YA Reading Challenge #1: Tasks & Discussion

[Laura]

Watch out - it's addictive - here's a link:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

[Lisa Julianna]

ooh that looks like fun too...I may have to look more closely at it. :~)

[Laura]

It'll reel you in, for sure! And the YA books will def. help you for that one too.

[Alexis]

Good luck to the shelf challengers! I think this one is about all I can handle right now.

[Laura]

:)

[Luann]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! I've been having a hard time getting going again after Shelf-a-Thon round 1. But I'm excited for this challenge so hopefully I'll get back up to speed soon. Such a nice variety of items! I can't wait to go to the library and point to two books at random!

[Luann]

Alexis wrote: "Good luck to the shelf challengers! I think this one is about all I can handle right now. "

I completely understand! But it is nice when you can read one book and have it count for several challenges.

[Luann]

For task 30.1 can I use a Newbery honor book? Only the award winners are listed on the post, but the link goes to a list of all of them. I've read all the Newbery award winners and am working on the honors books. I would love to be able to incorporate one into this challenge.

[Laura]

Hopefully you can work some of those honor books into the Challenge on another task, Luann. The tasks that mention award winners are only for books that won the award. I hope there are enough tasks shown that perhaps you can work it in somewhere else.

[Luann]

Oh well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Thanks, Laura! I'll see if I can fit one in somewhere else.

[Ashley]

Luann wrote: "Oh well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Thanks, Laura! I'll see if I can fit one in somewhere else."

That is so cool Luann!! I am trying to read both the winner list, and the honor list too! Congrats on finishing the list!

[Luann]

I made it a project a few years ago. I concentrated on the award winners first and read them all - even rereading those I had already read as a child, etc. I read some of the honors books at the same time if they were part of a series - such as Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. Once I finished all the winners, I started with the newest honors books. I haven't concentrated on it as much lately, but I still like to chip away at the list every once in a while. There are some great books there!

[Laura]

I forgot to mention last night, Luann, that re-reads also count, but I understand why you want to be familiar with the honored books as well - just thought I'd let you know.

[Luann]

Thanks! I did see that, but decided to pick a Printz book I haven't read instead.

[Laura]

Do you find the Printz books to be just a tad on the racy side, or is it just me?

[Ashley]

That's cool Luann! I don't have any system to it, but I'm having fun with it. Some of those books are awesome, and many have become favorites.

[Kristen]

When I was looking at which books won the Printz they did seem on the racy side.

[Luann]

I haven't read very many of the Printz books yet, but yes, they do seem to be mostly aimed at a MUCH older and more mature YA demographic. From reviews I've read, I'm sure there will be some of them I won't like at all.

[[deleted user]]

I updated my list. Please check the books I have UPDATE listed next to them and make sure they are okay...

30 POINT TASKS:
1. The Golden Compass/The Graveyard Book
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

25 POINT TASKS:
1. I Capture the Castle/Eldest/The Book Thief
2. TBD (Need to make a trip to the library)
3. A Great and Terrible Beauty
4. The Subtle Knife/ The Amber Spyglass

20 POINT TASKS:
1. ChristyUPDATE
2. HomecomingUPDATE
3. Evermore
4. Beyond the Chocolate War
5. The Book of Lost Things

10 POINT TASKS:
1. GracelingUPDATE
2. Pride and Prejudice (Laura 5*)
3. A Tree Grows in BrooklynUPDATE
4. The Tale of Despereaux Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread

5 POINT TASKS:
1. City of BonesUPDATE
2. Little Women
3. To Kill a MockingbirdUPDATE
4. A Little Princess

Total Points: 0/350
Total Pages: 0

[Catamorandi]

I have also updated my list:

30-POINT TASKS

1. Summer of the Swans (Newbery, US)
The Haunting (Carnegie, UK)
2. Anne of Green Gables (update)
3. The Goose Girl

25-POINT TASKS

1. Christy (Christian)
Catcher in the Rye (Contemporary)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Classical)
2. TBA
3. When the Legends Die
4. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

20-POINT TASKS

1. The Princess Bride
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. The Invisible Man
5. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things

10-POINT TASKS

1. A Curse Dark As Gold
2. I Capture the Castle
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (update)
4. Walk Two Moons

5-POINT TASKS

1. I Am the Messenger
2. The Secret Garden
3. The Wind in the Willows
4. Tropical Kiss

[Kristen]

What was the rule about classics? I was thinking about changing to reading The Princess Bride which was written in 1973 or was that too recent?

