My Favorite Teen Fiction 2013

For me, no list of best books of the year is complete without including some teen fiction. Since I am always behind on my reading, the best young adult books I read this year were all published before 2013.

I started the Divergent series by Veronica Roth this year, reading both Divergent and Insurgent. Roth really grabbed me with the first volume of her dystopian tale of a futuristic Chicago where society is divided into five different factions, based on character traits. During a choosing ceremony, all sixteen-year-olds must pick their factions for life. Beatrice Prior finds it particularly difficult to make a choice as she is torn between her family’s faction, Abnegation, and her own affinity for the Dauntless faction. Her choice leads her to the discovery that she is actually a divergent, an anomaly who doesn’t fit in anywhere in her restricted society. Tris is a character the reader can truly root for, a girl who grows through her experiences, a girl who is way tougher than I will ever be when it comes to physical endurance. She suffers emotional loss and betrayal and survives just as she survives the grueling physical training. The society of Divergent is well defined by Veronica Roth and very believable. The way of life of each of the different factions is fascinating. I found myself wondering which faction I would choose if I had to make a choice. Insurgent continues the story; now I look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, Allegiant. It’s on my list for 2014.

Keeping up with teen dystopian fiction is a must so I also dipped into another popular series by reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Delirium is the first in a trilogy - of course, as it seems all teen dystopian sagas must be trilogies by some unwritten law.  The premise of Oliver’s series is enticing; in the very near future the United States has identified the disease that is at the root of all of society’s ills – amor deliria nervosa, otherwise known as love.  Everyone gets “the cure” when they turn eighteen, and 17-year-old Lena is only 95 days away from her procedure. I’ll bet you can guess what happens next. That’s right - Lena meets a boy and falls in love. But Alex is not just any boy; he is one of the Invalids, a group of the rebellious uncured who live in the wilderness surrounding the cured society.  As time runs out for Lena, she is attracted to the passionate freedom of Alex’s world, torn between her socially acceptable desire for safety and her longing for a world where she makes her own choices. Teen dystopian angst has never been so heartbreakingly real.

The last of my favorite young adult novels read this year is The Diviners by Libba Bray. I am a big fan of Bray’s "Gemma Doyle Trilogy," so I was expecting a lot from The Diviners and was not disappointed. Evie O’Neill is a smart young teenager in 1926 with an unusual paranormal talent. After her first really disturbing experience with her power, she is shipped off by her parents to live in New York City with her oddball uncle, Will, who runs an occult museum. Evie’s supernatural power is very useful when a murder happens, and she and a motley crew of friends investigate. I love the period detail, the slang, the complex plot, the set-up for the next book in the series – well, everything about this book. If you are looking for a teen novel that is the perfect blend of the paranormal and historical fiction, you can find no finer example than The Diviners.

Teen fiction is a great read, and I am really looking forward to reading all the 2013 books on my list in 2014. What are your favorite teen books you read in 2013?

(I am reading Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield right now. What are you reading?)