Suggested reading for YA skeptics

I often find the need to defend myself when I tell people I write Young Adult fiction.  Not that anyone's ever been openly rude to me–it's more of a self-imposed inferiority complex.  I just feel like some kind of pre-emptive strike is necessary to ensure that new acquaintances understand that I'm a real writer.

I need you to understand that Twilight is not representative of the entire genre, that there is more to YA than the Gossip Girl series, that I keep company with phenomenal writers who...