Top Picks for 2006 (So Far)
September 11, 2006
MotherReader has called on members of the kidlitosphere to select our top picks for 2006 (so far), by age. She asked for only five in each category. Narrowing things down was very difficult. To make it easier, I limited myself to books first published in 2006. This eliminates many excellent books that I read this year that were published last year (or earlier). Here are my selections:
Elementary School
- Babymouse: Beach Babe
by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. My review.
- Free Baseball
by Sue Corbett. My review.
- Happy Kid! by Gail Gauthier. My review.
- The Prophet of Yonwood (Book of Ember)
by Jeanne Duprau. My review.
- Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius
by Frank Asch. My review.
Middle School
- Hugging the Rock
by Susan Taylor Brown. My review.
- Kiki Strike
by Kirsten Miller.
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters - Book Two
by Rick Riordan.
- Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love
by Maryrose Wood. My review.
- Yellow Star
by Jennifer Roy. My review.
High School
- The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak. My review.
- A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life
by Dana Reinhardt. My review.
- It's Kind of a Funny Story
by Ned Vizzini. My review.
- New Moon
by Stephenie Meyer.
- Stay With Me
by Garret Freymann-Weyr. My review.
Please note that this list is highly subjective. It's the books that I've personally enjoyed the most out of the books that I read this year, and that were published this year. It was difficult to choose, and I read a lot of other wonderful books, too. There are also books that I've heard great things about, and am dying to read, but I did not add any books to my list on the basis of expecting to like them. I'll be interested to see what other people pick!
UPDATE: Above post edited to remove Pond Scum
© 2009 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.