snow storm, a broken-down train and a large group of cheerleaders. Wrap it up with a Waffle House gift card if you are lucky enough to live near one. If not go for Twister and a Starbucks' card. Be warned they may ask why you didn't buy them a teacup pig instead.

Sally Gardener's The Red Necklace is a novel that looks at one of the past years trends in historical fiction for this age group - the French Revolution. What better than an actual red necklace to go with it? Pick one up from a local artist or go to Etsy.com and search for red necklaces. You'll find one for to match your teen's style.

Steve Kluger's My Most Excellent Year will be making my list of "Best books I read in 2008". Awesome story told through three teens that I really wish existed in real life. Pair it with the Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition DVD or Red Sox tickets if you are feeling very generous.

The first three books of Ellen Emerson White's President's Daughter series were republished in the summer of 2008. The fourth book in the series, Long May She Reign was published in the fall of 2007 (18 years after the third book the series which is pretty much unheard of and so very awesome). The third and fourth books in the series are definitely recommended for older teens. Pair it with official White House merchandise if you can get it. If not try the Hill Street Blue Season 1 or the Brady Bunch Complete Series DVDs.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.