UnSung YA favorites

At the end of 2009/beginning of 2010, it's the season for Best Of lists, and Kelly over at YAnnebe noticed that a lot of the lists feature books that made a big splash - certainly deservedly (or why would they be on so many lists?). But it got her to thinking, what about those great books that don't make a splash? The ones that people don't know about, but would love if they did?

And that's how her UnSung YA favorites event was born - so here is a list of my 10 unsung YA favorites (fewer than 500 copies on LibraryThing):

1. King of Shadows by Susan Cooper - this is a time-slip historical novel about a modern day boy actor rehearsing to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream with a company of boys in the reproduced Globe Theater in London - only to wake up in Shakespearean London and act as Puck there. This one has Shakespeare made accessible, a story of dealing with grief and finding a father figure, acting tips, and fantastic writing. One of my all-time favorites and sadly not terribly well-known.

2. Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell - an adventure story of a teenaged sailor on a merchant vessel who is pressed into service in the Navy during the Napoleonic Wars as a powder monkey (the boy who fetches powder to bring to the cannons during battle). What I liked best about this story is that Sam isn't braver, smarter or even morally better than everyone else. He's just a normal boy caught up in a dangerous adventure.

3. The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas - A fun young adult story about a girl determined to be named the first living Catholic saint - as well as catch the attention of her high-school crush. I loved the premise, getting to know Antonia's hilarious Italian family and the feel-good Meg Cabot-like story. This one is well worth picking up.

4. A Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner - I have a distinct fondness for Elizabethan England. In A Murder for Her Majesty, a young girl sees her father murdered and so travels to York to escape his killers (whom she believes were sent by the Queen). She hides disguised as a boy in the Cathedral choir, where the boys fondly refer to her as Pup. It's a sweet story and very evocative of the music that means so much to Alice.

5. Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner - This story is very much in the same vein as Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series. It's the story of Helen of Troy, but the emphasis is far more on her scrappiness than her legendary beauty. She learns how to fight along with her brothers Cassius and Polydeuces and proves herself a true Spartan - full of determination, strength and gumption.

6. Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd - set during the Troubles on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, Fergus finds a small body preserved in a local peat bog. His story, studying for his A-levels, his brother on hunger strike, and his friendship with the archaeologist's daughter who comes to study his 'bog child', alternates with the story of the girl whose remains he discovered. A lovely poignant story.

7. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw - Adventure, spies, and a little bit of romance - all added to the fact that this is set in ancient Egypt, and is it any wonder this is one of my favorites? While the view of Hatshepsut as pharaoh has since become outdated (she was in fact generally considered a good ruler), it is nonetheless a charming story of conflicting loyalties and intrigue.

8. The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman by Louise Plummer - Kate isn't a huge fan of romance novels, but she sits down to write her own love story with the Romance Writer's Phrasebook - and the results are both hilarious and touching. Kate is myopic to the extreme, she has a distinct fondness for linguistics, and she's hardly the stuff that romance heroines are made of (or so she thinks). Her love story is charming to read, and I really wish there were more people to chat with about this one! Please let me know if you've read it!

9. Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White - With all the fuss surrounding The Hunger Games, it's surprising that this hasn't showed up more on 'similar titles' lists. A group of kids stuck in a dystopian reality where education is televised and careers are meted out based on lucky roles of dice hit their big break (or not) when they are chosen to take part in a reality show to Antarctica mirroring the doomed Shackleton expedition. The kids don't bond instantly but instead slowly come to rely on one another - and their situation keeps getting worse, making for a nail-biting read!

10. The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer - this may be more middle grade than YA, but it's such a charming read that I had to include it. The Teashop Girls are a group of friends who bonded when they were very young over special tea at Annie's grandmother's tea shop. Now that Annie has turned 13, she is determined to work at the tea shop she has always adored, but business is bad - and Annie has to come up with ingenious plans to save her beloved shop. Plus deal with all the drama of middle school (friendships, obnoxious boys, school...). The book is lovely, and comes with snippets of articles, tea advertisements, and recipes!

Bonus: The Specialist series by Shannon Greenland - a group of misfit kids are brought together in a secret camp/school to hone their skills to create a team of teenaged spies. There's a chemist, a linguist, a computer whiz, an experienced burglar, and more. Great adventures!