Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

It's Tuesday, and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Today's topic:  Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Attention.  Of course, my list is focused on unsung authors of kids' and teen/YA books:

  • Sharon E. MacKay, author of Thunder Over Kandahar - I have no idea what else, if anything, she's written, but I was bowled over by this novel set in Afghanistan.
  • D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series - anyone who reads this blog regularly knows my son and I go ga-ga over this incredible adventure series!
  • Neal Schusterman, author of Unwind and the Everlost series - I just can't get enough of him!
  • Katy Grant, author of Hide and Seek - our whole family loved this suspense novel.
  • Rachel Ward, author of Num8ers - I really enjoyed this teen/YA novel.
  • Catherine Fisher, author of Incarceron - we all loved this unique teen/YA fantasy novel and can't wait to listen to book 2 on spring break next month.
  • Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries - I LOVE this middle-grade mystery series set in Ancient Rome - the author just told me her new series is set in the Wild West and will be released next spring in the U.S.
  • Mary Calhoun, author of Katie John - I have no idea what other books she's written, but this was my favorite book when I was a kid.
  • Zizou Corder, mother-daughter author team of Lionboy, a middle-grade series that captivated my family.
  • Watt Key, author of Alabama Moon, one of my family's all-time middle-grade favorites!

The funny thing is, if you had asked me this question two years ago, one of my top choices would have been Suzanne Collins, because my family are huge fans of her middle-grade series, The Underland Chronicles...but now, since The Hunger Games, she has plenty of recognition! 


Which lesser known authors do you think need more recognition?

(If you're interested in my Top Ten list for grown-up books, check out Book By Book).

5 comments:

Curling up by the Fire said...

An interesting list of authors. Thank you for sharing as there are a couple I need to check out again.

Anonymous said...

It's a shame that MacHale's Pendragon series has been lost in amongst the "popular" paranormal, wimpy kids, junie books. His problem is that he's not sold at Walmart!!!

Sara said...

I loved unwind it was creepy!

http://booksyourkidswilllove.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-ten-tuesday-authors-that-deserve.html

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

I considered adding Neal Schusterman to my list, too, so I am glad to see him on yours. And I've already told you that I must read some of the Pendragon series by MacHale. Thanks for the recommendations.

Jan von Harz said...

MacHale and Schusterman would have been on my list too.