We
have reached the end of Contemporary YA Month. I’m pleased to say that it’s
been a success and I’ve loved hosting it. I set out to highlight some of the
fantastic contemporary YA that’s been written and published over the last
couple of years that has been a little over-looked, quite often by me, too. I think
I did it. I had some fantastic guest posts from long-time lovers of the genre
as well as warmly welcomed newbie’s and I managed to get around to reading some
of those contemps that I’d bought ages ago and never quite gotten around to.
But I couldn’t have done it on my own.
I’d
first like to thank to lovely ladies who wrote fantastic guest posts for me: Luisa Plaja,
Emma Pass,
Catherine Bruton,
Clover of Fluttering
Butterflies and Hannah of My Book Journey.
We heard about those authors that kick-started a love affair with contemporary
YA, current favourites, legendary authors and why it’s so popular.
Clover’s
Favourite Contemporary YA Authors
Then
we had Viv from Serendipity
Reviews whom guest-reviewed a contemporary YA classic
(that I still haven’t read!): Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson and I Want to Read That’s
Sammee who reviewed Sara
Zarr’s How to Save a Life for
us. Thank you!
Then
half-way through the month, we had a So Many Books, So Little Time first: a cover
reveal. I was the first to show the brand new cover of Keris Stainton’s
upcoming Emma Hearts LA, which I know
many people are very excited about (including me). Isn’t it fantastic? Emma Hearts LA will
be released June 7th by Orchard Books.
You’re
all probably wondering what on earth I did contribute now, aren’t you? I waxed
lyrical about the two authors who I credit for making me fall in love with
contemporary YA before I even really knew what it was, before blogging and
before the term YA was even coined. I owe Sarah
Dessen and Sarra
Manning a lot really and in these rather fan-girly posts,
I tell you exactly why.
I
also managed to review quite a few examples of contemporary YA. There was a
mixture of the old and the new and I’m pleased to say that a few authors and
books have been added to my favourites list.
Rockaholic, CJ
Skuse
The
best bit is that these twelve books are only a tiny, tiny sample of what’s out
there at the moment. Although it's cheesy, there really is a contemp YA novel
out there for everybody. All you have to do is look at some of the fantastic
ones we’ve got coming out this year: Nobody’s
Girl by Sarra Manning, Emma Hearts LA
by Keris Stainton, Chain Reaction by
Simone Elkeles, the Catastrophic History
of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg, Wonder
by RJ Palacio, This is Not
Forgiveness by Celia Rees, A
Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison and so many, many more.
And
now for the biggest thank you of all: to everyone who read, commented, tweeted,
re-tweeted and followed during the course of every month. I read and appreciate
every comment and every effort to help me spread the word brought a smile to my
face. Contemporary YA Month really wouldn’t have worked without you all, thank
you.
Sophie