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Monday, August 6, 2018

Best Y.A. Book (or Series) 2000-Present Not Written by a Cis Het White Man

Note: Nominations closed! Poll to go up on 8/24/18

What is the very best Y.A. fiction (book or series) written by a woman or POC or member of the LGBTQ+ community in the last 18 years?  

This poll is from our Year of Diverse Polls. Please check this page out if you have questions about the narrowed focus.

As we continue with the most popular polls we've ever done here at Writing About Writing (but without the cis het white guys) we will have to break one of the most popular categories ever up into chunks by time in order to keep it from getting unruly. So if the date of copyright is 1999 or before, it'll be the next poll.

[I'm trying to jump back into things, but it may be a bit of a ramp up to our full fledged, kick ass posting schedule, especially on the "on camera" side of the blog. Not only are there about ten "admin" posts that need posting (everything from our 2018 Best Of menu, that now has enough entries to create, to a shout out to the first 6 month's patron muses), but I have probably 40-50 hours of editing work and menu clean up that needs to be done as well and a bunch of emails that require my attention. And jury duty hit this week if you can believe that shit. I probably won't get called, and I'll never make a jury if I do get called because A) I seem to understand the burden of proof that "reasonable doubt" entails and B) I tell them openly that I think the modern criminal justice system upholds white supremacy––no prosecutor would ever let me within a country mile of their juries, but it might still be several hours out of writing time since I am currently pet sitting almost two hours drive from where I would have to report. And to top it all off, I'm still healing from my hospital stay. I can only write for a little while before sitting up really starts to be uncomfortable and I need to lie back down. That little fucker must have really torn up some shit on its way through. I'm really terrible at convalescing and I hate it, but even I know not to mess around with getting enough rest after landing in the hospital.]

The Rules:

  1. Please note the diversity requirements above. 
  2. As always, I leave the niggling over "YA" to your best judgement because I'd rather be inclusive. If you feel like Water for Elephants is young adult, I will furrow my brow, make an "Erm?" noise, and shrug. (Though you may need to show your work in order to get the seconds you'll need to make the poll.) I'll only throw them out if they get super ridiculous. 
  3. You may nominate two (2) books or series. If you nominate three or more I become a megalomaniacal gatekeeper on a cheap power trip. But more importantly for you, I will NOT take any nominations beyond the second that you suggest. (I will consider a long list to be "seconds" if someone else nominates them as well, and will only take the first two.)
  4. You may (and absolutely should) second as many nominations of others as you wish. Also stop back in and see if anyone has put up something you want to see go onto the poll. This one is going to have fierce competition.
  5. Put your nominations here. I will take nominations only as comments and only on this post. (No comments on FB posts or G+ will be considered nominations.) If you can't comment for some reason because of Blogger, send me an email (chris.brecheen@gmail.com) stating exactly that, and I will personally put your comment up. I am not likely to see a comment on social media even if it says you were unable to leave a comment here. 
  6. You are nominating WRITTEN young adult fiction, not their movie portrayals. If you thought Jennifer Lawrence was awesome in The Hunger Games movies, but you didn't really care for the books, then that shouldn't be your nomination.
  7. This is probably well known by vets of this blog by now, but there will be no more endless elimination rounds. I will take somewhere between 8-20 best performing titles and at MOST run a single semifinal round. So second the titles you want even if they already have one. (Yes, I guess that would make them thirds, fourths, etc...) The competition on THIS poll is going to be FIERCE so please come back and second, third, fourth, and twenty-fifth everything you want to see go on to the poll.

88 comments:

  1. Summer in orcus by Ursula Vernon

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  2. Gail Carriger - Finishing School series
    Zoraida Cordova - Brooklyn Brujas series

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    Replies
    1. I'm here to second the Finishing School series.

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    2. Seconding the Finishing School series.

