Today is the final day of the The Class of 2011: YA Superlatives Blogfest, a fun and interactive way to highlight and share your favorite YA novels, covers, characters, and story elements, hosted by Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and me. The Class of 2011: YA Superlatives Blogfest spans four days, beginning December 26th and culminating today, December 30th.
Hopefully you’ve been participating throughout the week, but if not, that’s okay! Just draft today’s post (you can find the topics listed below or on the original post) and then scroll to the bottom of THIS post and add your link to the link list.
I’ve had so much fun dropping by the participants’ blogs this week, and I look forward to stopping by your blog to read about your Class of 2011 selections today!
And speaking of selections, here are mine for Day Four:
Best in Show
Again, my books published in 2011 Reading List:
Crossed, The Future of Us, Hushed, Want to Go Private?, The Scorpio Races, The Pledge, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Chain Reaction, Forgotten, Notes From the Blender, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Ripple, Hourglass, A Need So Beautiful, Chime, The Day Before, Forever, Moonglass, Beauty Queens, Boyfriends With Girlfriends, Forbidden, Wither, Divergent, Invincible Summer, Trapped, Where She Went, We’ll Always Have Summer, Cryer’s Cross, Across the Universe, Desires of the Dead, Lola and the Boy Next Door, Imaginary Girls, and The Liar Society
And my favorites in the way of Best in Show:
Favorite Cover – I think the cover for Hourglass by Myra McIntyre is beautiful. I love the movement, the graceful point of the model’s foot, and her unusual hair color. I also love the title font. Honorable Mentions: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children because it’s eerily intriguing, and Beauty Queens because it’s graphic and cheeky.
Cutest Couple – Luke and London from Cat Patrick’s Forgotten are so freaking sweet. Their relationship boasts mutual adoration, tons of respect, and a big dose of fun, too. While Forgotten‘s plot is engaging, it was Luke and London’s interactions that snagged my attention and kept me reading for the duration of this novel.
Most Likely to Succeed (Or, pick a Printz Winner) – Are you guys getting tired of hearing about Chime yet? Clearly Franny Billingsley’s novel had a huge impact on me. Of every book on my 2011 list, Chime is the one that, in my humble opinion, most exemplified literary excellence in young adult literature. Honorable Mentions: Divergent, The Scorpio Races, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone for their unbelievably thorough world-building and beautiful writing.
Most Likely to Make You Miss Your Bedtime – Veronica Roth’s Divergent is everything a page-turner should be. I was so connected to Tris and Four’s story, and so drawn in by their world, I could NOT put this book down. I still recommend it to anyone who asks for a great YA book or a fantastic dystopian read.
Best Repeat Performance (Favorite sequel or follow-up.) – An easy choice: Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, or My Most Anticipated Sequel EVER. Love the emotional intensity of this book, and I love how Adam and Mia’s story concluded.Honorable Mention: We’ll Always Have Summer. Belly totally ended up with who I wanted her to end up with!
Romance Most Worthy of an Ice Bath – Harlin and Charlotte from Suzanne Young’s A Need So Beautiful. These two are adorable, and they have chemistry that seeps through the page. Then there was that scene… you know, the one with the fancy dress and the–ahem–wall. Honorable Mention: Violet and Jay from Kimberly Derting’s Desires of the Dead. They’re hot too. 🙂
Pair Most Likely to Stay Best Friends Till They’re 80 – Josh and Emma from The Future of Us. We’ve seen the future (thank you, Facebook!). We KNOW they’ll stay friends!
Breakout Novel (Favorite Book by a Debut Author) – Yep, Divergent again. This book rocks. Obviously. Honorable Mentions: Moonglass and Across the Universe. I honestly had a hard time believing Jessi Kirby and Beth Revis were debut novelists after reading their first books!
Best Old-Timer (Favorite read of the year, published BEFORE 2011) – Another easy choice. I read Jellicoe Road this year and it broke me. Never have I envied another writer’s storytelling skills the way I envy Melina Marchetta’s, and never have I fallen so fully and completely for two characters as I did for Taylor and Jonah. Such an amazing book–a definite favorite!
Most Likely to Make a Grown Man Cry – I have it on good authority that “animal books” make men emotional. Take Where the Red Fern Grows, for example, or Stone Fox (hell, Stone Fox made ME cry!). That’s why I have to go with The Scorpio Races. The bond between Sean and his horse Corr is enough to make any man (anybody) weepy.
Most Pleasant Surprise (Book you didn’t think you’d like, but totally did.) – Laini Taylor’s The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, for sure. As a rule, I don’t like fantasy, and I definitely don’t like “angel” books. Plus, the mention of teeth in the back cover synopsis totally skeeved me out. I was wrong, of course. I ADORE this book.
Most Creative Use of a Love Triangle – The “triangle” in Ally Condie’s Crossed is pretty lopsided (Cassia’s not really wavering in who she wants), but there’s an element of loyalty and romance between both she and Ky, and she and Xander. What I love about this triangle is how it’s used in plot twists and in the bigger picture of what’s going on within the Society. Win.
Sleeper Hit (Book I found so awesome I wish it had been hyped more) – Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma. This book was a trip. I wasn’t quite sure what was real and what wasn’t, and I didn’t know what to think about Ruby (or Chloe or London, for that matter) until the very end. Plus, the writing was, as I’ve mentioned, gorgeous.
