Reddit mentions: The best teen & young adult family fiction books

This was so much fun! Thanks for posting :)

1 [Something Blue](Playshoes 408566 Girl's Rain Coat Blue 5-6 Years https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001PDN1O8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-CR5AbJ14TEGH). In Scotland April Showers don’t just finish in April! At all points of the year we can expect anything from a light drizzle to torrential rain!

2 Something that says summer. Watermelons totally make me think of summer, and sippy cups are perfect to keep bugs out of your drinks in the summer!

3 food related. A carrot sharpener! I saw these in a local store and couldn’t stop laughing at the thought of someone wanting a really sharp carrot.

4 a gift for someone else. My fiancé is obsessed with this album and I recently bought him a record player so I think he would love having it in this format too!

5 book suggestion. So I don’t know what types of books you are into but this is a YA Fantasy. It follows three sisters who were each born with a power. Now that they are of age, they must use their powers to kill their other sisters and become queen! It’s pretty kick ass :)

6 under $1. Okay so I’m from Scotland and I don’t know if this actually works out to be less than $1 but it is less than £1 so I hope that counts!! And they are really cute :)

7 Doggo related. My spaniel loves things like this! And I think it would work for any dog :)

8 useless but awesome. I’d love for my cats to wear this around Christmas!! Although they’d probably break it within a second haha.

9great movie The LOTRs! Great friendships, a lot of laughs and just a fab story. My all time favourite films!

10Zombie attack. I’m going to be the type of person who hides during the apocalypse and hope for the best! So I think if I find somewhere with some water nearby I could kinda camp out for a while!

11 complete goals. My main goal right now is to be more organised, and to do more creative things. I want to have fun and do more hobbies. So I think a diary where I can be creative and plan all my spare time would be great!

12 add on. WHY ARE PENS ALWAYS ADD ONS????!!!!

13 fandom. This would match my Alice tattoo! And who doesn’t need a purse :)

14 super expensive Jesus!! Who knew you could buy such expensive rings on amazon??

15 sharks or unicorns. Shark cat bed! I can only imagine how my two would react this this haha!

16 wonderful smell. I love this candle! Probably my favourite smell ever!

17 cool toy. I couldn’t find the game I always wanted as a kid, mostly because I couldn’t really remember what it was called! Although here is a Jared Funko pop that I’ve been eyeing up for months!

18 helpful for writers. I thought this was kinda cool. It gives tips on how to get out of writers block as well as mix up characters!

19 current obsession. Musicals are my currently my favourite obsession (see what I did their RHPS fans?)!

20 weird!. I’m just really not sure why these would ever be needed but at the same time I really want a pair haha!

John Lennon was raised by his aunt and uncle, because they felt his mother wasn't capable of it. One of his younger half-sisters was adopted at birth by a Norwegian couple and he never met her, the other two were brought up by his mother and their dad until she died and they were sent to another aunt. His song "Mother" is about his parents not raising him.

I read a lot of Young Adult books, so here's some:

• Finley and the Foster Brother teenage romance, main character goes into care when her mother is hospitalized. Like most YA romance, you have to like the genre :)
  
• Anne of Green Gables for any kids today who don't know it!
  
• Ballet Shoes is an old UK book about three girls who have been adopted into the same family, and go to ballet school (if old stuff counts, there's quite a lot of British stuff set around world war II, like "The war that saved my life" and "Goodnight Mr Tom")
  
• The Great Gilly Hopkins, now a 2016 movie with a great cast, a 12yo girl who wants out of foster care
  
• Dicey's Song, the 2nd book in a series. In the first book, Dicey (a teenage girl) managed to get herself and her siblings to their grandmother's home after their mother disappears ("Homecoming"). This book is about the experience of settling in. It's part of a whole series, the Tillerman Cycle, that covers people in and around the family for years. Great books. My favorite is The Runner, book 4, but that's nothing to do with foster care.
  
