Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

Here is our YA Reading Challenge #2! Thank you to everyone who helped get this going!! If there is anything that needs further clarification please ask here!!

Ground Rules:

1. The Challenge begins at 12:00 A.M. local time on August 1, 2009 and ends at 11:59 P.M. local time on October 31, 2009.
2. Whoever has the most points by 12:00 A.M. local time August 15, 2009 will be able to create a 50 point task. If there is a tie, whoever got to that amount of points first will be the one to create the task.
3. This Challenge is just for fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself and all the books you will be reading!
4. All books must be classified as Young Adult or Juvenile Fiction, unless otherwise noted in the task. If your local library classifies the book you chose as such, then the book may be included.
5. All books must be at least 100 pages long to count for any of the tasks.
6. Re-reads count, unless they are specifically excluded in the task.
7. Audiobooks and electronic books, such as Kindle, etc. all count for this Challenge.
8. If you have been keeping track of pages for the Official YA Challenge and would like to continue, then please feel free to post it when you post your finished tasks and I will add it to the totals. However, you do NOT need to post page numbers in order to get onto the leaderboard.

PLEASE NOTE: This thread is for a discussion of the tasks ONLY, we are adding a separate thread (which will open the day the challenge starts) to post everyone's points as tasks are completed.

1 – Official YA Challenge Section
5. Choose any book from our “Top YA Novels” thread not posted by you and read it.
10. Read a book someone at Goodreads has been “pushing” you to read.
15. Read any book discussed in one of the discussion threads here at Wild Things, and contribute to the discussion.
20. Read a book someone (other than yourself) read for the 1st YA Reading Challenge and discuss why this one stood out when you saw people posting it, if it met your expectations, and if you prefer the book you originally read.
25. Read any two books from a Young Adult series.

2 – Author’s Name A-Z Section
5. Read a YA book where the first letter of the Author’s last name matches your own.
10. Read a YA book by a Goodreads author.
15. Read a YA book where the author’s first name is the same as someone in your household, past or present.
20. Read 2 YA books where the first letter of the author’s last name is consecutive. i.e. Harry Potter (Rowling) & Holes (Sachar).
25. Read a YA book from each of the following: the author’s last name starts with a letter between A-I, J-Q, and R-Z.

3 – Newbery List/Carnegie Award Section - You can use the following lists to help you find books for this section: Newbery Medal & Honors list, Carnegie Short List, or Carnegie Medal List
5. Read a winner/honor book and give a full review of it, including your thoughts on its award status.
10. Read a winner/Honor book whose author has won or been nominated more than once.
15. Read 2 consecutive years' winners (2000 and 2001 for example) and see if there's a commonality between winners.
20. Read the winner and one of the Honor books from the same year, then post whether you agree with these choices.
25. Read any YA book that came out after January 2006 and an award winner/Honor book that was published the same year.(i.e. If you are reading a book that was published in 2006, you would read a winner/Honor book from 2007 because they would have been published in 2006) Discuss the comparisons between the two and whether you agree that the right book won.

4 – Shelves Section, Please stick to books you haven’t read yet for this section!
5. Read a YA book that was rated 5 stars from any Wild Thing member’s shelf you don't know or have had a discussion with in a post, and then discuss your thoughts on the book with them when you're done
10. Read a YA book from one of Wild Thing’s bookshelves.
15. Read a book classified as ADULT that you think would be good for YA, and then post why you think it would be good for YA.
20. Get recommendations from someone who loves a genre you’ve never read before and read one of those YA books, and then post what you thought and whether you might read from the genre again.
25. Pick from 3 of the following categories and read 1 YA book from each of the 3 you choose: non-fiction, poetry, short story, drama, horror/gothic, top 100 Goodreads YA bookshelf (go to http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/y... and pick from the first 2 pages).

50 point task: There are four (a-d) books required for this question. [Only unread books up to this point for this question:]
(a) Read a previously unread book from the WT YA Best Novel List.
(b) Read a book where the first letter of the author’s name (first or last) is alphabetically consecutive to the first letter of EITHER the first or last name of the author you read in section (a).
(c) Read an award or honor book published the same year as the book read for section (b). [Award/Honor book is interpreted liberally here. Check with not only Newbery, Chatham, Printz, Lambda and other national awards, but also your state library association books awards and let us know which award you are referring to.:]
(d) Read a book from a WT member's bookshelf (ranked 4 or 5 star only) OR on the top 100 GR YA bookshelf that has also won an award AND is of a different genre than the book read for section (c). [Go to “Find Books” on the top navigation bar of GoodReads and you will find there are multiple YA book lists.:]

***Thank you Lydia for putting the 50 point task together!

Woo hoo! I've been thinking of what I'm going to read for the past few days. Helps that I had inside info, but honestly, would have been thinking about it anyway. I am a list maker.

