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Well, Part 1 was essentially one giant summary of the books I saw on the YA series shelf that day I walked into the store. The YA section to begin with is pretty small and the YA series section is a fraction of that so there wasn’t much looking around to do. And this is a pretty big Barnes and Noble. Methinks some YA expansion should be done. But that’s besides the point. Now that you’ve had a chance to read over the types of series I saw (if you haven’t, you might want to just so you have a basis for comparison for my conclusions), it’s time to conclude.
First, the series that caught my eye. Confessions of Georgia Nicholson looks like just the type of snarky wit I love to read in a book. I’m going to have to add the first book in the series to my TBR list. The Mediator looks like a pretty good one too. I’ve yet to read any Meg Cabot (*ducks*) but this one looks good. Another add. I’ve heard good things about Pretty Little Liars but I’m still on the fence about it. Not sure if it’d be my thing. The only thing I know about The Princess Diaries is that it looked like a cute movie. Not sure I’d be too into reading the book but I’m an Anne Hathaway fan so I’m pretty sure I’d be into the films. Sweep sounds a lot like the Wicked series I started reading, Witch and Curse. Still, it stands out from the rest even though I probably wouldn’t read it. The Frog Princess sounds a lot like The Princess Diaries with animals but it looks cute. Vampire Kisses sounds a lot like The Vampire’s Promise books from Caroline B. Cooney I have sitting in my TBR pile so it kind of gives it a nostalgic feel for me. Could be potential there. Maybe.
So of the 14 series I have listed, two, to me, sound interesting enough to read. Personal opinion, of course but conclusion number one states that majority rules – don’t hold my breath for the popular series to interest me.
Conclusion number two, if you’re a teen guy, you’re shit out of luck. You’re going to have to be sitting on the floor like I do and weed through the hundreds of books on the shelves looking for a series of books with a male protagonist, or at least something vaguely interesting to the XY chromosomal carriers. I’d recommend the Cirque du Freak series, which was shoved in with the rest of the alphabetical order books in the rest of the YA section. I know there’s also The Apprentice series, or something like that. I can see the covers but the exact title is escaping me. The Magician’s Apprentice? But yeah, don’t expect to see any series in the series section catering to the male teenage population.
Conclusion number three comes in right along side conclusion number two, only girls read series. Or so it would seem. No wonder editors are salivating for middle grade or YA series with male protagonists. There’s enough estrogen on those shelves to materialize a year’s worth of birth control from the pages.
I’m going to split this post up into two parts, one today and one tomorrow, simply because it’ll get to long if I do just one. What I’m listing here are all of the YA series that I actually saw on the shelves in the YA section of my local Barnes and Noble. I’ve excluded Twilight because, well, I’ve had enough of it for now. Time to focus on other books that occupy the same space.
What I want to do with this is take a look at what was available on the shelves for YA series when I walked into that store that day. These books were specifically filed in the series section of the YA section so if I missed something, that’s probably why. I know there’s a lot more out there, but for all intents and purposes, lets say Regular Teen Reader goes in wanting to start a series and does the easiest thing: goes right to the series section. We’ll keep Regular Teen Reader androgynous for now.
These are RTR’s choices for YA series at the moment. Read through the synopses and I’ll get to my point in tomorrow’s post. Let’s see what conclusions will be had.
The A List by Zoey Dean
Welcome to The A-List, a wickedly funny and risqué paperback original novel that takes readers behind the scenes of the intoxicating world of Hollywood glitterati. Seventeen-year-old Upper East Side blueblood Anna (“pronounced Aaaanah”) Percy is on her way to Beverly Hills, California, where she’ll live with her estranged dad for the rest of the school year while her mother travels to Europe with a friend. On the plane, Anna drinks too much champagne and gets hit on by record producer Rick Resnick. Luckily Princeton student Ben Birnbaum is there to save her and he invites Anna to famous actor Jackson Sharpe’s wedding, where Anna meets the cast of rich and famous characters who are soon to be her classmates at Beverly Hills High.
The fast times of Beverly Hill’s most beautiful and glamorous people drive the page-turning action of this juicy new novel. (bn.com)
The Clique by Lisi Harrison
Massie Block: With her glossy brunette bob and laser-whitened smile, Massie is the uncontested ruler of The Clique and the rest of the social scene at Octavian Country Day School, an exclusive private girls’ school in Westchester County, New York. Massie knows you’d give anything to be just like her.
Dylan Marvil: Massie’s second in command who divides her time between sucking up to Massie and sucking down Atkins Diet shakes.
Alicia Rivera: As sneaky as she is beautiful, Alicia floats easily under adult radar because she seems so “sweet.” Would love to take Massie’s throne one day. Just might.
Kristen Gregory: She’s smart, hardworking, and will insult you to tears faster than you can say “my haircut isn’t ugly!”
Enter Claire Lyons, the new girls from Florida in Keds and two-year-old Gap overalls, who is clearly not Clique material. Unfortunately for her, Claire’s family is staying in the guesthouse on Massie’s family’s huge estate while they look for a new home. Claire’s future looks worse than a bad Prada knockoff. But with a little luck and a lot of scheming, Claire might just come up smelling like Chanel No. 19. . . .
The Clique . . . the only thing harder than getting in is staying in. (bn.com)
Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louise Rennison
There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.
2. It is on my nose
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic teachers.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager. In the spirit of Bridget Jones’s Diary, this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it’s “Fabbity fab fab!” (bn.com)