  I haven't read these but heard strong recommendations:
  
  
• Returnable Girl, a 13 year old girl in foster care. This won a bunch of awards, but seems pretty predictable
  
• The Last Chance Texaco, I've seen it recommended as a solid story about a kid in a group home
  
  not quite what you asked for, but a few from the perspective of kids with foster siblings:
  
  
• Kinda Like Brothers, a kids book about a 12 year old boy and his foster siblings.
  
• The trouble with Donovan Croft, a boy and his new foster brother, in England.
  
  And some movies, besides Anne of Green Gables and The Great Gilly Hopkins above
  
  
  
• December Boys is a movie about four boys in a (1950's Australia) group home that I feel like is mostly famous for having Daniel Radcliffe in it.
  
• And here's a list of movies recommended by foster alumni. I had totally forgotten that the kid in Free Willy was in foster care!
  
  edit to add: Far From the Tree, an adopted teenage girl learns about her siblings, one adopted and one not.

1. gray item. because who doesn't need to keep a pack of Gatorade strapped to your back! [on wishlist]http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Trailrunner-Hydration-Backpack-Bladder/dp/B006JYHFJA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I2WYDQ9W75X9MC
   
   2)its cheep and it will help you sleep, I think its pretty awesome! I love sleeping with the rain!
   http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Therapy-Rest-Relax-Unwind/dp/B008245WE0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376278734&sr=8-1&keywords=rain+fall+sleep
   
   3)these are soo freaking awesome! little tablets that change your taste buds! I got them once and was able to eat a whole lemon and it tasted sweet and just like lemon aid! really cool experience!
   http://www.amazon.com/mberry-MFT10-Miracle-Fruit-Tablets/dp/B001LXYA5Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376279107&sr=8-1&keywords=mirical+berry
   
   
2. this is for my dad because he is really into with the number pi right now. [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pi-T-shirt-Blk-2XL/dp/B004JKRCMQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I53I11B0DGEEB&psc=1
   
   
3. my girlfriend wants to read it! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Burned-Ellen-Hopkins/dp/1416903550/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I1LD6ZH0J4LS6D
   
   6)cheep and good looking!!
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B005DV7JZA/sr=8-2/qid=1376279020/ref=olp_tab_new?ie=UTF8&colid=&coliid=&condition=new&me=&qid=1376279020&seller=&sr=8-2
   
   
   7)come on, if you had an iphone you know you would want it.
   http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-Black-White-Case/dp/B00CTKY6RC/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1376279221&sr=8-9&keywords=awesome+cat
   
   
   
   
4. i thought this would be awesomely cool and make my room real awesome looking! control the lighting from your phone!!! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Color-LED-Lightbulb-w-Remote/dp/B001JOCXDS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I7T1UGEXIIX4W
   
   
5. because it is very well done! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Skyfall-Daniel-Craig/dp/B007REV4T8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I337EPFUIZB7TZ
   
   
6. well its a Katana and its a silent kill and wont attract more zombies! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Handmade-Zetsurin-Samurai-Katana/dp/B00168E63W/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I1MMEZJU0KOPQM
   
   
7. from what I've heard this book has some great philosophy in it, and its by the man that holds my favorite quote. “Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”
   ― Miyamoto Musashi
   http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-Five-Rings/dp/1590307976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376279321&sr=8-1&keywords=miyamoto+musashi
   
   
   
   
8. i hate using batteries so this is a must! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-One-Play-Charge-Kit/dp/B00DBDPOZ4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I3CIM3292FZ14G
   
   
9. Im a big zombie fan and i am supper hype for this game!! [on wishlist]
   http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Rising-Day-One-Edition-Xbox/dp/B00DB90AHA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I1QT52XNPP3INH
   
   
10. put your bread in this!!! http://www.amazon.com/Electrolux-ELECTRIC-Laundry-Pedestals-EIFLS60LSS_EIMED60LSS_EPWD15SS/dp/B008BVX4QC/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1376280622&sr=8-9&keywords=washer
    
    
    
    
11. the evil tron! perfect for spooky pranks! [on wishlist]
    http://www.amazon.com/ThinkGeek-Eviltron/dp/B002X8ROD8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I2LGK14P2YYOQH
    
    
12. Sex Panther. 60% of the time, it works every time
    http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Panther-1-7-oz-Cologne-Spray/dp/B001LNG4YG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376280230&sr=8-1&keywords=sex+panther
    
    
13. id consider this a toy, though I'm not sure how they would feel about it at work! [on wishlist]
    http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Brotherhood-Auditore-Role-Play-Gauntlet/dp/B00829SW06/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=IPNN90SAUHJ1M
    
    
    
14. having this Pen is like having a second brain!
    http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-Sky-Wi-Fi-Smartpen-APX-00011/dp/B009FU2AW2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376349421&sr=8-5&keywords=smartpen
    
    
15. i LOVE one piece and i just started watching it again after a long break! [on wishlist]
    http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Fabric-Scroll-Poster-Inches/dp/B005V5G0R6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I13FE5IYZNX2I0
    
    
16. its a shirt that lights up when you are near a wifi source!! Its so awesome! [on wishlist]
    http://www.amazon.com/Wi-Fi-Detector-Shirt-Medium-built/dp/B00BL8EIGM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2NVQK9OBQEJK9&coliid=I4Q5WD2P3YS0O
    
    Made in Oregon!!
    http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Shine-Breakfast-Gift-Set/dp/B0011UNLKY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376276190&sr=8-1&keywords=made+in+oregon
    
    Fear cuts deeper than swords.
    
    (Sorry that the links are not compressed idk how to do it, and I'm on mobile =\ hope its not a problem)
    Thanks for the Awesome Contest!!!
    
    Edit: Updated!
    2nd Edit: #18

I agree wholeheartedly that a critique group whose skills match your own, or where your skills exceed theirs can lend itself to a third option. I also agree the solution here is to find some new CP's. I'm also a fan of always pulling a brand new reader into any new work because it helps establish a baseline for how your writing might be received from a brand new audience without an expectation of your ability to deliver on the promises your book makes.

It's also a very interesting that you bring this up.

I really don't like the word outgrown, even though it's accurate. I think it sort of perpetuates this prevalent notion that writing is like a pyramid or a tower, where the most advanced writers with the most practice are at the top and as you descend you find less and less talented writers.

Really what you have is a set of 10 or so skills that comprise writing, and you have writers at varying degrees of each skill. Sure, maybe your Average Joe writer can't give NYT Bestseller advice on how to market their book, but there are plenty of NYT Bestsellers who could probably learn a thing or two from Average Joe about how to write a three-dimensional character... After all, Average Joe is buying NYTBS's books. His value is not just in his writing skill, but also his ability to be a metric of how an average person perceives a work.

I said this in the Tuesday post but I think it's worth repeating because I really believe it:

There are two kinds of people. People who are willing to learn from someone, and people who are willing to learn from anyone. Only one of those types of people ever accomplishes anything noteworthy.

Also: For those of you out there who don't know this - Sarah is a fantastic author. Go buy Sarah's book. Like now. Like, click here and buy it! Seriously. I'm only a few chapters in, but the writing is stunning.

If your son is a good reader I would recommend the Osprey series as a reference for any units/battles he takes a particular shining too. They have lots of illustrations and diagrams.

Also my niece used to love paging through my coffee table book histories at that age. She wouldn't read every word of course but she would read what grabbed her attention and ask me tons of questions about things. I had this one among many others and the large images really grab kids attention, they can usually be found in the Bargain section of B&N for cheap.

As far as things specifically aimed at kids, I don't know of anything, I would suggest asking the Children's librarian at your local library, I'm sure they will have good ideas.

