Teen Advisory Board's Favorite Books of 2009

Below you'll find a list of favorite books published in 2009 picked by TAB, the Loft's very own Teen Advisory Board.

Black, Holly. Geektastic : Stories From The Nerd Herd. 2009. (YA Fiction Stories Black.H)

A collection of twenty-nine short stories about geeks by some of YA’s most popular authors, including Cassandra Clare, John Green, Libba Bray, and M.T. Anderson.

 

 

 

Cashore, Kristin. Fire. 2009. (YA Science Fiction Casho.K)

In a kingdom called the Dells, Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty and the ability to control the minds of those around her, but even with these gifts she cannot escape the strife that overcomes her world. Sequel to the hit YA fantasy book, Graceling.

 

 

Clare, Cassandra. City Of Glass. 2009. (YA Science Fiction Clare.C)

Still pursuing a cure for her mother's enchantment, Clary uses all her powers and ingenuity to get into Idris, the forbidden country of the secretive Shadowhunters, and to its capital, the City of Glass, where with the help of a newfound friend, Sebastian, she uncovers important truths about her family's past that will not only help save her mother but all those that she holds most dear. Bk. 3 of the Mortal Instruments series.

 

 

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. 2009. (Science Fiction Colli.S)

The winners of the annual Hunger Games have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion.

 

 

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. 2009. (YA Science Fiction Dashn.J)

Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a complicated maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape. For fans of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire!

 

 Dessen, Sarah. Along For The Ride : A Novel. 2009. (YA Fiction Desse.S)

When Auden impulsively leaves home for a long visit to stay with her father and stepmom in a small coastal town the summer before college begins she meets a small circle of friends who work at her stepmom’s boutique and a boy, Eli, a BMX competitor, in the local bike-shop. Eli and Auden, both insomniacs, explore the town during the small hours of the night and, as their relationship grows, help each other cope with traumas from their pasts while they prepare for their futures. In the process they become deep friends and quite possibly fall in love.

 

 

Draper, Sharon. Just Another Hero. 2009. (YA Fiction Drape.S)

As Kofi, Arielle, Dana, November, and Jericho face personal challenges during their last year of high school, a misunderstood student brings an AK-47 to class and demands to be taken seriously. Draper delivers the shocking conclusion to her Coretta Scott King Honor-winning series that includes "The Battle of Jericho" and "November Blues."

 

Fitzpatrick, Becca. Hush, Hush. 2009. (YA Fiction Fitzp.B)

High school sophomore Nora has always been very cautious in her relationships, but when Patch, who has a dark side she can sense, enrolls at her school, she is mysteriously and strongly drawn to him, despite warnings from her best friend, the school counselor, and her own instincts.

 

 

Forman, Gayle. If I Stay : A Novel. 2009. (YA Fiction Forma.G)

While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.

 

 

Headley, Justina Chen. North Of Beautiful. 2009. (YA Fiction Headl.J)

Terra, a sensitive, artistic high school senior born with a facial port-wine stain, struggles with issues of inner and outer beauty with the help of her Goth classmate Jacob

 

 

Lo, Malinda. Ash. 2009. (YA Fiction Lo.M)

In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash grows up believing in the fairy realm that the king and his philosophers have sought to suppress, until one day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King's Huntress whom she loves.  Nominated for a 2009 Morris Award for best debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.

 

 Riordan, Rick. The Last Olympian. 2009. (YA Science Fiction Riord.R)

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

 

 

Shan, Darren. Dark Calling. 2009. (YA Fiction Shan.D)

The Disciples are being manipulated by beings older than time, and only Kernel Fleck knows that something is wrong.

 

 

Smith, Sherri L.. Flygirl. 2009. (YA Fiction Smith.S)

During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots. In a Virtual Loft review this summer, LoftZoë writes, “As Ida Mae tries to stay true to her dreams of flying, she also tries to figure out what staying true to herself means. She isn’t sure if she wants to ‘pass for white’ for the rest of her life or go back to an unsatisfying life of being a maid after the war. Flygirl is very engaging and well-written. Even if you normally don’t like historical fiction you will find yourself caught up in Ida Mae’s story.”

 

 

Stiefvater, Maggie. Ballad : A Gathering Of Faerie. 2009. (YA Fiction Stief.M)

When music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians, his talent attracts Nuala, a faerie muse who fosters and feeds on creative energies, but soon he finds himself battling the Queen of the Fey for the very lives of Deirdre and Nuala.

 

 

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver. 2009. (YA Fiction Stief.M)

In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity.

 

 

Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan. 2009. (YA Science Fiction Weste.S)

In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

 

 

Williams, Carol Lynch. The Chosen One. 2009. (YA Fiction Willi.C)

In a polygamous cult in the desert, Kyra, not yet fourteen, is chosen to be the seventh wife of her uncle (who’s sixty!), a fate she fears is just punishment for having read books and kissed a boy, both violations of Prophet Childs's teachings. Kyra is torn between facing her hideous fate and running away from all that she knows and loves. But, no one ever escapes the compound and the God Squad. So, does she even have a choice?

 

 

Yancey, Richard. The Monstrumologist. 2009. (YA Fiction Yance.R)

In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.

 

 

Yoshida, Sunao. Trinity Blood. 2009. (YA 741.5952 Yoshi.S v. 1)

The very survival of the human race is at stake in this gothic-action series which pits humans against vampires. Volume 11.