Editors' choice: best of the year's hardcover YA fiction

Kliatt, March, 2008

Here are some outstanding YA novels reviewed in KLIATT over the last year, which we hope you didn't miss.

Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Does my head look big in this? Scholastic, Orchard.

Alexander, Lloyd. The golden dream of Carlo Chuchio. Henry Holt.

Alexie, Sherman. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. Little, Brown.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Twisted. Penguin, Viking.

Avi. The Traitors" Gate. Simon & Schuster.

Babbit, Natalie. Jack Plank tells tales. Scholastic, Michael Di Capua Books.

Brooks, Martha. Mistik Lake. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Crowley, Suzanne. The very ordered existence of Merilee Marvelous. HarperCollins.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Scholastic.

Durbin, William. The Winter War. Random House, Wendy Lamb.

Fleischman, Sid. The entertainer and the dybbuk. HarperCollins, Greenwillow.

Friesen, Gayle. For now. Kids Can Press.

Gallagher, Liz. The opposite of invisible. Random House, Wendy Lamb.

Haas, Jessie. Chase. HarperCollins, Greenwillow.

Hornby, Nick. Slam. Penguin, Putnam.

Kraft, Erik P. Miracle Wimp. Little, Brown.

Levitin, Sonia. Strange relations. Random House, Knopf.

Lurie, April. Brothers, boyfriends & other criminal minds. Random House, Delacorte.

Moranville, Sharelle Byers. The Snows, a novel. Henry Holt.

Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem summer. Scholastic. Nelson, Blake. They came from below. Tor.

Sandell, Lisa Ann. Song of the sparrow. Scholastic.

Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday wars. Houghton Mifflin, Clarion.

Weinheimer, Beckie. Converting Kate. Penguin, Viking.

Wells, Rosemary. Red moon at Sharpsburg. Penguin, Viking.

Wilhelm, Doug. Falling. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac and D Foster. Penguin, Putman.

Noteworthy sequels:

Card, Orson Scott. A war of gifts. Tor.

Farmer, Nancy. The Land of the Silver Apples. Simon & Schuster, Atheneum.

Horowitz, Anthony. Nightrise. Scholastic.

Horowitz, Anthony. Snakehead. Penguin, Philomel.

Jordan, Sherryl. Time of the Eagle. HarperCollins, Eos.

Le Guin, Ursula K. Powers. Harcourt.

Lupica, Mike. Summer ball. Penguin, Philomel.

Lubar, David. True talents. Tor, Starscape.

McMullan, Margaret. When I crossed No-Bob. Houghton Mifflin.

McNab, Andy & Rigby, Robert. Avenger. Penguin, Putnam.

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. The off season. Houghton Mifflin.

Oppel, Kenneth. Darkwing. HarperCollins, EOS.

Patterson, James. Maximum Ride; saving the world and other extreme sports. Little, Brown.

Pratchett, Terry.Johnny and the bomb. HarperCollins.

Reeve, Philip. A darkling plain. HarperCollins, EOS.

Sones, Sonya. What my girlfriend doesn't know. Simon & Schuster.