Year in Review: Author Discoveries and Top 15 Books of 2009

Note: The books I'll be talking about won't necessarily have been published in 2009. These lists are more of the books I personally read and finished by the end of this year.

Author Discoveries of 2009:

JUSTINA CHEN HEADLEY - Where has this author been all my life? One page into her novel Girl Overboard and I was suckered in, hook line and sinker. I love her protagonists and her humour and her motifs (there's ALWAYS a prevalent motif in her works) and her sucker punch one-liners. I've read all three novels published by her and all I can say is "When are her next books coming out?!"

CYNTHIA KADOHATA - aslfkdja;lj Kadohata is my goddess. I can't believe I only laid my eyes on her Weedflower novel back in the cold month of January. She is brilliant, utterly and completely brilliant, and I've read all of her YA novels with the one exception of Outside Beauty (which will be remedied soooooon, veryyyyyy soooooon) and am SO EXCITED FOR HER NEW NOVEL IN 2010!!! (It's called A Million Shades of Gray and I would most definitely camp out a night in front of the bookstore to grab myself a copy. 2010 can't come fast enough.)

ANGELA JOHNSON - I can't believe I spent all these years without someone shoving me a Johnson novel. After I read it, I found out that one of my IRL reading friends actually read and owned her own copy of Johnson's The First Part Last and I was like "And you kept this novel from me ALL THIS TIME?!" (Don't worry, we got over this tiny dispute. After a span of sullen silent treatments, that is. =D) *coughs* Anyhow, I only managed to read Bird and The First Part Last by Johnson because my library SUCKS. *kicks* But I swear I'll make it a mission to read more of her works in 2010. *is determined*

Top 15 Books of 2009

15) Shadow Magic by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett *

14) The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

13) Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley

12) Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

11) Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey


10) Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey *

9) The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

8) A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot *


7) Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

6) Liar by Justine Larbalestier *

5) Dragon Road by Laurence Yep *

4) Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata

3) The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie


2) Warchild by Karin Lowachee

1) Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge *

* - books came out 2009