Class of 2012: YA Superlatives Blogfest – GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

December 21, 2012December 21, 20127 Comments

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the Class of 2012: YA Superlatives Blogfest!

I have had so much fun blogging with you all this week, and my To-Read list has grown about a mile thanks to all your fantastic book recommendations! You guys have the best taste EVER. 🙂

Thanks also to my co-hosts, Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller. This blogfest wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome without you three. You girls rock!

So… Remember that giveaway we promised? Four names were chosen from the long list of participants who posted and linked to their posts for all four days of the blogfest. Those four winners each get to choose one 2012 book to ordered for them from The Book Depository.

Our lucky winners are…

Elizabeth Briggs
Stephanie Allen
Kari Bradley
Jessica Silverstein

YAY! Congratulations, girls!

If you would please email the title of the book you’d like as well as your mailing address to katy(.)upperman(@)live(.)com (remove parenthesis), Tracey, Jessica, Alison, and I will make sure you get your new book as soon as possible.

And that wraps up my crazy week of daily blogging. If you need me, I’ll be catching up on my reading.

Happy Friday, friends. Have an amazing weekend!

The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest – Popularity Contest

December 18, 2012December 18, 201238 Comments

The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest (hosted by Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and me) runs Monday, December 17th through Thursday, December 20th. All of the awesome people who are participating in the blogfest (YOU, I hope!) will highlight favorite books published 2012 using a variety of super fun superlative categories. The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest is about promoting extraordinary young adult books, so if you haven’t already, draft a post, hop down to the end of this post, and sign up to participate. We can’t wait to see your favorite reads of 2012!

The 2012 YA novels I’ve read over the last year, listed in no particular order:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, A Million Suns, The Fault in Our Stars, The Disenchantments, Something Strange and Deadly, Pandemonium, Wanderlove, Under the Never Sky, Ten, This is Not a Test, Happy Families, Insurgent, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, Monstrous Beauty, Bitterblue, Time Between Us, My Life Next Door, Breathe, Pushing the Limits, Skylark, The Raven Boys, Live Through This, Bittersweet, Flawed, Ditched, Starters, Reached, Lovely, Dark and Deep, Meant to Be, and Days of Blood and Starlight…

And here’s how I chose to award today’s categories:

Popularity Contest

Class Clown

Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars, because if anyone can make can cancer funny, it’s Gus. (image source)

Most Likely to Become a Rock Star

While Bev from The Disenchantments may not have tons of musical talent, she’s definitely got that irreverent, arrogant aura of a rock star down.

Most Likely to Start a Riot

Tobias and Tris from Insurgent. They’re total badasses, and they both possess the leadership qualities necessary for mobilizing the masses. (image source)

Biggest Flirt

Oliver from The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. He’s such an effective flirt, he got Hadley to fall for him over the course of one night. Plus, his flirting is genuine and sweet.

Fashion King and/or Queen

Bitterblue. Not because she cares about fashion, but because of the beautiful way her gowns and hair and shoes are described in Bitterblue. (image source)

Girl You’d Most Want For Your BFF

Anna from Time Between Us because she’s a loyal, relateable girl with goals and dreams. Plus, she’s a runner like me.

Boy You Most Wish You’d Dated in High School

Jase from My Life Next Door because he’s sweet and attentive and driven, and he has a totally awesome family.

Most Likely to Become President

Elder from A Million Suns. He’s not a perfect leader, but he’s a passionate leader, and he’s an honorable leader. I can’t wait to see how his arch concludes in Shades of Earth. (image source)

Quirkiest Character

Meant to Be‘s Julia has a pencil sharpener in her purse and head full of Beatles trivia, and she travels with dozens of guide books. She’s awkward and sometimes uncertain, but she’s also totally endearing. Loved her!

Villain You Love to Hate

Syrenka from Monstrous Beauty. She can be evil and single-minded and shockingly violent, but she has her reasons. Mermaids need love too, right? (image source)

Favorite Parental Figure

I’m going to cheat a little and go with Blue Sargent’s mother and all of the clairvoyant ladies who live in her house. They’re such an eclectic, strong group of women, and each is so unique. Their scenes were a joy to read.

Coolest Nerd

Xander from Reached. He’s got all those medical, scientific smarts, and he’s sort of brooding and mysterious. A perfect combination. (image source unknown)

The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest – HEAD OF THE CLASS

December 17, 2012December 17, 201236 Comments

It’s here, it’s here, it’s here!