And now it’s MY turn to pick a superlative! Leave me a note in the comments telling me your:
Most anticipated 2012 YA release…
I’ll tell you mine next week, and I’ll post about your selections. 🙂
And if you’re participating in the Class of 2011: YA Superlative Blogfest, please click on the image below to drop your link:
katyupperman.com 
Where She Went FTW! I seriously would choose this as my best read of the year had I not read Hunger Games.
And most anticipated release: INSURGENT. Totally agree with everything said about Divergent.
Wow, Alison, totally forgot about Insurgent. I’m looking forward to that one, too.
One of my most anticipated too. 🙂
Great choice in Insurgent, Alison. One of my most anticipated 2012 books as well!
Okay, WAIT! I have two anticipated novels!
Nevermore (the final Maximum Ride novel) I just want to see how James Patterson ties everything up!
Ooh, I’ve not read these. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever read James Patterson… Don’t judge me–I know you love him! I’ll definitely have to check this series out. Thanks, Alison.
Great picks, Katy! I’m right there with you on WSW. What a perfect sequel! Thanks again for hosting such a great blogfest. It was a blast! 🙂
I’m so glad you participated, Erin! I had a fantastic time reading about your selections. And yes, WSW was absolutely lovely. Thank goodness, because I might have thrown it across the room or lit it on fire if it hadn’t *at least* lived up to IF I STAY. 🙂
Great picks! There are so many books I need to read, thanks to this blogfest. Thank you for hosting it.
My pleasure, Jenny! Tracey, Alison, Jess, and I had a blast organizing it AND hopping around to read everyone’s posts. Thanks so much for joining in!
Holy wow, you read a LOT more than me this year!! With your high praise of Chime and Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I’m going to add them to my TBR list.
Have you read The Iron Fey series? I wouldn’t call them amazing, but they are fun, and a nice spin on faeries, which I normally refuse to read.
I haven’t read The Iron Fey series, Ann. Like you, I’m not usually a fairy person (with the exception of Tinkerbell :)). I’ll definitely have to check it out though. And I bet you’ll love CHIME and SMOKE AND BONE. They both blew me away!
It is amazing how many books I still need to read 🙂 I´m quite excited to add a few more after reading the blogfest!
I loved Imaginary Girls as well, the type of book which made me pause and think.
I am looking forward to several 2012 releases:
– If I lie by Corinne Jackson
– Perigee Moon by Tara A. Fuller
– Butter by Erin Lange
(and that´s not counting all the sequels I cannot wait to put my fingers on :-))
Ooh, IF I LIE is one of my most anticipated as well. And BUTTER… I’d forgotten about that one, but yes, can’t wait to read it!
Between the both of us, we’ll make sure everyone’s read CHIME. 🙂
My most anticipated 2012 releases are CINDER, PARTIALS, HALLOWED, and probably most of all THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.
New goal: Pimp CHIME until all of YA has read it. 🙂
TFIOS and CINDER are two of my most anticipated too! I’ll have to look into PARTIALS and HALLOWED. Thanks, Tracey!
The 2012 YA release I am most looking forward to is THE LOST GIRL by Sangu Mandanna. It sounds incredible!
Ooh, I don’t know THE LOST GIRL, Kirsten. I’ll defintely be on the look out for it though!
I’m looking forward to INSURGENT and Sarah Rees Brennan’s new book, UNSPOKEN. Also, Kristin Cashore’s BITTERBLUE and Kendare Blake’s GIRL OF NIGHTMARES. There were a bunch of others, but I need to stop myself before it gets out of hand. 🙂
I wanted to put Scorpio Races for the Crying category, but it didn’t actually make me cry (granted, I don’t really cry at books – Where the Red Fern Grows notwithstanding). It was very moving though, so it fits with the spirit of this category!
Jellicoe Road is one I keep hearing about that I need to get my hands on. Everyone raves about it!
Had so much fun on the blogfest. Glad I found it! Thanks for hosting! 😀
Read. Jellico. Road. My favorite YA ever!
I’m definitely looking forward to INSURGENT as well. And I only just recently bought Graceling, but I’ve heard amazing things so I’m thinking I’ll be picking up FIRE and eventually BITTERBLUE too! Thanks so much, Krispy!
Great choices! Yeah, I know that wall scene in A Need So Beautiful…heh. I chose them as Cutest Couple.
I’m looking forward to INSURGENT, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, and DITCHED by Robin Mellom, which will be on its way to you shortly. 🙂
Can’t wait to get TFIOS and DITCHED, Jess! I’m going to have to ignore the rest of my TBR pile to read both of them! And yeah… that scene in ANSB… kind of loved it. 🙂
I need to read THE SCORPIO RACES. Like now. That seems to be the common theme here this week. 😉
Yes, you do! LOVED that book! Let me (and Erin Bowman :)) know what you think when you finish. We’re both big cheerleaders for it!
My most anticipated releases are probably A Million Suns and Insurgent. Thanks for hosting the blogfest!
Oh, yes! I’d forgotten about AMS, and that one is right around the corner. I’ll definitely be getting my hands on it when it’s released.
And thanks for joining in on the blogfest! I’m glad to have “met” you. 🙂
Charlotte and Harlin were the best part of A Need So Beautiful, I thought. I loved them so much together.
I think my most anticipated release is The Fault in Our Stars. Good thing I don’t have too much longer to wait!