Book series like Twilight?

[MelC]

Just to add that fictionwise is having a promo on their young adult fiction at the moment. You might get some more ideas scanning through their collection.

Mel

[kikar]

My wife enjoyed and I am enjoying the "Rachel Morgan Series" by Kim Harrison's but not sure if it is YA compatible... Someone else may be a better judge than I. My wife said the books by Kelly Armstrong are good as well.

[Mnementh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I think it's a issue with terminology - I have a real "problem" with using this term "young adult" to refer to young teenagers; in my book (if you'll excuse the pun) they are not "adults", young or otherwise . I personally refer to book aimed at that age group as "juvenile" books. Of course, I realise that my personal preferences aren't going to change the way that the book industry categorises its products .

What you've also got to remember is that to most Americans (this is not meant as a bash so don't take it that way) kids should be kept as kids and wrapped in cotton wool until they're 18, they shouldn't even think the word sex let alone actually read about the act itself.

I think that the legal age for sex being much younger in the UK and most of Europe leads us to have a much more tolerant attitude towards this sort of thing.

I know this is a general sweeping kind of statement but I know people on both sides of the pond who subscribe to this kind of thinking.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by Mnementh

What you've also got to remember is that to most Americans (this is not meant as a bash so don't take it that way) kids should be kept as kids and wrapped in cotton wool until they're 18, they shouldn't even think the word sex let alone actually read about the act itself.

I think that the legal age for sex being much younger in the UK and most of Europe leads us to have a much more tolerant attitude towards this sort of thing.

I know this is a general sweeping kind of statement but I know people on both sides of the pond who subscribe to this kind of thinking.

Speaking as a parent of a teenager and several future teens, if my kids are going to read about sex then I'd at least like the relationships being modelled to be ones that help them build positive expectations for their own future relationships. The ones portrayed in the Sookie Stackhouse series (since that's been brought up already) are not always healthy (or completely voluntary), and the primary relationship between Sookie and Bill depicts them sucking each other's blood during sex (humans get a 'buzz' and heightened senses from swallowing vampire blood in the series). I realize my kids are going to pull away the 'cotton wool' however much I try to prevent it, but if I can steer them away from Sookie I will.

[Mnementh]

Originally Posted by GlennD

Speaking as a parent of a teenager and several future teens, if my kids are going to read about sex then I'd at least like the relationships being modelled to be ones that help them build positive expectations for their own future relationships. The ones portrayed in the Sookie Stackhouse series (since that's been brought up already) are not always healthy (or completely voluntary), and the primary relationship between Sookie and Bill depicts them sucking each other's blood during sex (humans get a 'buzz' and heightened senses from swallowing vampire blood in the series). I realize my kids are going to pull away the 'cotton wool' however much I try to prevent it, but if I can steer them away from Sookie I will.

I can respect that, I was just trying to speak in general rather than going for specific books (having never read Sookie Stackhouse I can't really comment on them). I think that if kids are brought up correctly then to be perfectly honest being exposed to this sort of writing can only be a good thing if they find the story interesting. If they don't then they simply won't read it and if they do it doesn't mean they're gonna go and act out what they're reading about. That is obviously my personal opinion.

[Danny Fekete]

I can't recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy strongly enough. I found it at the end of middle school and studied it with glee at the end of my undergrad. So there's stuff there at least for people between those markers.

I am everyman, after all.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by kikar

My wife enjoyed and I am enjoying the "Rachel Morgan Series" by Kim Harrison's but not sure if it is YA compatible... Someone else may be a better judge than I. My wife said the books by Kelly Armstrong are good as well.

I would say they are 16+
would also suggest Karen chance 16+

and the best Kelley Armstrong for any age really.

[ravenlife]

I would agree with those above on "Sookie Stackhouse" books

they are certainly a good read but i would not recommend them to anyone under the age of 16-18 (depending on the specific person i was recommending it to), as mentioned above Charlaine Harris relies heavily on the sex side of Sookie's relationships with both the vampires and the weres (and even a faerie male, who was a christmas gift given to her by her great grandfather). The story lines too are often very dark (even if the writing doesn't match the dark tone) possibly the widest spectrum of human behaviour (whether good or bad) are covered within the series, pedophilia, murder, greed, envy, lust, racism, rape, love, kindness, friendship.


you could try the "undead" series by Mary Janice Davidson, i have not read them myself so I cannot recommend them, my partner enjoyed them (but then we are not teens) so i would suggest having a look yourself before passing onto your daughters

I have just picked up "evernight" by Claudia Gray, which does appear to be more teen based (im only about 20 pages in)


further recommendations:

His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
The Spidewick Chronicles - Holly Black
Modern Tale of Faerie - Holly Black (adult)
The Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice (adult)
The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini
Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stround
The Legend Of Drizzt - R A Salvatore
Harry Potter - J K Rowling

there some of the ones ive read over the last year or so, but none are really like the Twilight series

[Bowhuntxx78]

Thanks to all.... Our oldest daughter is very thankful for the suggestions.... Her birthday is the beginning of September so i may just get her a Sony PRS-300....

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by Bowhuntxx78

Thanks to all.... Our oldest daughter is very thankful for the suggestions.... Her birthday is the beginning of September so i may just get her a Sony PRS-300....

Lucky girl!

[scrappyd]

I really enjoyed the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Couldn't put it down. Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras.

Also I liked The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Granted I'm 35 and not a young adult but I'm pretty immature. :-)

[evenstr]

I second the suggestion of Holly Black and the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. I liked Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Crown Duel/Court Duel by Sherwood Smith. Both favor the witty banter/we won't admit we love each other kind of romance over the kind found in Twilight, but there's also plenty of action. Graceling is available in the Sony Store. Crown Duel/Court Duel is not, but several of Sherwood Smith's other books are. I would also recommend Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier (also available at the Sony Store) and anything by Francesca Lia Block (a great number of her books are available in the Sony Store).

[corroonb]

The great thing about books is there are no age ratings.

His Dark Materials are superb books. The Chronicles of Narnia are very good also even with the rather heavy-handed Christian allegory. Both series are however nothing like Twilight but should be suitable for anyone with taste.

Anything by Robert Westall is highly recommended. He's a British writer of horror (The Wheatstone Pond, Urn Burial, The Scarecrows) and fiction (Blitzcat, The Machine Gunners) for teenagers or "young adults". He won the Carnegie Medal for The Scarecrows and the Machine Gunners.

[Suzannec]

I have read the Mortal Instruments trilogy and it was really good. It is by Cassandra Clare. Great for Young Adult.

[rittsi]

Originally Posted by Suzannec

I have read the Mortal Instruments trilogy and it was really good. It is by Cassandra Clare. Great for Young Adult.

I agree. I recently read this trilogy as well and really enjoyed it. It's not a genre that I thought would really appeal to me (young adult fantasy) but I found myself unable to put the books down.