Get Yer YA Recommendations Here!

I'm looking for examples of YA with lyrical prose. I'm not sure if that is exactly what I mean, but something that sings. I tend to write in rather matter of fact, to the point way, and I want to branch out a little with a little more description and a little beautiful sentence construction. I don't know if that makes any sense, but if you have suggestions for any YA, any genre, with beautiful prose I would love some ideas.

jtrylch13 said:

I'm looking for examples of YA with lyrical prose. I'm not sure if that is exactly what I mean, but something that sings. I tend to write in rather matter of fact, to the point way, and I want to branch out a little with a little more description and a little beautiful sentence construction. I don't know if that makes any sense, but if you have suggestions for any YA, any genre, with beautiful prose I would love some ideas.

Click to expand...

THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER by Leslye Walton! Magical realism. Really prettily written.

Becca I got chills reading the blurb for this book!

It's pretty insane. The writing is amazing and there's some great character stuff.

Looking for some sci-fi. I LOVED These Broken Stars/This Shattered World. I also dig aliens and am open to some romance.

Recs would be great!

Smiley0501 said:

Looking for some sci-fi. I LOVED These Broken Stars/This Shattered World. I also dig aliens and am open to some romance.

Recs would be great!

Click to expand...

I've been reading a lot of sci-fi lately. Have you read Alienated by Melissa Landers? It's a cute, fun YA book about an alien exchange student, and the second book in the series, Invaded, just came out last week.

I am reading the first book in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series, which is also about aliens, and so far it's okay, though a little reminiscent of Twilight.

Oh, and if you're into dimension hopping, consider checking out Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You. I read that recently and it's pretty good, too.

Thanks, Paintit! I actually just read and really enjoyed A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU. I'll have to check out the others!

I really like Lois McMaster Bujold. SF, romance, mystery, capers, space opera...she does it all in her Vorkosigan books.

Smiley0501 said:

Looking for some sci-fi. I LOVED These Broken Stars/This Shattered World. I also dig aliens and am open to some romance.

Recs would be great!

Click to expand...

JUMPER by Steven Gould. Nothing like the movie based on it (like, at all) - it's a coming-of-age with a 17-yr-old MC who discovers he can 'jump' (teleport) to anywhere he can visualise clearly in his mind. He uses it to escape his abusive dad, then later to rob banks and win the 21yr old girl of his dreams (who is way better than the film version). He's also being hunted by the NSA who want to use his powers.
It is such a good book. And the sequel, REFLEX, is also a good read - except it is set 10 years later and involves some pretty grim brainwashing/torture, Pavlov style.

So I went to check my Amazon purchased list because I couldn't remember the name of a sci-fi I was going to recommend (ENTANGLED, by the way) and I realized I have like 5 books I don't even remember buying! It was like Christmas morning, except you know, I paid for everything. But still BONUS! Besides they were all under $2 each.

jtrylch13 said:

So I went to check my Amazon purchased list because I couldn't remember the name of a sci-fi I was going to recommend (ENTANGLED, by the way) and I realized I have like 5 books I don't even remember buying! It was like Christmas morning, except you know, I paid for everything. But still BONUS! Besides they were all under $2 each.

Click to expand...

What is Entangled about? I looked up the title and there is about 500. Is it about witches? If so, the first in the series is free right now on kindle.

Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta

Alone was the note Cade knew best. It was the root of all her chords.

Seventeen-year-old Cade is a fierce survivor, solo in the universe with her cherry-red guitar. Or so she thought. Her world shakes apart when a hologram named Mr. Niven tells her she was created in a lab in the year 3112, then entangled at a subatomic level with a boy named Xan.
Cade’s quest to locate Xan joins her with an array of outlaws—her first friends—on a galaxy-spanning adventure. And once Cade discovers the wild joy of real connection, there’s no turning back.

Click to expand...

Not the greatest book I've ever read, but I liked some of the interesting ways she approached science fiction. I think I gave it 3 stars. Maybe 3.5. I did really enjoy reading it and I plan to read the sequels.

I need something with ghosts and/or mystery. I'd prefer contemporary, but anything with those specs would be good.

Christabelle said:

I need something with ghosts and/or mystery. I'd prefer contemporary, but anything with those specs would be good.

Click to expand...

Have you read The Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson?

Try The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones.

Christabelle said:

I need something with ghosts and/or mystery. I'd prefer contemporary, but anything with those specs would be good.

Click to expand...

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake, perhaps?

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld has ghosts and the after life and people who are between ghost world and reality. Personally loved it.

There is also The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Like The Jungle Book, except Bod is raised by ghosts in a graveyard.

I guess, technically, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is MG, but it definitely is a fantastic read!

BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE by Katie Alender is another YA with ghosts. And I quite enjoyed APPARITION (and its sequel, ABSOLUTION) by Gail Gallant.

In 2008 it was YA.

My story. Sticking to it. ;-P

jtrylch--For lyrical prose, Laini Taylor and Maggie Stiefvater are often at the top of people's lists and I love how they write. THE CURIOSITIES is an anthology with Stiefvater and her two CPs, all of whom write lyrically. It's 30 short YA stories in a variety of genres from epic fantasy to contemporary to horror. Easy and quick to sample.

Laini has a book of short stories, too: LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES. I've read two of the three stories and they were excellent (It actually won The National Book Award). Her writing is on the extreme of lyrical, though. You can get by with a lot less and it will still be lyrical!

I would even say Veronica Rossi's trilogy UNDER THE NEVER SKY is lyrical, yet it keeps a fast pace. Very smooth reading.