Definitive YA & Children’s List: Courtney’s Top YA and Children’s Books
The lovely Rachel put together a list of what she considers to be 21 definitive YA books. And then asked me to make one with what I consider as definitive books. This was a lot harder than I expected, and I can’t pick a whole 21. So I have picked my 15 top YA and Children’s books. Unlike her, however, I am including classics, and so most of these are probably extremely predictable. But note that this list does not necessarily include my favourites. There are some that I positively adore (Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls books, for example), that don’t strike me as fitting for a definitive YA list.
Thus, in no specific order, my definitive YA and Children’s list:
- Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. (Really, this one should not be a surprise. I’ll say what I’ve always said about this one – I think it’s one of the deepest of her books.)
- The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle by Catherine Webb (obviously I’m putting this on the list!)
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle.
- I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
- The Dream of the Stone by Christina Askounis
- Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
- The Hunter’s Moon by O.R. Melling
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
- Foundling (and Lamplighter) by D.M. Cornish
- The Faber Book of Greek Legends by Kathleen Lines
- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
- Megiddo’s Shadow by Arthur Slade
- The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
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I’m sad to say I haven’t read half of these but have added them to my wishlist! :)