• 

Today our YIR coverage continues with Ypulse Youth Advisory Board member Liz Funk weighing in on what she saw as this year’s hits and misses in the world of book publishing…

The Best:

1. I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
Although I Love You, Beth Cooper was published in 2007, the book went paperback this year in 2008 and it still gets my vote for best book of the year. I Love You, Beth Cooper is the positively hysterical story of awkward class valedictorian Dennis “the Coove” Cooverman and his probably-gay best guy friend carousing on the night of their high school graduation as they evade near-death several times, improbably accompanied by the hottest girl in the senior class (Beth Cooper, naturally) and her entourage of two. The author, a former writer for “The Simpsons” and “Beavis and Butthead” has served up the funniest young adult fiction in a long time. The movie version — starring Heroes heroine Hayden Pannetiere — is due out in 2009. This book is equally entertaining for girls and boys, and it’s not to be missed!

2. The “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyer
Although the first book wasn’t pubbed in 2008, this was the year that Bella and Edward became household names. Looks like teen girls might be reconsidering their love of the cattiness and tumultuous sex in “privileged lit” and are trading in to read about the addictive romance between good girl Bella and her vampire boyfriend Edward. Author Stephanie Meyer struck it big with her four vampire-themed novels, and teens voted with their dollars on how they felt about the Twilight books.

3. The Tales of BeetleBeedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Although not exactly as climactic as the release of an eighth Harry Potter book, readers fiending for more of author J.K. Rowling’s magical prose have been gobbling up The Tales of Beetle the Bard, the wizarding children’s fairy tales referenced in the final Harry Potter installment. What’s cool about this book is that it includes “the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.” It made fans wish even more passionately that the wizarding world was real.

4. Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who’s Boss by Danica McKellar
Danica McKellar, most known for her performance as girl-next-door Winnie Cooper on the Wonder Years, is actually a math wiz who helped pen a new math theorum and graduated summa cum laude with a math degree from UCLA! In Kiss My Math, a follow-up to her book last year, Math Doesn’t Suck, McKellar equips girls with skills and tips to take on middle school and high school math. McKellar is on a much-needed and admirable mission: showing girls that excelling at math is a powerful life skill that won’t detract at all from their femininity and style.

5. How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
This is one of the most original, honest and creative young adult fiction books published in a long time. Set in Florida with girls of three different socioeconomic statuses (rich, middle class and low-income), this book doesn’t rely on glamour, sex, or namedropping designer brands to be appealing. In fact, the honest, sweet story of these three girls on a road trip to Miami who are going through some personal struggles will resonate with all girls. It was co-written by three prominent YA authors, and the finished product is highly impressive.

The Worst:

1. Tie: Barack Obama, Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grimes and My Dad, John McCain by Meghan McCain
No matter what side of the political perspective you fall on, you have to admit that politically-oriented children’s books are a little grotesque. In Barack Obama, Son of Promise, Child of Hope, the president-elect is portrayed almost as a Christ figure, and Meghan McCain campaigning for her dad in the children’s department of Barnes and Noble was very weird.

2. The “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyer
How does a book make the list for both the “best” and the “worst?” Although it’s a thrill to see teens — particularly teen girls — reading at an intensity we haven’t seen since Harry Potter, the Twilight books weren’t perfect. The writing is cheesy and the boyfriend character Edward is too good to be true. As one of the teenaged girls I mentor put it, “Great. Now we have to resent guys for not being vampires.”

3. Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven: A Gusty Guide to Being One Hot (and Healthy!) Mother by Rory Freedmn and Kim Barnouin
Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, authors of the bestselling diet book series “Skinny Bitch” are bitching all the way to the bank with their third “Skinny Bitch” diet book. Unfortunately, these rude, mean diet advice books are inciting an already self-flagellating population of American women to new lows of self-loathing.

4. Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
Writers who lie to their professional network, lie to their readers and lie to Oprah should not get another book deal. Let alone a book deal with a seven figure advance. End of story.

5. Lauren Conrad’s book deal (working title: L.A. Candy)
So it hasn’t actually been published yet (forthcoming June 2009), but it’s worth pronouncing before it hits the shelves. Celebrities are known for their mega-branding, and they put their names on everything from music, to movies, to clothing lines and perfumes. But many of us still consider writing to be an art and publishing to be an industry that hasn’t completely sold out yet — so it’s deeply unsettling when celebs seem to think that books can be the next extension of their brand. When Jenna Bush, Sarah Jessica Parker (sorry, SJP), and Lauren Conrad “just happen to write” young adult fiction novels — even though they’re not writers — it demoralizes the craft that today’s talented circle of young adult fiction writers have worked hard to perfect.

About Liz Funk

Liz Funk is a freelance writer and college student. She has written for USA Today, Newsday, the Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post, Girls’ Life, and CosmoGIRL!, among other publications. Her first book, Supergirls Speak Out, about the pressure on girls to be perfect, will be published by Simon and Schuster in March of 2009. She writes a blog for the Albany, NY newspaper the Times Union and she edits the teen culture and politics blog GirlHeadQuarters.org. She is a senior at Pace University and lives in Manhattan. Her web-site is www.lizfunk.com.

• 

Categorized under: Books & Print, Youth Advisory Board

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you are a Facebook user, comment using your Facebook account.