Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Best of Aussie YA (1) The Book Gryffin

The Best of Aussie YA - Mini Series
some of the featured books...

To launch the mini series we have Tye:  The Book Gryffin - who runs a fabulous and informative blog, always  inspiring with a lovely lovely focus on some of the Aussie stuff. