Breaking Down the “100 Young Adult Books To Read In A Lifetime.”
A Review of the “100 Young Adult Books to read in a lifetime” list on Amazon.
Ok. Quick confession.
I didn’t ACTUALLY have time to read all 100 of these books, so I just looked at the title and the cover photo, and made an educated guess about the actual content of the book. Here are my findings.
One. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
A great memoir of the the nameless Clocksmith of Orange County, California. In the face of adversity from the “Clockers” (what the Clock illuminati call themselves,) our nameless Clocksmith rises above adversity and becomes the greatest Clocksmith ever to have set foot in Southern California.
Two. A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray.
It’s a modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, but it’s also a re-telling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so basically the same person is both beauty and the beast. It sort of falls apart in the middle, once she realizes that it’s all a dream, and she’s really an accountant from Iowa.
Three. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles.
The title has a typo in it. It’s supposed to read “A Separated Piece,” and it’s all about a lover’s quarrel as they assemble a jigsaw puzzle. They never realize that one of the pieces of the jigsaw has become separated from the rest. A gripping tale of forgiveness and hope in the face of tribulation.
Four. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: A Novel, by Betty Smith.
In Post-Apocalyptic New York, there is only one tree left. Wars have been raging over that tree for over a decade. Will there ever be peace in the nuclear wasteland once known as New York?
Five. Anne of Avonlea, by L.M. Montgomery.
Anne travels from AVONlea, the land of catalog sales and makeup dealers, to the land of Mary-Kay-Ville in the hopes of finding a new beginning. What she finds is even better… Flowers.
Six. Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys
The young man embarks on a life-changing journey to find what lies between the shades of gray. At the end of his journey, he realizes that there’s just more shades of gray, and he is finally able to move on with his life.
Seven. Carrie, by Stephen King.
Carrie is a girl on a mission. She just realized that she’s immune to the zombie virus, so she’s constantly putting Zombie blood on her face so that they won’t bite her. What she didn’t count on was… Finding zombie love. Will she be able to resist the charms of Nrgghhh, the sexy undead boy from across the street?
Eight. Cinder, by Marissa Meyer.
From the makers of Tinder(TM) comes Cinder (TM)! Forget about swiping right; if you like your prince charming, send him your favorite shoe, and have him come find you!
Nine. Daughters of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor
Twin sisters, Vapor and Femur, are on a search to find their parents Smoke and Bone. A page-turning coming-of-age story of two sisters coping with life, love, and loss.
Ten. Divergent, by Veronica Roth
Like Robert Frost said, “Taking the road that everyone travels on is for suckers!” Veronica Roth, in her self-improvement book about not traveling on the roads that everyone travels on, claims that “If you would only be divergent, and go on less-traveled roads, then you will find the adventure that you’ve always desired!” Two thumbs down for me, I like driving on the freeway.
That’s part one! Wait for part two, which will come out… One day.