You can also find historical novels for his age group which he might enjoy, something like this. I can't remember exactly what my reading level was at 8 and I don't have kids...I think I was reading choose your own adventure books and the like though so this sort of thing would probably be doable for him.

The His Fair Assassin trilogy features Breton assassin nuns who serve a death god. In the books it states that the gods are pre-Christian but are now worshipped as saints. Those who still worship them as gods are known as followers of the old ways. I definitely recommend the series.

Though not Pagans, one of the main character's sisters in The Passion of Dolssa is a fortune-teller, and Dolssa herself is a mystic fleeing from inquisitors after being branded a heretic.

My friend recommended Till We Have Faces to me. It's a retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche.

Cruel Beauty's main characters are Hellenists who practice Hermetic magick, and "As Above, So Below/As Within, So Without" is a running theme in the book. There are also Celtic pagans in the book.

I'd also say Sabriel. Sabriel is the daughter of a necromancer and she and her father practice Charter Magic, which uses runes. There is also a community of seers in the book.

I tend to read a lot of fantasy and YA, so hopefully this isn't a turnoff.

1. Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
   
2. 8/10
   
3. Romance, Dark, Fiction, Young Adult,
   
4. It was a great story about loss, grief, redemption, and love. It is a beautifully told story, and is surprisingly funny at times given some of the dark, edgy subject matter. The end is incredibly moving. A couple of great love stories in here as well.
   
5. Review and Amazon

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson is a great fantasy series for YA fans branching into adult Fantasy. In fact, they are re-packaging them in PB for teens because they have such good cross-over appeal

I really liked Sorcery and Cecilia, which is Jane Austen with magic, basically.

Speaking of Jane Austen, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a great YA title that's basically a re-telling of Persuasion done in a sort-of dystopian, far future setting.

If you want a more literary contemporary YA, I would try I'll Give You the Sun. It's probably the best book I've read all year.

I've got more where that came from if you would like more titles!

The OP, and your comment reminded me of the book Lyddie, which is set earlier than when your great grandmother worked, but is still a great story. It's written for younger readers, but an adult could spend an afternoon enjoying it as well. My little brother got a lot out of reading it.

• my favorite book is The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. The main character is writing her doctorate thesis on the Salem Witch Trials. She's trying to revisit the reasoning behind the mania. She also has family that date back to the trials. I love the history and how deep her research went for the book. You can tell how hard she worked on it. The book also has a pretty cool twist and I love the new views on the trial as she tries to figure it out using modern logic.
  
  
• my least favorite book is Drink, Slay Love. The main characters had no redeeming qualities, the writing style felt like a 14 year old, and the plot twist was so preposterous. I was embarrassed to have read it.
  
  The Abandoned
  
  Dead Suite
  
  Drop Dead Beauty
  
  Coming Home
  
  A Shade of Blood
  
  I love talking about books!!! Thanks for the contest!!!
  
  
  

I normally steer clear of YA books, but I did pick up Daughter Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics on a whim, and very glad I did. Likely the best supernatural novel I read that year.

Dear Lola: Or How To Build Your Own Family by Judie Angell

""Lola," an eighteen-year old boy living at an orphans' home who writes a popular national advice column rounds up five other children at the home whom he likes: thirteen-year-old James, ten-year-old Annie (the narrator) and her twin brother Al-Willie, nine-year-old Edmund, and five-year-old Ben, and they set off for a small town in which they form a family and move into a nice house, dodging the neighbours' nosy questions and having a great time, that is, at first: soon, people start to wonder why their "grandfather" whom they always assure is around somewhere, is never seen, and why the family looks so suspicious in general." (from an online review)

The book was first published in 1980

I would LOVE The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge because it is the book that the movie The Secrets of Moonacre is based off of, and I really like that movie. Nevertheless, we know that the books are always better or so it goes :-)!

