Monday, June 13, 2011

Pin-up Post: Great Books with Happy endings

in that horrible Wall Street Journal article is was suggested by Meghan Cox Gurdon that all YA novels were about "vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff" i felt it would be good to remind people that this is far from the truth. so this Pin-up post is just to show a few Australian books which have no dark content and happy endings.

Blueback by Tim Winton
this book is set in a beautiful deserted beach town. Able grows up spending almost as much time in the water as out of it, even though his father was the victim of a fatal shark attack when able was a little boy. he lives alone with his mother as they run their farm and sustainable house. things intervene with this idyllic life of course, like school, developers, fishermen and growing up. no matter what happens though Able never forgets his friend Blueback, a giant fish.
a sweet, simple tale. short and well written, like all winton's work.

Triple Ripple by Brigid Lowry
this a stories rolled into one. the fairytale of Glory who is sent to work in the castle and uncovers some big secrets, the life of Nov as she battles through high school, and the writer who has to pull the story together. the stories blend together, giving us a great books as yummy as ice cream. it's a book that most girls would enjoy, mixing fantasy and contemporary together.
Ten things i hate about me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
as far as i can remember this book has nothing dark in it, the few mentions of death, racism and other things aren't described, but from the point of view of Jamie. Jamie is fighting to understand her father and his sexist over-protective rules. her brother doesn't have to be home before dark, why does she? through the book Jamie fights with her Muslim identity, and her identity as a person regardless of everyone Else's views. set in a typical Australian school. gives a good cultural insight (at least for me) and as far as i remember mainly very friendly to read.

this is just a small selection of great books, which i see as having nothing that would scare a 13 year old. people should actually read YA before they judge it. I've never found a community like ours :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haven't read either of these- tried TR though and didn't really enjoy what I read...
Oh thanks! The stripes are pretty nifty!
You've got to read ALASKA! It's amazing! I haven't read the others though...
Thank you! I'm so glad you like the Q&A's I do, and the questions I ask! Thank you so much for telling me! That's great!
My writing's going well, I've sent heaps of things in for competitions and publishing in YA magazines... waiting for the replies now! And my new story's good, but somewhat slow... not that I mind! I feel so busy at the moment!
How are things going for you?
No, I'm not this year- I didn't hear about it until later.. what do you do for it? I'll have look it up- are you doing it?
Romi.x

Nomes said...

oh i love this post :)

i love how you always choose Aussie books :)

<3 Nomes

Anonymous said...

Thanks!

Ismé said...

These sound really good, and I agree with you, that
WSJ article was ridiculous!

Isme
The Book Slooth

Anonymous said...

You should read Eight KEys- it's really interesting... maybe read it then Aubrey, that would be interesting!
I agree.
R.

Anonymous said...

I know- I can't can't can't wait for the final movie!

Anonymous said...

( : Oh, the numbers next to my current read mean when I started them- Caleb's Crossing 8th means I started it on the 8th ect. just to help me keep on track when I started books so I don't forget, as I write them all down! ( :

Anonymous said...

I agree on that, being quite preachy- but not overly, which was good!
And Frances Hodgson Burnett was very religious too, so that explains it! ( :