Thousands of teens across the country spent the summer reading the Teens’ Top Ten nominees. Voting for the top ten happened this autumn, and Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave is a winner!
This u
nique alien invasion novel was a critical and popular success when it came out last May. It is also a hit in Hollywood since it is being made into a 2016 movie starring Chloe Grace Moretz. And it certainly is a hit with teens since they voted it number 5 on the YALSA Teens’ Top Ten list for 2014.
The 5th Wave tells the story of life on earth after four waves of an alien invasion. The novel follows two young humans who are trying to survive at all costs: Cassie, a 16 year old whose best friend is her rifle, and Zombie, a 17 year old who used to be known as Ben and who used to be a jock, but who is now a militaristic killing machine. Readers never find out why aliens are invading the planet or why they are trying to eliminate humans, but these questions are almost superfluous as the survival tales of the two teens are so gripping and heart rending.
Yancey is a popular author with two other terrific YA series.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp series follows a young man who gets roped into outrageous adventures by his uncle. Car chases, parachuting, snowmobiling – there is plenty of action in these novels as Alfred goes looking for ancient artifacts like King Arthur’s sword or King Solomon’s seals.
The Monstrumologist series garnered Yancey a Printz honor for the first book. It tells the story of young orphan Will Henry who taken under the wing of a doctor, a doctor 
of monstrumology. Monsters are real, and Dr. Warthrop hunts them…with Will’s help. The series is scary and gory and a delight to fans of horror.
The Hub encourages you to read The 5th Wave (and all the Teens’ Top Ten titles) and once you have gotten hooked, why not read The Infinite Sea, the second book of The 5th Wave which just came out in September?
~ Geri Diorio, currently reading The Infinite Sea