Can anyone think of YA novels (written in 2000-present, please) set in the 1950s or 1960s? Thanks!
Eeep! I love these decades!
THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS by Eva Rice: An 18-yr-old girl who is defined magnificent house, beautiful mother, and tragic father, makes a new friend and in doing so opens up a whole new world of society parties, rock and roll gigs, and romance. Set in the early 50s.
Bonus point for: Hot brother, humorous writing, read-alike to I CAPTURE THE CASTLE.
And I know you want 2000s-onwards written, but anything by KM Peyton, although written back in the 60s, is brilliant and timeless, and doesn't read old-fashioned at all.
Anyone got any recs for contemporary YA that has an international travel aspect to it? Particularly Europe. I've already read Anna and the French Kiss, Wanderlove, Nobody's Girl by Sarra Manning, 13 Little Blue Envelopes and its sequel, and I'm reading Just One Day right now. Are there any I'm missing?
These might be cheating because they're UK-to-US, but
JESSIE HEARTS NYC and EMMA HEARTS LA by Keris Stainton are great, light-hearted contemporaries, with a few issues sprinkled in and swoony romances.
Just don't read
FALL1NG 1N LOVE W1TH ENGL1SH BOYS by Melissa Jensen (girl spends summer in London, experiences a cliched and unrealistic version of the UK where everyone is cockney or related to the royal family). The MC has possibly the most annoying voice in history
I'd love some classic YA. Think stuff that was written in late 90s, early 2000's. I feel like I read a lot of today's YA but not the beginnings.
Thanks in advance!
I'll give you a couple of each catagory - none are particularly famous, but all are highly recommended.
Contemp issues/romance:
GOOD GIRLS by Laura Ruby: I admit I bought this because it said 'parental advisory content' on the sleeve, but this is such a good book. About a 'good girl' valedictorian who gives a boy a blowjob at a party and instantly becomes infamous when the moment is recorded on someone's camera phone. She has to negotiate her parents reactions, school's, and the relationship with the boy in question. It's feel good but not mushy, and examines some important issues.
Read-alike: THOUSAND WORDS by Jennifer Brown, anything by Sarah Dessen or Elizabeth Scott.
Crime/Issues/Dark Contemp:
COUNTERFEIT SON by Elaine Marie Alphin: Boy's dad, a serial killer of young boys, is killed in a police shoot-out. Boy takes on a dead (but body unrecovered)boy's identity in the hope of a new life. Very dark but also uplifting, with a very sympathetic and likeable MC.
Read-alike: I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga.
BIRTHDAY BLUES by Anne Cassidy: About teen pregnancy, and how it's not always a black-and-white situation. Also a bit of semi-incest thrown in.
Read-alike: AFTER by Amy Efaw (only not as grim).
LOOKING FOR JJ by Anne Cassidy: JJ has a new identity, a new life. Only she knows that the girl on the television, the evil girl who killed another child and has recently been released from prison...is her.