My Best of 2008
January 4, 2009
I’m not going to attempt to predict the award winners here and there are soooo many great books I didn’t get a chance to read this year, so I know my list is incomplete. These are the juvenile and young adult books that I read in 2008 that stood out to me as great reads. I’d love to hear what your favorites are, too!
Top 5 picture books: Wave, In a Blue Room, A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever, Black Book of Colors, A Visitor for Bear
Best books for younger readers: Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things, Benny and Penny in Just Pretend
Top 5 middle grade: The Underneath, Savvy, Graveyard Book, Brooklyn Bridge, Sound Off! The Adventures of Daniel Boom AKA Loud Boy
Top 5 nonfiction: We are the Ship, Nic bishop Frogs, The Trouble Begins at 8, What to do About Alice?, How Strong is it? A Mighty Book About Strength
Top 5 YA: Paper Towns, My Most Excellent Year, Sweethearts, I know it’s Over, Lock and Key
Best graphic novels: Jellaby, Japan Ai (YA)
Best new series: Darkside by Tom Becker
Best realistic fiction: Waiting for Normal
Best mystery: London Eye Mystery
Best historical fiction (YA): Newes from the Dead
Most original, not sure how to categorize or who to give this book to: My Dad’s a Birdman
Best fluff YA: Luxe series
Best Sci Fi (YA): The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Best picture book that addresses a childhood issue: My Travelin’ Eye, Honorable mention: Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears
Best novel in poems: Diamond Willow
Best book I haven’t finished: inkdeath
Best book that lived up to the hype: Hunger Games
Book that did not live up to the hype: Little Brother
Best audio: Once Upon a Time in the North, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks (YA) (Honorable mention: Book Thief and Keturah and Lord Death: these were not published this year but I listened to them both this year and they were excellent)
Sequel I’m most afraid to read because the first one was so scary: The Dead and the Gone
Book I most wanted to throw in the trash after finishing: Breaking Dawn
Top 5 I should have read by now: What I saw and How I Lied, The Spectacular Now, The Willoughbys, Chains, Tales of Beedle the Bard
Best of 2008
January 3, 2009
I’m collecting the Best children’s books of 2008 lists here for your enjoyment. Then tomorrow, I hope to post my own top reads of 2008! Did I miss a great list? Let me know!
Publishers Weekly (scroll to the bottom to see the children’s picks)
Kirkus (these are pdfs, scroll down to Best Children’s Books and Best Young Adult Books)
New York Times and here
AudioFile’s best audiobooks
and a HUGE collection of lists to work your way through
