Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Top Ten Kid/Teen Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone

It's Tuesday, and that means it's Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Head on over there to link to lots of great blogs and lots of fun lists.

Today's topic is Top Ten Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone.  I had an easy time making a list of adult books in this category (check it out at Book By Book), due to my many book groups, but it was tougher to make this list of kids/teen/YA books, just because I generally choose what I read...most of these pleasant surprises were due to recommendations.


Here are the Top Ten Kids/Teen/YA Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone:


Shiver, Linger, and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater – I don’t normally read paranormal romance genre; in my reading journal I wrote, “I hate to admit it, but I loved it, just like everyone said I would!”
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick – ditto, but the audio was sent to me for review, and I felt obligated to read it.  I enjoyed it, though I didn’t feel compelled to read the rest of the series.
Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games) – it sounded gross to me, but I began reading it aloud to my kids, and our family ended up LOVING the entire series!
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein – an old sci fi novel (probably not officially teen/YA) that my husband left in the bathroom – I started it and couldn’t put it down!
The Warriors series by Erin Hunter - reading about tribes of wild cats just wasn’t my thing, but my son loved the series, so I read the first one at his urging…and ended up reading six in a row!
Magic Street by Orson Scott Card – though I LOVE this author, this particular book didn’t sound like my kind of thing – a mix of fantasy and reality set in urban LA loosely following the story of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (see what I mean?) but Jamie recommended it, and Card’s excellent writing won me over.
20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler – it sounded like the sort of light teen romance I usually avoid, but I agreed to review it and found it had surprising depth and was about a lot more than just girl meets boy.
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott – this book defines “out of my comfort zone,” from the perspective of a young girl who has been kidnapped and is being held captive and raped repeatedly – yes, it was horribly disturbing, but also very well-written and compelling.
Keeper by Kathi Appelt - a sort of magic realism (not a favorite genre for me) for kids; not my usual sort of book but the audio was sent to me for review.  I enjoyed some of it but didn’t love it.
A Million Shades of Gray by  Cynthia Kadohata- a difficult topic with some disturbing scenes, about a young boy living in the jungles of Vietnam during the war, but our whole family enjoyed the audio.

How about you?  What kid or teen/YA books took you out of your comfort zone?

5 comments:

Sara (of the Page Sage) said...

I want to read 20 Boy Summer. My friend read it and raves about it all the time!

Curling up by the Fire said...

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - I can't say enough about this book.

Jenna St. Hilaire said...

I still have yet to read the Stiefvater trilogy. Also, Card is one of my favorite authors, but I've not read Magic Street. I'll definitely have to look that up.

Great list! And thanks for coming by my blog. :)

La Coccinelle said...

I was a little afraid to read Shiver... not because it was out of my comfort zone, but because it had so much hype and I was afraid I'd be disappointed. Now I need to read Linger because I want to find out what happens next!

all you can books said...

Living dead girls seems to be a very interesting story. We hear every day about girls kidnapped and forced to do things, but I never heard what such a girl has to say and if she could get over such an experience so it's definitely a boog I would read.