Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

Okay, here's the summer A-Z Title challenge! We'll use the same ground rules as for the other challenges:

1. The Challenge begins at 12:00 A.M. local time on 1 July 2010 and ends at 11:59 P.M. local time on 30 September 2010.
2. This Challenge is just for fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself and all the books you will be reading!
3. All books must be classified as Young Adult or Juvenile Fiction, unless otherwise noted in the task. If you local library classifies the book you chose as such, then the book may be included.
4. All books must be at least 100 pages long to count for any of the tasks, unless otherwise noted in the task.
5. Re-reads count, unless otherwise noted in the task.
6. Audio books and electronic books (unabridged), such as Kindle, all count for this Challenge. Page counts will be according to the Good Reads page count.

A-Z Title Challenge:

1. Fill in each letter of the alphabet with a title of a book that you've read that begins with that letter (i.e. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging for the letter A).
2. Articles (a, an, the) don't count in alphabetizing, so skip to the first letter of the next word (i.e. The Book Thief would count for the letter B, A Great and Terrible Beauty would count for the letter G, and so on).
3. Titles that start with or are entirely comprised of numbers, will be alphabetized by how they would be spelled when written out in English (i.e. 13 Little Blue Envelopes would count for the letter T for Thirteen).
4. The letters Q, X, Y, and Z will be special. The title will only have to include the letter to count (i.e. All Unquiet Things or The Bermudez Triangle).
5. There is no limit to how many books you read for each letter, so there is no limit to the points you can earn. The person with the most points at the end is the winner! If there’s a tie, we will look at the total pages read. There will be prizes for the person with the most points and one randomly selected recipient. :)

Point Value System:

1. For the first book you read for each letter, you will receive 5 points.
2. For any additional books you read for each letter, you will receive 3 points each.
3. For each book read, you may receive additional points if the book also meets any of the following criteria:
- The book is listed on our WT Top Novel list (+5)
- The book is listed on our WT Group Bookshelf (+5)
- You have not read the book before (+5)
- The book is an award winner/honoree (not just nominated!) (+5)
- The book works for Kellee’s monthly challenge for July, Aug or Sept 2010 (can't be read before that month's challenge begins, though) (+5)
- The book is a WT group read book for July, Aug or Sept 2010 (+5)
- You start or contribute to an existing discussion about the book (+5)
4. When reporting completion of tasks, please list the following:
- The letter of the alphabet you are completing & the title/ author of the book (with a hyperlink is super helpful!)
- Total pages of the book
- All additional criteria met for that letter
5. If you don’t claim the points from the additional criteria I will not give them to you automatically, there are too many books to check each one. You have to tell me what points your books are eligible for!

***Genre Points Bonus***

The whole goal of the challenges is to get you to pick up something new and different. So, for each different genre you read, you will earn 5 points. This is only available once per genre. Only one genre can be claimed per book. (i.e. you can't claim both paranormal and romance for Twilight.) Check out our discussion boards to find some books in other genres that may fit into your A-Z!

Here's a list of the genres we'll accept for this challenge:

Action/Adventure
Classic
Dystopian/Apocalyptic/Post-Apocolyptic
Fantasy/Supernatural
Graphic Novel
Historical Fiction
Horror/Thriller/Suspense
Humor
Manga
Mystery
Nonfiction
Paranormal
Poetry
Realistic Fiction/Contemporary
Romance
Sci-Fi
Short Stories
Sports Fiction
War
Multicultural
LGBT
Religious
Folk/Fairy Tale (including retellings)


Link to WT Group Bookshelf: http://www.goodreads.com/group/booksh...

Link to WT Top Novel List: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Link to some award sites: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Here it is folks! I will post a separate page to report points when the time comes.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if I can word something different for clarification. I'm excited to see your A-Z tentative plans. :)

Here's my preliminary list:

A: After by Amy Efaw
B: Before I Die by Jenny Downham
C: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
D: Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
E: Everwild by Neal Shusterman
F: Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
G: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
H: Hate List by Jennifer Brown
I: I, Coriander by Sally Gardner
J: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
K: King Dork by Frank Portman
L: l8r, g8r by Lauren Myracle
M: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
N: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
O: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
P: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Q: Quaking by Kathryn Erskine
R: Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
S: Salvaged by Stefne Miller
T: The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
U: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
V: The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan
W: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
X: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Y: The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman
Z: When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

I have mine all set up, but I have multiple books per letter... SO, I am just waiting for my sister (my book orderer) to pick the order that I am going to read them. Will post my list as soon as I have it ordered.

Kellee wrote: "I have mine all set up, but I have multiple books per letter... SO, I am just waiting for my sister (my book orderer) to pick the order that I am going to read them. Will post my list as soon as I..."

Is she a younger or older sister? I am forever trying to get my younger sister to read my books. :) She's reading The Ask and the Answer right now.. Sucked her in, haha..

I figure this is just a first pass. I chose books I already own just to clear out my bookcase. And I only chose ones I really WANT to read. I'm hoping some of them will be worth more than the base 5 points!!

