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I don't review books I don't like!

*****= An all-time favorite
****  = Outstanding
***    = Above average
**      = Enjoyable
*        = Good, with reservations

Young Adult Fiction

"Personally, I believe 'Young Adult' to be an arbitrary title that means the book
'Can be enjoyed by anyone/
Has a main character who's not quite an adult/
Isn't really boring'."
—Shannon Hale, author of The Goose Girl, on her website, squeetus.com

Within each category, the books are listed by rating, with the most recent reviews first.
Click on the book title to read the complete review.

Classics

*****Emily's Quest, by L. M. Montgomery
*****Emily Climbs, by L. M. Montgomery
*****Anne of the Island, by L. M. Montgomery
****The Road to Yesterday, by L. M. Montgomery
****Rilla of Ingleside, by L. M. Montgomery
****Pollyanna Grows Up, by Eleanor H. Porter
****Anne's House of Dreams, by L. M. Montgomery
****Thunderhead, by Mary O'Hara
****Anne of Windy Poplars, by L. M. Montgomery
***Anne of Ingleside, by L. M. Montgomery
***Gift of Gold, by Beverly Butler
**Green Grass of Wyoming, by Mary O'Hara

Contemporary

*****Hit the Road, by Caroline B. Cooney
*****Best Foot Forward, by Joan Bauer
*****Girls in Pants, by Ann Brashares
*****The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, by Ann Brashares
****The Schwa Was Here, by Neal Shusterman
****The Beast, by Walter Dean Myers
****The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jaclyn Moriarty
****The Last Chance Texaco, by Brent Hartinger
****The Princess and the Pauper, by Kate Brian
****I Am Not Esther, by Fleur Beale
****Princess in Waiting:  The Princess Diaries, Volume IV, by Meg Cabot
****Shayla's Double Brown Baby Blues, by Lori Aurelia Williams
****All-American Girl, by Meg Cabot
****The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares
****Rat Boys, by Thom Eberhardt
****Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
***So Yesterday, by Scott Westerfeld
***Marly's Ghost, by David Levithan
***First Impressions, by Marilyn Sachs
***Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You, by Dorian Cirrone
***How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller, by Julia DeVillers
***godless, by Pete Hautman
***The Exiles in Love, by Hilary McKay
***Alice, I Think, by Susan Juby
***God Went to Beauty School, by Cynthia Rylant
***Stand Tall, by Joan Bauer
***Surviving the Applewhites, by Stephanie S. Tolan
***Girl Coming in for a Landing: A Novel in Poems, by April Halprin Wayland
***In the House of the Queen’s Beasts, by Jean Thesman
***Seek, by Paul Fleischman
***Hanging on to Max, by Margaret Bechard
***Princess in Love, by Meg Cabot
**Phoning a Dead Man, by Gillian Cross
**Sticks, by Joan Bauer
**A Face First, by Priscilla Cummings
 **Princess in the Spotlight, by Meg Cabot
*Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger
*Princess in Pink, by Meg Cabot