Big thanks to Linda Grace for putting it together!

Yes, Linda Grace, this is an awesome list! Can't wait to get started on this!

:) Your Welcome!! Thank you for all your help again. I could not have gotten it up so quickly wihtout your help!

Now I have to get my spreadsheet together to keep track of everyone's points! Hehe that's my favorite part... I love excel.

I think that is an awesome idea! I wouldn't mind doing it again, but other people should have a chance also. It was a lot of fun getting it together.

Agreed.

Woo-Hoo! This looks fun. Good job, Linda Grace! Put on your hot new glasses and get to excelling! :-)

Haha yup!! Those sexy librarian glasses are exactly what helped me with setting up the challenge! haha love my glasses...

Oh and thanks! :)

Exciting stuff...can't wait to come up with my list : )

And good job Linda Grace!!!

p.s. Does anyone wanna push any books on me???

Jennifer, if you haven't yet read The Graveyard Book, I highly recommend it. I also really liked Graceling!! Hopefully, these will work if you haven't already read them!

I have a question about 1.20. I didn't participate in the last challenge, so can I still do that task?

Of course! Just take a look at either/both threads for the YA Reading Challenge #1. There are pages of information on what everyone has been reading for the current challenge. Once a book someone else read for that challenge pops out at you, read it! Then just discuss why this one popped out at you and if it met your expectations. Have fun!

I think I'm going to participate in this challenge! I have a question. You know how on TNBBC, a lot of people post their lists with the books they are using for each task and then edit to cross them off as they go along, where would we post something like that? I understand we would also make a separate post every time we accomplish a task, i.e. I complete the pushed book task, so I would make a post saying hey I read this book completing this task, these are my points.

Yeah. You could post your list here, unless you think we should make a separate thread for that too. I don't mind calculating totals based on a list either, so if you guys want to post your list on the Report Points Here Thread that would be fine with me. I will open up that thread today so if anyone wants to do a list and just cross them off as they go, they can post it there.

Linda Grace wrote: "Of course! Just take a look at either/both threads for the YA Reading Challenge #1. There are pages of information on what everyone has been reading for the current challenge. Once a book someon..."

Heather wrote: "I have a question about 1.20. I didn't participate in the last challenge, so can I still do that task?"

And maybe, since you don't have an original to compare to, you can tell us about what other book you would have read for this task and why, or what you think would have worked/what you would have picked had you participated, etc.

Yes, that sounds very good. :)

1 – Official YA Challenge Section
5. Feather Boy by Nicky Singer
10. Poison Study by Maria Snyder
15. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
20. TBA
25. TBA

2 – Author’s Name A-Z Section
5. Graceling by Kristen Cashore
10. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
15. TBA by Brian Jacques - one of my roommates is named Brian
20. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang & Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
25. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Monster by Walter Dean Myers and I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak.

3 – Newbery List Section
5. 2006 Honor - Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
10. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
15. 1978 - Bridge to Terebithia 1979 - The Westing Game
20. 2009 - The Graveyard Book by Gaiman & Savvy by Ingrid Law
25. TBA

4 – Shelves Section, Please stick to books you haven’t read yet for this section!
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins from Jennifer W's shelves
10. A Northern Light
15. TBA
20. I've read from every genre, how would I do this task?
25. TBA

April, your list looks awesome so far!

For 4.20 is there a genre you haven't read much from or don't know much about? I will see if I can come up with a list of genres to choose from, maybe there is one you haven't read from, but just haven't thought of it as a genre.

Start looking at subgenres. Things can get very specific and narrowed down. I mean, look at everything you can have listed in sci-fi: fairy tales, both modern and traditional, dystopian, utopian, altiverse, and that's not half of it.

Here is a list of Young Adult sub-genres I have come across. Let me know if you can think of anything else and I will add it:

Romance, Historical, Science Fiction, Classic, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery, Suspense, Graphic, Christian, Biographies (YA authors), Poetry, Fairy tales, Chick Lit, Dystopian, Utopian, Altiverse, Gay/Lesbian.

I have not done a challenge before (always finding them half-way through) so I am seriously psyched!

Woo Hoo Lydia! The first one is always fun! :)

I don't know you April!! You can use me! Anyone else can, too!

Where would I find the "Top YA Novels" thread? I have been looking and can't see it.

Hi all, could someone please recommend a historical fiction or a gay/lesbian book for me for task 4.20? Danke.

