Unfortunately, most young adult books have hit rock bottom, dealing with death, abuse, divorce, sexuality and all the other topics that these youth are bombarded with day after day. It is recognized that youths need to deal with the problems that are facing them, and living in a fantasy world is not helpful. However, do they ever have a time to "chill" as they say it? However, the Twilight Vampire Series is really not the answer to this. It has, what is said, little "redeeming value."
It's difficult deciding on a best YA book and not going back to the classics. The best bet is finding a book that offers imagination, education and entertainment. There are few, but Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me comes close. It combines the best elements of recent classics, such as A Wrinkle in Time as well as fun TV game shows like the $20,000 Pyramid, and a story about a girl, Miranda, whose structured world becomes...
Miranda's bestest friend Sal stops talking to her he is beat up by Marcus. Marcus then challenges Miranda with arguments about her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, and finds flaws in L'Engle's time-travel narrative. Next, Miranda starts receiving notes from someone who seems to know the future. The book's earlier setting in 1980 gets away from all the heavy themes of today and back into "easier" life with Mom on the $20,000 Pyramid.
This is a book that can be enjoyed by readers and nonreaders alike and can be utilized in a variety of different ways for book reports. The teen and pre-teen readers can rely on many different visual arts, TV/film and drama to convey what they have learned from the book. It is also a great book for smaller groups of students to work together for a team project. Forget the horrible Twilight and instead focus on multithematic books like When You Reach Me.