I just finished Night Circus, I plan on reading whatever book from my GoodReads list is available from the public libraries Kindle selection. I am currently reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

This would be super helpful for when I do study abroad!

I have been dying to read Never Fall Down since the guy who the book is about did an AMA.

pecksniffian

Thanks for the contest!

So it goes

The Scorpio Races

Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors, I read her Wolves of Mercy Fall series and I just amnfowaivnfwf - I want to read all her books now and this one is next on my extensive list.

I just picked up a book called The Farm and it's really good so far.

I love reading books! I cannot recommend 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami enough. It has a beautifully developed plotline with very realistic characters. My book of choice would be The Last Universe by William Sleator.

Just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik for the second time. It’s a fairytale/fantasy book, and I love the mysterious world it is set in. Medieval with magic.

I just started The Hazel wood by Melissa Albert , which I hope has the same fairytale/fantasy feel, eventhough it’s set in modern times.

My girl will be a little over 2 when her sister is born. We've been reading her this book from day 1 but she doesn't get it yet. We talk a lot about her sister, how there's a baby in mommy's belly, how she'll be a big sister soon, etc. It's not registering at all. But I expect one day it'll click. Even if it doesn't I don't want to sensor myself or other people around her so I'm just making it a part of our lives even though she won't be here for months. There are going to be a lot of changes for her before baby arrives - moving to her big girl room and out of the crib/nursery, getting rid of her pacifiers, moving to the 2 year old room at daycare. I'm hoping that by talking about everything long before it happens it'll make for an easier transition.

That may have been the one called "The Fear Street Saga" trilogy

Book 1 - The Betrayal

Book 2 - The Secret

Book 3 - The Burning

I always liked the stand alone books like The Cheater or The Wrong Number and the Super Chillers because they were extra long. My favorite was probably Silent Night. I also liked the 99 Fear Street Series or all the books in the Fear Street Cheerleaders series.

When I was in 6th grade, one time the Scholastic book order had this monthly club you could sign up for. Every month they would send you 2 Fear Street books and some other Fear Street/R.L. Stine merchandise like stickers, buttons, or bookmarks, things like that. When I first started, it was great. They would send me the latest one that just came out that month and one of the previous older ones. I did this for a really long time, many many months and built up quite a collection of Fear Street books. However, I think they started running out of books to send me because it ended up becoming they would send me the latest Fear Street and then some other "horror" novel, like non-Fear Street R.L. Stine books, a Christopher Pike book or something like Twins by Caroline B. Cooney. I had so many of these books I was like my own library. After awhile though, the books they were sending got shittier and shittier and they were sending me stuff like some Ichabod Crane/Sleepy Hallow type book and I ended up stopping the monthly book club. Then, a few years later, my mother sold most of them at a yard sale. Now I'm really wishing she had kept them, I would have taken them back. Which is why, I bought a bunch of them again! Now I want to go read a Fear Street book...

Same here! The sagas were my favorite. Especially this one. Man, I loved those books!

The scene where the matriarch and patriarch drink blood together has always stuck with me.

So I mostly review YA books because the entire purpose of the whole thing is to build an "online presence" so I can sell my own YA book, so if you're looking outside of that, I can't really help.

I really liked Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (book 2 in the series was okay, book three was quite good, book 4 is not published yet). My review of it is here.

I recently published an audio/podcast version of my review for a bad book The Selection.

Hello in there, a big sisters book of waiting. It shows the mommy's belly growing and it has a flap and there's a baby underneath!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1419703714?pc_redir=1407204235&robot_redir=1

Maybe The Farm by Emily McKay?

Was it Burned by Ellen Hopkins?

http://www.amazon.com/Burned-Ellen-Hopkins/dp/1416903550/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376264203&sr=8-5&keywords=Ellen+Hopkins

They are very thick books.

Hello in There!: A Big Sister's Book of Waiting (Growing Hearts)

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-There-Sisters-Waiting-Growing/dp/1419703714