Fantasy

*****Ptolemy's Gate, by Jonathan Stroud
*****Talking to Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
*****Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling
*****The Cup of the World, by John Dickinson
*****The Sphere of Secrets, by Catherine Fisher
*****Calling on Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
*****In the Coils of the Snake, by Clare B. Dunkle
*****Searching for Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
*****Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
*****Enna Burning, by Shannon Hale
*****The Crown of Dalemark, by Diana Wynne Jones
*****Close Kin, by Clare B. Dunkle
*****The Spellcoats, by Diana Wynne Jones
*****Cart and Cwidder, by Diana Wynne Jones
*****Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith
*****The Hollow Kingdom, by Clare B. Dunkle
*****Lirael, by Garth Nix
*****Abhorsen, by Garth Nix
*****Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
*****Sabriel, by Garth Nix
*****Firebirds, edited by Sharyn November
*****East, by Edith Pattou
*****The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
*****Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling
*****Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling
 *****The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
*****Water:  Tales of Elemental Spirits, by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson
*****The Ropemaker, by Peter Dickinson
*****Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
*****The Earthsea Books, by Ursula K. LeGuin
****Wizards at War, by Diane Duane
****Magic or Madness, by Justine Larbalestier
****City of Flowers:  Stravaganza Book 3, by Mary Hoffman
****The Folk Keeper, by Franny Billingsley
****Book of Enchantments, by Patricia C. Wrede
****The Shamer's Signet, by Lene Kaaberbol
****Across the Wall, by Garth Nix
****The Widow and the King, by John Dickinson
****Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale
****The Golem's Eye, by Jonathan Stroud
****Gifts, by Ursula K. LeGuin
****The Shamer's Daughter, by Lene Kaaberbol
  ****Waters Luminous & Deep, by Meredith Ann Pierce
****Unexpected Magic, by Diana Wynne Jones
  ****The Grand Tour, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
****Drowned Ammet, by Diana Wynne Jones
****Wizard's Holiday, by Diane Duane
****City of Stars:  Stravaganza, Book Two, by Mary Hoffman
****The Oracle Betrayed, by Catherine Fisher
****Stravaganza:  City of Masks, by Mary Hoffman
****Wolf Wing, by Tanith Lee
****The Changeling Sea, by Patricia A. McKillip
****Sword of the Rightful King, by Jane Yolen
****The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope
****Millicent's Gift, by Ann Rinaldi
****A Wizard Alone, by Diane Duane
****The Frog Princess, by E. D. Baker
****The Hunting of the Last Dragon, by Sherryl Jordan
****Firesong, by William Nicholson
****A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond
****Slaves of the Mastery, by William Nicholson
****Dogsbody, by Diana Wynne Jones
****The Other Wind, by Ursula K. LeGuin
****Dark Lord of Derkholm and ****Year of the Griffin, by Diana Wynne Jones
****Owl in Love, by Patrice Kindl
  ***The Faery Reel, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
***Snow-Walker, by Catherine Fisher
***Wishing Moon, by Michael O. Tunnell
***Messenger, by Lois Lowry
***The Singer of All Songs, by Kate Constable
***Hero's Song, by Edith Pattou
***Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
***Dragon's Breath, by E. D. Baker
***A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray
***A Hidden Magic, by Vivian Vande Velde
***The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud
***Dragon's Bait, by Vivian Vande Velde
***A Well-Timed Enchantment, by Vivian Vande Velde
***The Great God Pan, by Donna Jo Napoli
***The Merlin Conspiracy, by Diana Wynne Jones
***Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris
***The Rope Trick, by Lloyd Alexander
***Abarat, by Clive Barker
***Wolf Queen, by Tanith Lee
  ***Half-Human, edited by Bruce Coville
***Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer

Historical

*****The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
*****The Foretelling, by Alice Hoffman
*****The Sunbird, by Elizabeth E. Wein
*****Quest for a Maid, by Frances Mary Hendry
*****The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
*****The Queen of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
*****The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi
****Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free, by Kathleen Karr
****By These Ten Bones, by Clare B. Dunkle
****The Winter Prince, by Elizabeth E. Wein
****Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes
****A Coalition of Lions, by Elizabeth E. Wein
****Out of Bounds, by Beverley Naidoo
****Crossing the Panther's Path, by Elizabeth Alder
****Taking Liberty, by Ann Rinaldi
****Crispin:  The Cross of Lead, by Avi
****Goddess of Yesterday, by Caroline B. Cooney
****Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
****Shylock's Daughter, by Mirjam Pressler
****Daughter of Venice, by Donna Jo Napoli
****The King's Swift Rider, by Mollie Hunter
****I Had Seen Castles, by Cynthia Rylant
  ***The Xanadu Adventure, by Lloyd Alexander
***Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
***A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly
***An Ocean Apart, a World Away, by Lensey Namioka
***Lost in the Labyrinth, by Patrice Kindl
**Witness, by Karen Hesse 

Science Fiction

*****Feed, by M. T. Anderson
*****This Star Shall Abide, by Sylvia Engdahl
*****Enchantress From the Stars, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl
****Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld
****Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
****Singing the Dog Star Blues, by Alison Goodman
****After, by Francine Prose
****The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
***The Sterkarm Handshake, by Susan Price
***Interstellar Pig, by William Sleator
***Beatnik Rutabagas From Beyond the Stars, by Quentin Dodd
**Turnabout, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

= Available at Sembach Library
 
Sonder is a German prefix meaning "special."

Copyright © 2005 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved. 

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