Kimberly
Whether your favorite pizza is deep dish, thin crust or some gourmet pizza in between, you need reading material to go with it, don’t you? Well, if you’re alone, you certainly do. But if you’re eating with friends, just save the following books for after the pizza and camaraderie.
This is a pizza website and we like to read too. So every one of our list titles has to include the word “pizza” in it, so here you go…Five great YA novels in 2014 to read while eating pizza…. or before eating pizza…or after eating pizza… or instead of eating pizza…. you get the idea.
Now, onto our list.
#5 – Summer of Sharona – Brian Humek
This isn’t exactly a Historical YA but it does take place in 1979. I can see teens reading it declare, “Mom, I’m reading a historical novel.” Mom replies, “When does the book take place?” Teen tells her, “1979.” Mom feels way too old.
Summer of Sharona does not have a single character in it named Sharona, instead, the time in which it is set is the summer My Sharona skyrockets to the top of the music charts. The MC is Ashley and the story centers around the tumult she must live with simply because her mom, when locked up in the local nut house, meets a man named Bob and marries upon his release. Talk about a great foundation to build a happy family, this is not it.
Ashley is troubled and the only person who knows she cries herself to sleep at night is her next door neighbor Ryan. The paper thin walls hide nothing. Will she run toward or away from the neighbor boy who knows so much about her? When Ashley’s life goes from bad to worse one evening in Chicago’s Grant Park, will she hide this new secret from Ryan or purposely share it with him?
The writing in Summer of Sharona could be brushed up some, but the story is unforgettable and very contemporary even though it does take place during the last days of the disco era, the days when disco was most hated. Ashley even gets to see this hatred personally. The first chapters in the book capture the most famous anti-disco event perfectly. The twists and turns that take place during Ashley’s summer of 1979 assure the reader of a fun, bumpy, but satisfying ride.
#4 – The Gospel of Winter – Brendan Kiely
When you read the debut novel by Brendan Kiely, the first thing you’ll say is, “When does his next book come out?” It is hard to imagine that a book like The Gospel of Winter which flows so effortlessly with a topic that is very heart wrenching can be written by a first time author. The MC Aiden is a very sympathetic character and with his unstable family life and the over abundant concern shown by a local priest, his problems worsen and he begins to abuse drugs and alcohol. Maybe a new circle of friends is what he needs and maybe they will give him the support he needs to heal. This is an outstanding book. Brendan Kiely is definitely an author who knows how to tackle difficult subjects and create characters you will care about.
Some people have compared the main character Aiden Donovan as a 21st century Holden Caufield. Now that’s high praise for a debut novel.
#3 – Uninvited – Sophie Jordan
In our world today, think about how people are so germophobic. If you sneeze or cough, some people would rather not be around you. You’re persona non grata. You’re treated as if you have the plague. Basically, you are uninvited to birthday parties, employee meetings, weddings, dates, etc. Take that thought and mulitply the dire consequences and hurt feelings by a thousand. That’s what happens to Davy in Uninvited by Sophie Jordan.
Davy is a very talented girl. She’s got well-to-do parents. She is a gifted girl her happened to master the piano at age three and quickly picked up other instruments and mastered them too. She’s got the greatest boyfriend in the world, attends the perfect high school and has been accepted to Julliard. But in the year 2021 her entire school body is tested for the gene which determines whether or not one will take a life. Davy tests positive and is immediately “uninvited” from high school, Orwellian newspeak for “expelled.” Her entire life changes and she hasn’t killed anyone, only tested positive for the killing gene.
I wish I could go on and on about this book, but I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. Take time to find this book at the library or look for more details on Amazon. This is one of the best releases in 2014.
#2 – And We Stay – Jenny Hubbard
If you enjoy a little melancholy with your Young Adult novel, then you may just find And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard a must read. The story revolves around Emily Bean, a young poet who finds herself in boarding school weeks after her boyfriend killed himself in the library of her former school. Why exactly is Emily now in boarding school. Well, there are numerous rumors spreading around about why a girl would show up in her junior year at the doors of Amherst School for Girls. And is often the case with rumors, they aren’t true.
Emily’s namesake is the great poet Emily Dickinson and winds up at the same boarding school attended by the great poet. The book is filled with Emily Bean’s poetry which is not only a creative outlet for her, but also as a way to cope with the problems in her life.
Be ready to have your heart wrenched as you read the pages of And We Stay. Author Jenny Hubbard writes elegantly about a subject that is always hard to read. This is a very emotional read. Be careful. You will definitely become emotionally involved.
And number one in our list of five great YA Novels in 2014 to read while eating pizza list is….
#1 – The Impossible Knife of Memory – Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson has written numerous best-sellers for young adults. I can guarantee that The Impossible Knife of Memory will be one of her most popular books yet.
Post traumatic stress disorder affects every single person in the life of a veteran. While the war in Iraq is over and her father Andy has been back for years, for Hayley’s father Andy, the war is re-lived every night. This problem has caused him to fall into fits of rage and make it quite hard for him to stay gainfully employed. Because of this, the two have been on the road in his eighteen wheeler for a number of years. He’s schooled her himself but now wants to give her a senior year experience in an actual high school.
The worst thing about Hayley’s life is that she feels she must keep her dysfunctional life with her dysfunctional father a secret. Secrecy makes getting help for whatever problem you or your loved one may have, quite difficult. As she becomes closer to Finn and others in her new school, something she finds to be not the easiest thing in her world to do, there comes a chance that help may just be on the way.
You can’t go wrong with a Laurie Halse Anderson book and her latest, The Impossible Knife of Memory proves this adage true.
Thanks for reading about five great YA novels to read while eating pizza, but remember you can also read these before or after eating pizza too : )
What would be on your personal list? List them for our readers below. Thanks.
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