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  3. A Darker Shade Of Magic by V.E. Schwab
    Children Of Blood And Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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  4. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

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  5. Cathrynne Valente: Fairyland series (first book: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making)

    Kelly Barnhill: The Girl Who Drank the Moon

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  6. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
    The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

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  7. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
    The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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  8. I second The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger
    Huntress by Malinda Lo

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  9. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
    The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary

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    Replies
    1. Second for Ramona Quimby series!
      <3 Beverly Cleary books

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    2. Oh please come back around with the Cleary nomination when the Ramona books aren't outside the time frame!!!! Love them so. Would love to see them nominated.

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  10. The Dark Is Rising -series by Susan Cooper

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    Replies
    1. I remember reading the Dark is Rising series in the 1980's... so not sure that it qualifies, though it's a fantastic set of books.

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    2. The next poll will probably be the same except 1975 to 2000, so hope to see it there.

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  11. Is Never Let Me Go a YA novel?

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  12. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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  13. Study series by Maria V. Snyder and Half Bad series by Sally Green

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  14. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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  15. "First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts" by Lari Don.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
    Crank series by Ellen Hopkins

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  18. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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  19. On the older edges of YA, Brimstone Angels by Erin M Evans (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10454285-brimstone-angels) Remarkably for a D&D tie in series this is actually well written, and isn't teenage boy fan-service fiction.

    On the younger end of YA, Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9540084-dragon-rider)

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    Replies
    1. Seconding Dragon Rider ( I met CF when I was little!)

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  20. The Mortal Instruments By Cassandra Clare

    In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

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  21. A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas
    Graceling by Kristin Cashore

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  22. Tricksters omnibus by Tamora Pierce
    Beka Cooper: The Hunt Records by Tamora Pierce

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    Replies
    1. Seconding Trickers. I'm appalled that you didn't pick alanna or kel :P I met her and she was so nice! I may or may not have cried after.

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    2. Seconding both Tamora Pierce series.

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    3. oops I nominated the Beka Cooper series below! will edit my nomination + YES I LOVE TP

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    4. (I got distracted, this is a second for both series!)

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    5. I didn't do the others because of the publishing date restriction. Not sure if the omnibus being published after 2000 counts.

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    6. I got to meet TP this year! I <3 so much!!!!

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  23. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

    The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

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  24. No love for Maggie Steifvater?
    I’m nominating The Scorpio Races

    Also, Meghan Whelan Turner’s The Theif series, which is extraordinary, and doesn’t get enough love

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  25. Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson. Just read this and was in love.

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  26. The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis, The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb, …and, say, the amazing Deverry Cycle by Katharine Kerr.

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  27. The Harry Potter books 1-7 by J.K Rowling.

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    Replies
    1. I'll second JK Rowling's Harry Potter books, though the first book cuts it fine (just checked - Sorcerer's Stone was published in hardback November, 1999).

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  29. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alie Sáenz

    Fangirl/Carry On (one series) by Rainbow Rowell

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  30. Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro.

    Seconding:
    Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
    Summer in Orcus by Ursula Vernon

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    Replies
    1. OOOOoooh I don't think it'll matter, but I totally second Anger Is a Gift!

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  31. The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
    Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

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  32. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
    Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan MacGuire

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  33. I nominate ‘Binti’ series by Nnedi Okorafor
    And second ‘Akata Witch’ by same

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  34. Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins!

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  35. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell!

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  36. I nominate For Steam And Country by Hispanic author Jon Del Arroz.

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    Replies
    1. Not sure why my name didn't come up, but this was my entry.

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  37. For steam and country by Hispanic author jon del arroz

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  38. For steam and country by Hispanic author jon del arroz

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  39. Lydia Sherrer, Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus and Dark Roads trilogy.

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  40. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

    Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

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    Replies
    1. For some reason my name doesn't show up. I promise I only nominated the two above books! (I see there are some other, earlier "unknown" nominations.)

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    2. No worries. Unknown happens a lot. It's not really the kind of poll where I worry that people are stuffing the ballot boxes.

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