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I've been on vacation from the blog for much of the summer. Like returning to school, I'm both dreading and excited about resuming my usual posting routine. But come Labor Day, I'll be back in my seat in Blogland.
I couldn't resist popping in to talk about NPR's Top 100 List of YA Books. Argument over the value of this list has been heated, and several have eloquently discussed it. I won't rehash the discussion here, but it's worth checking out.
The most interesting thing about the list is how off some of the entries are. They're simply not YA. There are a number that are borderline: The Hobbit; Fahrenheit 451; To Kill A Mockingbird. I don't think they're YA, but an argument could be made about their audience. But the books below are unarguably children's books. And in a survey of over 2,000 people, a fair number voted for these books. Someone probably could approximate the statistics, but that someone is not me. Bottom line--people do not know what YA is. But don't ask me to define it. Like obscenity, I know it when I see it!
Without further ado, my top 10, next to the spot the book or series was given on the list:
1/100 The Betsy Tacy series
2/33 The Call Of The Wild
3/14 The Anne of Green Gable series
4/30 Tuck Everlasting
5/41 Dune
6/51 Treasure Island
7/44 The Dark Is Rising series
8/18 Lord Of The Flies
9/3 To Kill A Mockingbird
10/7 The Lord Of The Rings
There you have it, folks. The above are by and large awesome books, but they're not YA. Even worse, NPR actually made an attempt to weed out books meant for younger readers. If this sloppiness bugs you, consider the following: for all anyone knows, The Hungry Caterpillar and Good Night Moon could be in the mix, below the one hundred mark. Oy.
