Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Seven of the best morally complex YA novels

One title on Melissa Albert's list of seven top morally complex YA novels, as shared at the BN Teen blog:
Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers

Regina is a pitiless mean girl at the top of her high school’s food chain—until she puts her trust in the wrong person following a rape attempt by her best friend’s boyfriend. Her friends turn on her, their abuse rapidly escalates, and the only people willing to put a hand out to help are two former victims of her clique’s mindlessly cruel scorched-earth campaigns. Regina endures the growing pains of her stunted conscience, and balancing righteous anger with the knowledge that she’s getting exactly what she once dished out. The book stuns and terrifies with its vividly believable vision of trial-by-peer, and the brutality of a teen world adult rules can’t penetrate.
Read about another entry on the list.

Some Girls Are is among Jenny Kawecki's top six YA novels that "take your stereotypical mean girl and give her agency, motives, an inner life" and Dahlia Adler's top five dark YA novels for Heathers fans and top five YA books told from the bully’s perspective.

The Page 69 Test: Some Girls Are.

--Marshal Zeringue