Well, this book just came out this month - Ash, which is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella. :)

Sweet! Now I have my list:

1 – Official YA Challenge Section
5. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
10. Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1) by Tamora Pierce (Recommendation from Misty)
15. The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
20. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (New Book/New Author – Savvy)
25. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) and The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2) by Rick Riordan

2 – Author’s Name A-Z Section
5. Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor
10. Dr. Sigmundus: The Cracked Mirror by Brian Keaney (Goodreads author)
15. The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman (My sweetie’s name is Jason)
20. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan and The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
25. Sword by Da Chen, Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Sorceress (Nicholas Flamel, #3) by Michael Scott

3 – Newbery List Section
5. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (2009 Honor book)
10. Julie of the Wolves (Book 1) by Jean Craighead George (Winner 1973, Honor 1960 with My Side of the Mountain)
15. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1977) and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1978)
20. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Winner 2003) and The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (Honor 2003)
25. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Winner 2007, Pub. Nov. 2006) and Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City (Kiki Strike, Book 1) by Kirsten Miller (Pub. May 2006)

4 – Shelves Section, Please stick to books you haven’t read yet for this section!
5. Dreamquake (The Dreamhunter Duet, Book 2) by Elizabeth Knox (From Elissa)
10. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
15. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
20. Ash by Malinda Lo (GLBT recommended by Kristin)
25. No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (YALSA Drama List), Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley (Gothic), and Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld (Top 100 GR YA #16)

Please let me know if I need to change anything.

Heather or April,

Can you tell me where to find the "Top YA Novels" thread?

Lydia, I'm not Heather or April, but I thought I would help out..."Top YA Novels" is under the General Young Adult Discussion or click here to get to the thread directly http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks Jennifer for posting that. My internet was down last night.

Heather, your list looks good. You have some really good books on there! Have fun reading!

Linda Grace wrote: "Thanks Jennifer for posting that. My internet was down last night.

Heather, your list looks good. You have some really good books on there! Have fun reading! "

thanks! I can't wait. I have one more book out from the library that I need to finish before August 1st. I've only got one re-read on the list (Bridge to Terabithia has been one of my favorites since I was a kid.)

Bridge to Terabithia is a good one. I loved it as a kid as well.

This looks fun! I've been slowing down in my reading lately, but I think I might want to try this one out. Looks great! I think my favorite part of challenges is putting my book list together, and looking at the challenge ideas!

Have fun Ashley! :)

No Problem...it's all about team work, right?

Thanks! I intend to!

Linda, I just barely looked through all the requirements, and I have to tell you that I love the Newberry section! I think it's great! There are some awesome books on that list!

I do have a few questions though-
With the book pushing, does it have to be directed at me specifically, or could it be a book that a lot of people have pushed in general?

For task 4.25, could we read a book by Ellen Hopkins or something similar- a story told in poem format, or does it have to be specific and individual poems?

For 4.20, I haven't read many graphic novels. Does anyone love those? Or, something Sci/Fi. I read very, very little Sci-Fi. I can think of maybe one or two books that I have read, especially YA that would count. A recommendation from either or those genres would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Danielle! Thinking about it now, The City of Ember books make sense as Sci-Fi, but I never would have figured that out on my own... Lol.

If someone recommends the first in a series, could I read the second instead?

Hi,
Just a quick question regarding section 3 of the challenge, could I substitute the Newberry award for the Carnegie award, as more of the books on that list are easily available in the uk.

Ashley wrote: "With the book pushing, does it have to be directed at me specifically, or could it be a book that a lot of people have pushed in general?


A book that is being pushed in general is fine.

Ashley wrote: For task 4.25, could we read a book by Ellen Hopkins or something similar- a story told in poem format, or does it have to be specific and individual poems?

If it is in poetry format, then that is fine.

Nirmala wrote: "Hi, Just a quick question regarding section 3 of the challenge, could I substitute the Newberry award for the Carnegie award, as more of the books on that list are easily available in the uk."

I updated the list title to be 3 – Newbery List/Carnegie Award Section. Hopefully this will be okay with everyone and help with other people having a hard time finding Newbery books in their area!

Linda Grace wrote: "Nirmala wrote: "Hi, Just a quick question regarding section 3 of the challenge, could I substitute the Newberry award for the Carnegie award, as more of the books on that list are easily available ..."

Thanks

Your welcome! Have fun with the challenge!

Linda Grace wrote: "Your welcome! Have fun with the challenge!"

Half the fun is working out which books on my TBR list can be worked into the challenge. Since the children are on their summer break we are doing our little reading challenge at home, so I need to make sure that the books I choose have to work into both challenges.
My pesonnel challenge is just to get further then I did in the last challenge, lets see !

Thanks Danielle!

And thanks Linda Grace for answering my questions!

The very first Newbery? Interesting. It would be neat to read the first and most current sometime, for comparison. Or even just a really early (first 5 years) and late (last 5). Hmm, next challenge...?

Linda, have you thought about allowing someone to pick out a 50-point task at the midway point of the challenge?

Now that I am (finally) done with Challenge 1, it's time for my favorite part, list-making for #2. So...

I was wondering who on here hasn't heard from my big mouth? I need to chat with someone about their 5 star rec's for task 4.5...

I would talk to you Misty. I need someone for that task too.