AngelaSunshine wrote: "Kellee wrote: "I have mine all set up, but I have multiple books per letter... SO, I am just waiting for my sister (my book orderer) to pick the order that I am going to read them. Will post my li..."

Younger. She doesn't actually read the books, but she does read the summaries and puts them in order for me. This way she knows enough about the books that I can talk to her about them.

I already had a summer reading list made, so I just plugged in from there. I am pretty excited because this challenge lets us read what we WANT to read, but also makes us think and expand our horizons (if we want the points!) :)

Wow this is going to be fun! *eyes shine over with all the point possibilities* :-D

Here's my basic plans for at least the first book in each letter:

A: Anna and the French Kiss
B: Before I Fall
C: Coffeehouse Angel
D: The Dead-Tossed Waves
E: Early to Death, Early to Rise
F: Fairy Tale
G: Grace
H: Here Lies the Librarian
I: Ice
J: Jane In Bloom
K: Keeper
L: Libyrinth
M: Manifest
N: Nightshade
O: Once a Witch
P: Possessions
Q: The Queen of Everything
R: Rampant
S: Shade
T: Tattoo
U: Unwind
V: Vampire Kisses
W: Watersmeet
X: The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June
Y: Young Bess
Z: Zombie Queen of Newbury High

Ooh, fun. When I get back from ALA, I'm going to have to get my list-making on!

Remember, everyone, to vote for the monthly challenges topics so you have a say! Remember 5 extra points on the July-September challenge if your book fits one of the monthly challenge topics for the same time! :)

August poll: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/35...
September poll: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/35...

My Initial List:
(I fully intend to read extras of some letters though. I had a terrible time choosing Fs, Ms, Ns, Ss, and Ts. It is so great to get to go through my to-be-read list and just tick stuff off for this one! Yay!)

A. Across the Nightingale Floor
B. Bones of Faerie
C. Criss Cross
D. The Doom Machine
E. Enna Burning
F. Feed
G. Green
H. Half World
I. I Put a Spell on You: From the Files of Chrissie Woodward, Spelling Bee Detective
J. Jumper
K. Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb
L. Leviathan
M. The Maze Runner
N. The Name of the Wind
O. On the Jellicoe Road
P. The Princess Bride
Q. Time Quake
R. RuneWarriors
S. Sleepless
T. To Kill a Mockingbird
U. Unwind
V. Vendetta: The Runestone Saga #2
W. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
X. The Angel Experiment
Y. The Year of the Bomb
Z. Zenith

Good lists! I see a lot of books posted that I'm wanting to work in still.

It really is fun just to make the lists :) I'm debating now whether I want to read it from A-Z, or skip around. Hmm...

AngelaSunshine wrote: "Good lists! I see a lot of books posted that I'm wanting to work in still.

It really is fun just to make the lists :) I'm debating now whether I want to read it from A-Z, or skip around. Hmm..."

Use a randomizer- That'd make it fun :)

My reading order always depends on what I can get from the library... so I end up putting a bunch of stuff on hold and just see what comes in first. It's like how I think of my netflix queue. I don't really look at it that often, so when I get a red envelope in the mail it's like a christmas surprise every time.

This is so awesome here are my tentative plans:

A: Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft
B: Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
C: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
D: Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick
E: The Enemy by Charles Higson
F: The Familiars by Adam Epstein
G: Girl Parts by John M. Cusick
H: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
I: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
J: Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
K: King Dork by Frank Portman
L: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin
M: Mistwood by Leah Cypress
N: Notes from the Blender by Brendan Halpin
O: Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz
P: Paranormalcy by Kierstan White
Q: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
R: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elekeles
S: The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti
T: Tyger Tyger by Kresten Hamilton
U: Unwind by Neil Schusterman
V: Virals by Kathy Reichs
W: Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman
X: The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell
Y: Virgin Territory by James Lescene
Z: Zora and Me by Victoria Bond

Can I just say how excited I am to see so many people planning to read Unwind??? I LOVE that book! Can't wait to discuss :)

Kellee wrote: "AngelaSunshine wrote: "Good lists! I see a lot of books posted that I'm wanting to work in still.

It really is fun just to make the lists :) I'm debating now whether I want to read it from A-Z, ..."

That would be fun! I am a moody reader, though, so I will probably just pick and choose whatever catches my fancy at the moment...

AngelaSunshine wrote: "Can I just say how excited I am to see so many people planning to read Unwind??? I LOVE that book! Can't wait to discuss :)"

I'm excited too, although Unwind was the only U title I could think of!

Do we need to post a list? I usually just pick books as I go, which is funny because I live for list making (I"m obsessive). I can make one if we need to have it!

No, not necessary, Amy! Just for fun if you wanted to whip one up. :)

April wrote: "AngelaSunshine wrote: "Can I just say how excited I am to see so many people planning to read Unwind??? I LOVE that book! Can't wait to discuss :)"

I'm excited too, although Unwind was the only..."

