Please note that there has been absolutely no attempt to balance this list by age, gender or genre. These are just my “from-the-gut†favorites of the books I read this year. (While I love all my Top Ten books the same, I just might love HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT a tiny bit more:) Click on the title to go right to the review.
Bray, Libba. Going Bovine.
Cullen, Dave. Columbine.
Katcher, Brian. Almost Perfect
Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.
Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla.
Small, David. Stitches.
Smith, Sherri L. Flygirl.
Standiford, Natalie. How to Say Goodbye in Robot.
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World.
Yancy, Rick. The Monstrumologist.
Loved your choices of Stitches and Columbine and now I have to read the others!!! THanks for a great list of books.
I’m bummed that I missed your post on Monstrumologist and REALLY happy to see it in your top ten. I just finished it and your post is spot on! Gory to the max, creepier than creepy and wonderfully Victorian with all that introspective reflection of the flawed nature of man. I could NOT stop reading it and can’t wait for more. Most of the reviews I’ve read think this is too gory for teens but whoa – they couldn’t be more wrong!
I really like your top favorites. I haven’t read Columbine and Punkzilla. That has to be remedied!
Lynn
Thanks for including my book, Columbine.
Columbine is so absorbing, such a great read, it is making its way around our faculty book club and they all come in to talk to me about it—I love it! Thanks Dave for a story that needed to be told.
Thanks Jen for a great book to read based on your review and mention of this as one of the 10 great books in 2009…hope I got that right…Loved the bright pink cover, each chapter is pink, the page numbers are pink with some solid black pages and the cover has a black telephone hanging off the hook….
I just loved Beatrice, she begins the book in August moving once again and her mother is upset about it and Bea doesn’t know why, but when she doesn’t get upset (like her mother) with the death of the neighbor’s gerbil, her mother calls her “heartless” and a “robot” so begins the journey of Robot Girl. Each month is a new pink chapter, and Bea makes friends but is drawn to Ghost Boy, Jonah Tate, who looks like Casper, is an outcast and has a major chip on his shoulder. But Jonah and Bea forge a close frienship based on listening to the radio callers and talking and driving to places. But Jonah is tortured about the death of his twin brother and even though Bea will steadfastly help him in any way, Jonah uses their friendship and then pushes Bea away. Bea shed her Robot image as each page turned, her family changed, and Bea became a really sweet girl who will always hold a fond place in her heart for Jonah and will move on to college.
i love the book flygirl it is so interesting and has many great facts and you can learn a lot but also makes you want to keep reading i couldnt put it down once i started reading!!!!!!!
columbine was amazing. like, not even kidding. it completely changed my perspective of school shootings, suicide, evertything. thank you for including this on your “Why Should Adults Have All The Fun?” rant, it’s the only reason i knew this book existed. it was literally one of the best books i’ve ever read:D
punkzilla is the best book i have ever read