[[deleted user]]

I believe Fiona said anthing after 1945 was contemporary, so anything before that was classic.

[Catamorandi]

That's also what I recall.

[Laura]

Looks good, Linda Grace. According to Fiona, 1944 and earlier are classics, also correct.

[Kristen]

Thanks! :)

[[deleted user]]

:-) I try to pay attention...

[Misty]

I don't know if this has been asked yet, but if a book falls into multiple categories on the challenge, so we just figure it as the highest point total? What about if the overlapping book is used for one challenge where multiples have to be read (so its one of the multiples, but also fits another category as a stand-alone)?

[[deleted user]]

You can only use a book once. So, if I were you, I would put it in a task where you don't have any other books for, or the highest points task. Either way, it's up to you.

[Misty]

thanks!

[[deleted user]]

Anytime! :)

How did I do Laura? Hehe...

[Becky]

I'm not Laura, but I do play her on T.V. sometimes, and I say you did great Linda! ;)

[[deleted user]]

Haha thanks, Becky!

[Laura]

haha, you guys are doing fine. The more Q's you answer, the more work I can actually do, since I do have another job. Thx!

;)

[[deleted user]]

Haha okay no problem.

[Bird]

Linda Grace: I was looking over your book choices and I saw that you picked "Wicked" for one. Just to let you know, there are a few adult scenes in the book. I would be very surprised if it was categorized as YA. Just something you might want to check into. :O)

[[deleted user]]

Oh ok... I believe Laura said that one was okay, but I am considering using a different one. Thanks though.

[Laura]

Hi Linda Grace - I OK'd that book from the standpoint of the fairytale retelling - allowing that Wizard of Oz could be construed as a fairytale.

The YA part comes from how the library classifies the book. If you can find a library that classifies it as YA, then we'll consider it YA for the purposes of this Challenge. I assumed that part was already in the bag when I responded re: the fairytale task.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[Becky]

I've read Wicked, and I would definitely not consider it YA, but I'm not a definitive source for what others should think. :)

I think it's too philosophical, quite a bit too dry in a bunch of spots, and even dark and depressing in some. It IS interesting, but again, I wouldn't call it YA. *shrug*

[Alexis]

My library has a copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns in YA. If they can consider that YA, anything could be. (Not that I agree with that placement.)

[[deleted user]]

My library doesn't have Young Adult as a category. They do have a youth section and a teen section. Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is classified under the Teen section. Let me know if this is okay. I am also thinking about changing it, so it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work because I may not keep it anyway.

[Laura]

Youth, teen, it's all good.

[[deleted user]]

Yeah that's what I thought. I just wanted it to be fair! :)

[Catamorandi]

Here is one more change, Laura. I hope it's my last.

30-POINT TASKS

1. Summer of the Swans
The Haunting
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. The Goose Girl

25-POINT TASKS

1. Christy (Christian)
Catcher in the Rye (Contemporary)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Classical)
2. Twists & Turns
The Time Capsule
3. When the Legends Die
4. Sisterhood or teh Traveling Pants
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood.

20-POINT TASKS

1. The Princess Bride
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. The Invisible Man
5. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things

10-POINT TASKS

1. A Curse Dark As Gold
2. I Capture the Castle
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
4. Walk Two Moons

5-POINT TASKS

1. I Am the Messenger
2. The Secret Garden
3. The Wind in the Willows
4. Tropical Kiss

[Sara ♥]

Laura wrote: "Youth, teen, it's all good."

Unrelated... But where did the PetalsOnTheWind thing come from? I'm dying of curiosity...

[Laura]

Petals on the Wind was a V.C. Andrews book from the dark ages, when I grew up. Flowers in the Attic was the first in the series. It was kind of radical for its time, but I loved it.

[Beth]

I used to love those V.C. Andrews books!

[Natalee]

I used to love VC Andrews when I was younger! They were scandalous at my age... I probably shouldn't have read them but my older sister had them. Good times.... LOL! :)

[Laura]

Yeah, I loved them then, not sure I would so much today....but at the time I guess I was in 5th or 6th grade? So they were kind of the cool, bad book to be reading at the time. My parents never even batted an eye at my reading material. That series was pretty racy and wacky for its time.

[Laura]

Well they were written then, and we all jumped right on them.

*feeling old*

[Natalee]

My parents never checked what we were reading either. In fact, she probably bought the other series I read for me... The ones with Heaven Leigh. Since I was rotten and read whatever as a teen, I check all my daughters books!!