Other U's:
Uglies
Undercurrents
Until We Meet Again
The Unfinished Angel

I made a spreadsheet if anyone wants it, to keep track of all those extra points you can attach to the books. :) Just message me.

I am slowly attempting to create my list =)

I think I"m gonna just have to go with the flow. Right now it's just too hard to predict what I'm going to want to read. I think I"ll make my list as I go.

Yeah I put on a few I want to read such as Mockingjay but a lot are just going to have to be random finds at the library and such.

My list is coming a long nicely. So many books on my TBR list are YA, so this will definately help me knock some books off of it.

I also really like that there is no limit to a letter of an alphabet. However, despite that I want to hit every letter =). I just need to fill in a few letter holes.

No limit? I guess I missed that part. My trouble is going to be finding YA books. LOL. I have a rotation where I read YA, adult, and then some books that I need to bring to my classroom but want to read those before I let the kids touch them. I actually had a nightmare about the letter U and Q.

LOL, Amy :)

I actually had more U and Q books than I thought I would...

You have The Cupcake Queen on your TBR list which will work for Q, or Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater is pretty good.

And I highly recommend Unwind and Uglies for the letter U. Both of them are great topic starters with clean language and no sex. I'm not sure what grades you teach, but they'd both work really well for GATE discussions!

I'm one of those people that is going to kill myself to find a book title that starts with those harder letters. I've already read Uglies (loved it). I'm gonna search. So does YA also include chapter books for younger ages? Or just what you would see say in like the bookstore "YA" section?

What you'd see in the YA section of the bookstore, or whatever is cataloged as YA at the library. If you can find a chapter book listed as YA on a library online, then that'll work! (There is a 100 page minimum for the challenge though)

BTW, I added a bunch of "U" books to my Young Adult shelf if you wanted to see what I found or have read. :)

The monthly challenges for July, August and September are up, so you can plan accordingly for the challenge :)

Enjoy!

Amy wrote: "No limit? I guess I missed that part. My trouble is going to be finding YA books. LOL. I have a rotation where I read YA, adult, and then some books that I need to bring to my classroom but want to..."

I didn't see it till about the third or fourth time through the rules. I was just writing down random options of books I might want to read for those letters and saw the no limit rule.

I bolded (I know that's not a word!) the no limit part of the rules, so hopefully that's easier to see now.

My boyfriend said I should check out www.readingaddiction.com. Hahaha...

I tried making a list last night. Making the list was so fun, then I realized that if I had a list I would need to stick to it and that stressed me out. So I'm going to fly by the seat of my pants and hope I can read 26 different letters. LOL.

Is reading addiction a real website? I totally need a twelve step program. :-)

I don't want to fix this addiction :P I like it.

That's what I said, Kellee! And yes, it is a real website. I refuse to look at it :P

Amy wrote: "I tried making a list last night. Making the list was so fun, then I realized that if I had a list I would need to stick to it and that stressed me out. So I'm going to fly by the seat of my pants ..."

I always make lists and then change them as I go, that way I don't forget the ones I'd thought of!

I'm going to look just cause I'm curious. I like my reading addiction.

I don't want to fix this addiction. There are much worse things to do with free time. Reading I think is a good choice compared to other things. I went from being a video game junky to a reading junky and my life has improved from it.

Reading definitely has many benefits: vocabulary improvement, it's relaxing, and then it occasionally allows you to answer random questions on Jeopardy (lol).

I have a question on starting threads for our challenge.........when we start one on a book we read, where should we post it? Under the approrpriate genre? Or under the main challenge board?

I think under the appropriate genre would be best. That way it will be there for continued discussion after the challenge is long forgotten!

here is my list

A- Anna and the French Kiss
B- Before I Die
C- City of Falling Angels
D- The Dead Tossed Waves
E- Endless Summer
F- Fahrenheit 451
G- Glimmerglass
H- Hate List
I- Tsland of Lost Girls
J- The Juliet Club
K- It's Kind of a Funny Story
L- L.A. Candy
M- My Little Phony
N- Notes from the Midnight Driver
O- Of Mice and Men
P- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Q- The Clique Alicia
R- Runaway
S- Scribbler of Dreams
T- Tuesdays with Morrie
U- Uglies
V- How I live now
W- Whisper
X- Hex Hall
Y- The Year I turned Sixteen
Z- Frozen Fire

You guys are killing me with all the great books I am adding to my TBR list! My goal with this challenge was to shorten the list, not lengthen it!

*sigh*

Wow! Some great books on this list. I have to go through what I plan on reading and see if I can do it without adding more to my list.

Me too. I should stop looking at other people's lists. It makes reading too hard. So many great books!

Oh, where is the WT novel list located?

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks for asking! I linked it on the rules post too. The top novel list is pretty cool since it is compiled by all of us. If you have a favorite that's not on the list already, go ahead and add it! Everybody is allowed one add to the list.

Thanks. I remember this thread!