YA Set in a Foreign Country

A mod can probably move the thread. It's not YA but The Red Pyramid (by Rick Riordan) is set in Egypt.

The Alchemist and its sequels bounce all over the world.

But are you looking for fantasy or contemporary?

I'm a little confused. Your profile says you're in Japan. So, I'm not sure what qualifies as a foreign country to you.

I can't think of many US-written contemporary YA novels that are set in foreign countries - is that what you're looking for? The only one that's springing to mind is Heist Society, by Ally Carter (the MC travels quite a lot, and much of the story takes place in England and Italy and France).

If you expand your search to include non-US authors, it should be rather easy to find YA novels with stories that take place in other countries. I've been reading the books of several Australian writers, lately, for example. Jaclyn Moriarty, Melina Marchetta, and Lucy Christopher - all contemporary YA writers with settings outside the US.

I can think of several, but some were written by non-US writers. Here are some of the ones that come to mind:

Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly (US and Paris)
Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta (Australia)
I am the Messenger, Markus Zusak
Black Rabbit Summer & Martyn Pig, by Kevin Brooks
How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff

And I'm sure there are more...

But, having said that, I have heard that it can be harder to sell a YA novel set incidentally in another country to US publishers, unless it is first published to success elsewhere. But, when the setting is key to the story, there seems to be less of a problem.

~suki

madderblue:
Does anyone know of any good contemporary YA novels set in foreign countries?

Click to expand...

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay is set partly in the Phillipines and partly in the UK (it's about a teenage boy with giganticism who comes to live in England with his mother, step father and half sister).

Trash by Andy Mulligan is also (I believe) set in the Phillipines and is about a boy who lives on a dump site, who makes a living sorting through the rubbish.

If you're willing to look at fantasy, then Justine Larbelestier's Magic or Madness trilogy (beginning with Magic or Madness) is set in Sydney and New York.

The Changeling series by Steve Feasey is set in London, but book 2 goes to Rekyavik and book 3 to Canada.

Sea Djinn and Fire Djinn by Linda Davies are fantasies set in Dubai.

MM

I just finished one. Deborah Kerbel's Mackenzie, Lost and Found

The father moved the daughter to Israel...most of the novel is set there. Great read.

PS: I'm writing one that takes place in Kenya.

Mal Peet's Keeper, The Penalty and Exposure are all set in a fictional South American country.

Matt Whyman's Boy Kills Man is also set in South America (Colombia if I remember rightly).

Peet's Tamar and Aidan Chambers's Postcards from No Man's Land are both set mainly in the Netherlands.

Hi! Not sure about US publishers publishing books set in other countries, but maybe you could see which publishers take up foreign-written books? Although as suki says, these books will probably already have done well there.

For UK books, I suggest doing a few searches on the amazon.co.uk site for books you know, and then see what recommendations come up. Authors I like (not all YA though): Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider AWESOME), Gemma Malley (really creepy future dystopian stuff), Tim Bowler, David Almond, Kevin Brooks. And more...

Japan: Train man - not really a novel, more a collection of forum posts, but still a great read.

Australia: Melina Marchetta's good - we studied Looking for Alibrandi at school and I STILL like it, which is one of my measuring sticks for this-is-an-awesome-book.
Paul Jennings: weird funny MG
Morris Gleitzman: contemporary funny MG, pretty good
John Marsden: Tomorrow when the war began series is amazing, writes other stuff too.

New Zealand (might be hard to find): Margaret Mahy (some of hers are set in NZ), I am not Esther by Fleur Beale (others too), Morris Gee (some adult, some MG), The Whole of the Moon by Duncan Stuart, Jack Lasenby, Elizabeth Knox, Mandy Hager

Lots of WWII stories are set in Europe (do these count as contemporary? I'm not sure)

Life of Pi

I'm actually trying to find 80 ya books from 80 countries on my blog and I'm up to 7 so far (though mostly fantasy-ish. Must do more contemporary). Come see if you like (link below)