In case you’ve forgotten, The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest (hosted by Jessica Love,Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and me) begins today, Monday, December 17th, and will run through Thursday, December 20th. All of the awesome people who are participating in the blogfest (YOU, I hope!) will highlight favorite books published 2012 using a variety of super fun superlative categories. The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest is all about promoting extraordinary young adult books, so if you haven’t already, draft a post, hop down to the end of THIS post, and sign up to participate. We can’t wait to see your favorite reads of 2012!

So, here are the 2012 YA novels I’ve read over the last year, listed in no particular order: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, A Million Suns, The Fault in Our Stars, The Disenchantments, Something Strange and Deadly, Pandemonium, Wanderlove, Under the Never Sky, Ten, This is Not a Test, Happy Families, Insurgent, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, Monstrous Beauty, Bitterblue, Time Between Us, My Life Next Door, Breathe, Pushing the Limits, Skylark, The Raven Boys, Live Through This, Bittersweet, Flawed, Ditched, Starters, Reached, Lovely, Dark and Deep, Meant to Be, and Days of Blood and Starlight…

And here’s how I chose to award today’s categories (I totally cheated and named two novels for a few of the categories… there were just too many fantastic 2012 books to choose from!):

Head of the Class

Favorite Dystopian

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) This novel had it all: Lauren Oliver’s beautiful writing, a crazy-fast pace, a slow-burn forbidden romance, and a world that is both unique and formidable. I’m dying to see how this trilogy concludes when Requiem comes out in a few months.

Favorite Science Fiction

A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2) Once again, life on the Godspeed had me absolutely enthralled. Beth Revis has created a fascinated world and filled it with complex characters and tons of twists and turns. Can’t wait for the final installment of this trilogy!

Favorite Fantasy

Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3) Oh, Bitterblue… This novel gave me all the feelings. I laughed, I swooned, I cringed, and I worried. I adored everything about Bitterblue and her complicated world, especially Gideon. If I had to choose an absolute favorite 2012 YA novel, it would probably be this one.

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle, #1) One of the most original books I’ve read this year. I loved headstrong Blue, and I loved the complex, realistic relationship between the Raven Boys. This one had a twist that gave me shivers!

Favorite Contemporary

The Disenchantments From the music, to the road trip, to the colorful characters who populated this novel– not to mention their wild relationships — I adored it all. Nina LaCour has a way of penning imperfect characters who are easy to root for, which I think is this novel’s greatest strength.

The Fault in Our Stars Once again, John Green has shown that he is a master at lending humor to unimaginably heartbreaking situations. Oh, and he rocks at writing a teen girl’s voice. This novel didn’t make me cry (I’m not an easy crier), but it did make me want to go to Amsterdam!

Favorite Action/Adventure

I could have filed this one under dystopian, of course, but because each and every page was filled with heart-pounding action, I thought it would fit well here, too. Oh, Perry… I’d leave the dome for him any day.

This is Not a Test was definitely action packed, but it was character-driven, too, a perfect combination. Sloane was at first a difficult character to root for, yet I loved her for her honesty, and I loved the way she came out at the end of this novel. Courtney Summers writes unlikable narrators like nobody else.

Favorite Comedy

Meant to Be This story is just adorable. It’s not slapstick, silly comedy, but more subtle and refined, something real teens will actually find funny. Julia is a quick, witty narrator, definitely someone I’d want to be friends with!

Favorite Mystery

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone Kat Rosenfeld’s prose is gorgeous and literary and mature, and the creepy murder mystery at the center of this book’s plot kept me guessing until the end.

Favorite Romance

Bria and Rowan’s relationship throughout the course of Wanderlove progressed believably and sweetly. They challenged each other, yet they had a very clear mutual respect for one another. I was rooting from them from their very first encounter.

Doesn’t every teen girl want to live next door to a cute, considerate, attentive high school boy? My Life Next Door fulfills that fantasy with a believable, enviable romance between main character Samantha and boy-next-door Jase. These two are just too cute together.

Favorite Paranormal

Monstrous Beauty is two interwoven stories in one, told in a parallel manner with twists and turns that left me all kinds of surprised. None of the characters in this book are quite who they seem, and the mermaids are creepy and diabolical, a win when it comes to this paranormal story.

Favorite Family Drama

I could have chosen Lovely, Dark and Deep for the romance category because main character Wren’s relationship with older boy Cal is all kinds of steamy, but there’s a lot going on in the way of Wren’s family dynamics too. Whatever the genre, I loved every minute of this novel.

Favorite Genre Bender

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #2) Laini Taylor’s writing is absolutely beautiful. She melds romance and urban fantasy and lots of crazy uniqueness so perfectly, her world feels absolutely real. I cannot wait for Book 3!