Joëlle Anthony

Thanks for the list, Joelle! I just printed it to take with me the next time I walk up to the library.

I have my own list gleaned from writer forums (fora?) and it’s surprising how little overlap there is. I think that means there is a LOT of good reading out there! One place where the lists did intersect is Meg Cabot’s Princess series; I’m eagerly awaiting the one coming out this month or next.

Thought I’d add my own favorites from My Summer Reading List:

I’ve read about 20 YA/MG books this summer, my favorites being:

A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Linda Urban), which gets major points for being set in Michigan instead of NYC, and for depicting a real-life family;

The Book of Everything (Guus Kuijer — not a typo; he’s Dutch), a very short book about post-WWII Holland. It’s listed as a juvenile book in our library but works easily as well as a thoughtful MG, YA, and adult;

I think The Off Season (Catherine Gilbert Murdoch–it’s a sequel to Dairy Queen) about a farm girl who plays high school football on the boys team, is probably one of my all-time favorites, right up there with Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and Nancy Farmer’s first book, The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm.

I also liked Suite Scarlett (Maureen Johnson) a lot, and am looking forward to the sequel.

I think the theme here is I respond well to books where Having a Rough Time with Mean Girls in School is not the main focus.