Susan and I are still waiting on requests, until then we are happy to give suggestions. Today we're talking about friends. One of the great things about reading novels featuring friends is a reader can find a piece of themselves in one or all the characters. It's also a pleasure to watch the friendships develop. We recommend the following list of YA books featuring groups of friends:
Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim. I really enjoyed this novel. I believe this is the only book on this list where friendship isn't obvious from the summary. The author does an excellent job of developing Bridget and Helena, the best friends of the main character Nina. I absolutely loved the easy banter and diversity of the lunch scenes that included the best friends' boy friends.
Its Chicks by Tia Williams. If you're looking for a fun, laugh out loud read, filled with a little drama I highly recommend this series.
See feature on Tia Williams at The Brown Bookshelf.Who's Your Daddy? by Lynda Sandoval
Chicks Ahoy by Lynda Sandoval. I haven't read either of the Sandval titles (yet) but they both look like fun.
Chameleon by Charles R Smith Jr. This is one of the most overlooked titles of '08. It's a great book. Readers get to know four friends. Its '80s Compton, the summer before the boys will go to high school. Read review at Happy Nappy Bookseller.
Temptress of Four by Gaby Triana
Rogelia's House of Magic by Jamie Martinez Wood
So Not the Drama by Paula Chase - Fans of Harrison's Clique series my find a new series to love. You can read Ari's review at Reading In Color.
Mexican White Boy by Matt de la Pena. I loved this book. The author took the time to develop the friendships between the main characters.
Girls Stay in the Picture by Melissa de la Cruz. I love this cover.
Lip Gloss Chronicles by Shelia M. Goss. Check out the feature at the Brown Bookshelf.
If after you reading this list, your first thought is,"What about this?" or "I can't believe you forgot that?," please add the forgotten or unknown title to the comment box. If something looks interesting, please tell us what is and why.
Did this work for? What should we talk about next week? We need your feedback. Thanks.
Shades of Love. This symbol and tag will be used to help you readily identify posts focused on children and YA literature. We're going to do our best to consistently use this and other markers to help you navigate here at Color Online. Click on the tag to find more Shades of Love titles.
16 comments:
Chameleon's on my TBR list b/c of you! And Matt de la Pena's coming up this week in the Writers Against Racism series...
Wow, thanks for this list! Lots of books I want to check out here.
Susan the post looks great. All these great books prove a story featuring people of color doesn't always have to be about race.
Zetta, you should add Mexican WhiteBoy to your list has well. Its so good.
Hopefully people will start responding to this feature soon
Hi Julia,
Glad you're impressed. What would you like to see featured in the future? Pick a theme/genre/topic.
Sure, Doret, you got the fun part- coming up with the list and left me the grunt work. Next time, you can load all the images. lol
Fantastic list, Doret!
Great list! I've only read It Chicks (loved!), So Not the Drama (loved, loved!) and the Lipgloss Chronicles (review coming soon, eh). I never finished Girl Stays in the Picture. Did you read it? If so did you like it?
All the other books are now on my wishlist! Especially SkunkGirl, Temptress Four and I keep seeing Who's Your Daddy? So I may try that one too :)
The DIVAS series by Victoria Christopher Murray is a good friendship series.
Maybe next week you could talk about self-esteem, bullying, or a certain period in history. I'm not sure, anything you come up with will be great and informative!
Yes, a request! Thanks, Ari.
Love your recommendations! thanks for posting :)
Motor City Momma
I'd like to see a feature on YA books that tackle "taboo" topics, but without sermonizing. There's a fine line, but I'd like to see books hailed as portraying tough topics such as sexual activity without moralizing. Off the top, Coe both's Kendra handles the MC's sexual encounter with brutal frankness. She neither celebrates it or judges it. There are other books that do the same, I'm sure.
Paula,
I seek out books like this. They don't get enough attention. Ill talk with Doret.
Thank you for recommending The Lip Gloss Chronicles.
MissAttitude, you should definitely check out Who's Your Daddy? It's a fun read, light-but-not-dumb, and doesn't get nearly enough attention. (At least, not as much as *I* think it should :-) So glad it made your list, Susan!
Hey! What about the Drama High Series?! I think they're up to #8 now. Me, I'm on #4. It is a great series with plenty of friends, romance, family and...drama! L. Divine does a nice job with this series.
This is why community matters, we get to exchange ideas and share information. Thanks, Edi.
I forget the Drama High series, thanks Edi
Glad to here Who's Your Daddy's good. It looks like a lot of fun.
Love the cover for Girls Stay in the Picture but the book the book didn't do it for me. Still included it because this list is about giving people choices.
I am seeing a few request self esteem, bullying, taboo topics, which I believe can all work together.
And periods in history.
My mind is already working. Thanks for all the responses this is great.
I want to second Ari requests for books on Anti-bullying. Our school is looking for a book that would appeal to both boys and girls and could be read to/by 6th graders.
I have the Matt De La Pena book and will try to get to that soon. I will be adding So Not The Drama to my list too!
Love the Drama High series! I'm a little behind though :(
I agree with Paula. Books handling 'taboo' subjects would be good. It may be too hard to find books that aren't too preachy and I think some people maay find certain books preachy, but others would disagree.
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