My favorites of 2011

Late last year, I read a boatload of new science fiction and fantasy books for teens. A lot of them. Wizards, dystopias, magic, quests - they were coming out my ears, I tell you. These are my top four.

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick - When a powerful electromagnetic pulse kills off two-thirds of the human race and knocks the rest back to the Stone Age, it's every man, woman, and child for himself. 17-year-old Alex was already living on borrowed time, what with the brain tumor and all, so she thought she knew about living life one day at a time. Along with Afghanistan vet Tom and eight-year-old Ellie, she discovers that it's a little more difficult when you have to fight wild animals and teen cannibal zombies for the privilege.

It is a truth universally acknowledged...

...That the month which contains so much love-themed commercialism leaves book lovers in want of Pride and Prejudice. One of my favorite light reads last year was Prom and Prejudice, which our Book Lady blogged about here. It's a modern-day update set in a prep school, with way more coffee.

The Best of 2011 According to Me.

It's that time of the year when the best of 2011 lists are appearing. I always enjoy looking back at what I've read over the past year and seeing which books really stood out. My top picks for 2011 are:

Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Two dystopias and two romances. Hmm... That might seem contradictory. However, I am not judging these books against each other. I'm just saying these were the ones that kept me up way too late because I was dying to know what would happen next. So which books made your top picks for 2011?

Edgy Reads

I was going to do a best-of-the-year post, but when I looked back at the teen books I read in 2011, I realized that most had something in common: they were pretty dark and disturbing. Dark content in YA literature got a lot of press this year, but in the end, it's a personal decision. If you're searching for books that push the envelope and give you that unsettled, is-this-really-okay-to-read feeling, give these a shot!

• After by Amy Efaw is the raw, unflinching story of the person behind the headlines:  Devon did something terrible, something so bad she can't even quite remember or believe it, even in her cell in juvie, where she has all the time in the world to reflect.