Today’s post is the second installment in our 4-part series highlighting each of the 24 titles (and their authors) nominated for the Teens Top Ten list. You can check out the first post here, and a handy pdf list of all the nominees, annotated for reader’s advisory, is here. To recap, the Teens’ Top Ten list is determined entirely by teens; first the nominees are chosen by teen book groups, and then voting is opened up online to teens everywhere.
Teen readers can vote starting August 15th through Teen Read Week (October 18-24, 2015), with winners announced the following.
So here we go; your next 6 (alphabetically by author’s last name) Teens’ Top Ten nominees, chosen by real, live teenagers.
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. A debut contemporary realistic novel about coming to terms with grief, told in a series of letters to dead celebrities, starting with Kurt Cobain. This snagged a glowing review from The Perks of Being a Wallflower‘s elusive Stephen Chbosky, and the audiobook production was a 2015 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, if you prefer to listen your way through the nominees. Dellaira has an author website, is on Facebook and Twitter, and there’s buzz that the production team behind the Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, and Maze Runner movies is in talks to do a movie adaptation, so expect this title to stay in the spotlight for awhile.
Into the Dark: The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain. The first in a new series based on the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades from the author of the paranormal Dark Divine series (the first book in that series, Dark Divine, was a 2011 Popular Paperback for Young Adults pick). The second book in the Into the Dark series is already out, and the third is slated for fall 2016. Despain has a website, and a blog, and is on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. Han is already a bestselling author several times over (The Summer I Turned Pretty, a 2010 Best Books for Young Adults pick, and its sequels), and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has a sequel out already as well (P.S. I Still Love You, a bestseller since its release last month), one that definitely leaves room for further installments with the same characters. Han also co-writes the Burn for Burn series with Siobhan Vivian. All of this is great news for new fans looking for more from Han. Famous-person Lauren Conrad selected To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before as her book club pick back in February, and just selected the sequel for her next read. She’ll be interviewing Jenny Han on July 15th (related: Lauren Conrad runs a book club? Way to promote reading, Lauren Conrad!). Han’s website is here, and she’s on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr.
Unhinged by A.G. Howard. Second in the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Splintered series. The first book of the series, Splintered, made the 2014 Teens Top Ten list. The final book in the series, Ensnared, is out already, for readers looking for an immersive, all-in-one-go reading binge (a “post-series companion collection,” Untamed, is due out in December, and an e-novella is also available). Howard’s website is here, and she’s on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr. She also answers questions on her Goodreads author profile. Katie Shanahan Yu interviewed Howard for The Hub last year when she won. Special library-love points go to Howard, who used to work in a middle school library!
The Young Elites by Marie Lu. This is the first book in a new fantasy series from the author of the super-bestselling (and 2012 Teens’ Top Ten) Legend series (which has a movie adaptation in currently in the works). The Young Elites (a 2015 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults pick) portrays a teen struggling to understand and control her newly-realized powers, while also trying to decide whether to wield them for good, or not-so-good aims. Lu is on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Deviant Art. The second book in the series, The Rose Society, comes out in October. Lu’s background is in visual arts (she used to work as a Flash animator), and it definitely shows; she’s got some really cool original artwork on social media.
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. The third installment in the bestselling Throne of Glass series (a fourth book is due out later this year), Heir of Fire also appears on the 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults list. The first (Throne of Glass) and second (Crown of Midnight) books in the series also made the 2013 and 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults lists. Equal parts fantasy, romance, and action, this was a debut series for Maas. Readers eager for more from her will be happy to learn she’s got the first book of a new series out, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which recently debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. Maas can be found on: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, her blog, and on author pages here and here. Fun fact to share with aspiring young writers: Maas finished her first draft of Throne of Glass material when she was only 16!
We’re halfway through highlighting the nominees; stay tuned for parts 3 and 4, and please share what you’ve learned and loved about the nominees in the comments.
-Carly Pansulla, currently reading The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen