Ya Why?

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  YA Why? In February’s best YA book, a frustrated teen kills himself over and over

  Gregory Galloway’s second novel addresses despair and suicide sympathetically, and without flinching.

  March 4, 2013 | 12:00pm -

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  YA Why? Yes, 50 Cent wrote a YA novel about a bullied, violent kid and his gay mom

  The rapper’s first solo book addresses thorny issues in not-very-thorny ways.

  January 28, 2013 | 12:00pm -

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  YA Why? The Eyre Affair author Jasper Fforde moves into YA, with frustrating results

  The first young-adult novel from a well-established, bestselling British humorist moves too quickly to make a significant mark. 

  October 29, 2012 | 10:01am -

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  YA Why? Lois Lowry’s new Son finally concludes and resolves the classic story of The Giver

  Ending the loosely connected quartet of books that began in 1993, Son brings all the threads together.

  October 15, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Jeanne Ryan’s debut Nerve channels The Hunger Games’ emotions to lower-stakes ends

  In a culture dominated by an online game of escalating dares, one teenager chooses to leave her comfort zone far behind.

  October 1, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Judy Blume’s Forever… taught ’70s teens about sex and ellipsis abuse 

  Repeatedly banned for its pornographically frank look at virginity loss, this YA novel covers the basics in clinical detail. 

  September 10, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? The much-banned YA novel The Outsiders turns clunky prose into deep emotion 

  S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders at age 16, and it shows in more ways than one. 

  August 27, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War is a much-banned, malevolent gem

  Before modern young-adult fiction even thought about getting grim, books like The Chocolate War set the stage.

  August 6, 2012 | 1:00pm -

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  YA Why? Tokyo Heist is an old-fashioned teen-sleuth story set in modern-day Japan 

  A manga-obsessed teenager finds her purpose while hunting a missing Van Gogh painting through Japan. 

  July 23, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Lois Lowry’s The Giver was a YA dystopia before they were cool—or violent 

  Our young-adult-books column’s first look at a classic YA novel delves into a much calmer dystopia than the modern standard. 

  July 9, 2012 | 1:00pm -

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  YA Why? Dan Wells’ YA novel Partials mixes Margaret Atwood with military fiction 

  Semi-human supermen in the world to come.

  June 25, 2012 | 2:00pm -

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  YA Why? The Selection, a YA book and incipient CW series, looks for royal love in a post-WWIII world 

  This book is in the process of becoming a CW series, and The A.V. Club knows why. 

  June 11, 2012 | 12:00pm -

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  YA Why? The second book of the bestselling Divergent series takes far too many twists and turns 

  Our periodic look at new young-adult novels drops back in on the bestselling Divergent series, which continues to rack up the twists and turns. 

  June 4, 2012 | 1:00pm -

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  YA Why? Ghosts and institutionalized amnesia haunt a strange town in the YA novel Glimmer

  There’s strange doings afoot in the town of Summer Falls.

  May 14, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Fear, the latest entry in a series of young adult novels, imagines a society without grown-ups

  A regular check-in with what’s up in Young Adult literature looks inside a dome filled with young people. 

  April 30, 2012 | 10:00am -

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  YA Why? Grave Mercy

  Could the story of a teen nun assassin be the next Hunger Games?

  April 16, 2012 | 11:00am -