Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.
Today’s Topic: Ten + Two New-To-Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2016
Kellee
These authors’ novels became instant favorites, and I highly recommend them all!
1. Elana K. Arnold
Elana K. Arnold’s book Far From Fair is a novel that a kid is going to need, and it’ll be there for them. Odette’s story deals with so many truths within the pages. Odette’s family is going on a road trip. Not for fun, but because her dad was laid off, and they had to sell their house. They decided to buy an RV and go visit Odette’s sick grandmother then go on an adventure. None of this was discussed with Odette, who really doesn’t want to live in an RV with her brother who could have a fit at any moment and her parents that are having marital difficulties. Much less leave her best friend and school! But sometimes you are not in control of what is happening, so you have to make the best of it.
2. Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Jess has recently began hormones and her transition, and she hasn’t talked to her father since he told her what she was doing was a choice and overall didn’t understand. Now that he is getting married, Jess and her best friend, Chunk, are going on a road trip to his wedding to show him who Jess really is. But this story isn’t as it seems. It is definitely a journey for the characters and the reader.
3. Adam Silvera
More Happy Than Not is a book that is important for our society. It truly looks at what we find acceptable and how that affects those we feel are “afflicted” with anything that is not normal.
4. Judd Winick
Hilo is one of my favorite graphic novels now, and I am impatiently waiting for the next book! These books are a fun mix of adventure and humor that any reader will love.
5. Barbara Dee
Full Review
I now see why so many of my middle school girls like her stories. The drama in Truth or Dare (sadly) feels so real to the girl drama I witness as a middle school teacher. Although parts may be a bit exaggerated a bit from the truth, it works to get the point across which I think is often needed when dealing with social situations in middle school to help the reader see the consequences. I also really liked the truth of Lia’s family, their grief, and the struggle between Lia’s aunt’s eccentricity and Lia’s family’s rigidity.
6. Michele Weber Hurwitz
After reading Michele’s Author Guest Post, I knew I wanted to read one of her novels then The Summer I Saved The World…in 65 Days ended up on our middle school state list, and I pushed it up to the top of my TBR. We chose this text as one of our summer faculty book club choices, and we thoroughly enjoyed it and even discussed having all of our 8th grade students have it read to them as a read aloud.
7. Polly Holyoke
The Neptune Project is such a creative, descriptive, unique, and intense dystopian novel, and it is just the beginning of the adventure. I cannot wait to read the sequel!
8. Eddie Pittman
Teaching Guide
Red’s Planet is a new graphic novel series that fans of sci-fi and adventure are going to definitely love!
9. Alison Cherry
Full Review and Author Guest Post
I love AJ. She is a perfect protagonist because she is just a real middle schooler. She is multi-faceted, funny, has quite a personality, has fears, makes mistakes, and is overall likeable. And she is not the only well-crafted character. Each of the characters, main, secondary, or supporting, are so fully developed that you feel like you know everyone in AJ’s life. I often am skeptical about first person POV because it is always tough to get a character/narrator’s voice perfect while also developing the characters, but Cherry does a great job of both. AJ is a normal middle school girl that is dealing with a quite terrible grandmother who happens to have an unexpected hobby.
Another thing that blew me away about this novel is that something happened that was completely unexpected! Usually when I am reading middle grade novels, I love them but am not often surprised because I can sense foreshadowing and predict; however, Cherry really caught me off guard in this one! You’ll have to let me know if you see it coming!
And finally, I loved the unique premise of the book! Who ever thought there’d be a book about a bunch of old ladies who “liberate” *cough* steal *cough* exotic birds and anything else that suits their fancy?!
10. Jonathan Auxier
Sophie Quire Teaching Guide
Sophie Quire is not only one of my favorite books I read this year; it is one of my favorite books ever. I love Sophie. She is OUR (book lovers’) heroine. She is such a special young lady, and the adventure she goes on is EPIC!
11. Dan Geminhart
Full Review
he Honest Truth was my first choice for my school’s faculty book club because I had only hear amazing things about it. I jumped into reading it without knowing anything about it, but by the end of the first page, I knew that all my friends who recommended it to me were right. Mark has a voice that is so full of hurt and sorrow that it jumps off the page and into your heart. The obstacles he faces and overcomes while also making his way to die alone show the strength of his character. I also was a big fan of the two points of view because it allows the reader to see what was going on at home and maybe get some more truth than what Mark was telling us (though he swears it all is the honest truth).
12. Gregory Funaro
Review and Author Q&A
Take a bit of Oliver Twist add in some Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory mix it with the snark of Lemony Snicket and Frankenstein’s monster then top it off with some Emerald Atlas and (more) Harry Potter adventure with mythology and fairy tale sprinkles and voila! You have yourself Alistair Grim’s Odditorium. But do not let me fool you into thinking that Gregory Funaro’s story is like anything you’ve read before because even though it alludes to many fantastical adventures, it is its own story through and through.
What makes Odditorium soar is not just the amazing adventure that Grubb and Mr. Grim go on (because it is amazing!), but the cast of characters that accompany them. Without Mrs. Pinch, Nigel, Mack, Lord Dreary, the samurai, and others, the book just wouldn’t be the same. Gregory Funaro did an amazing job creating a fully-developed supporting cast of characters that help push this adventure to the next level.
Which new authors did you find in 2016 that were new-favorites?
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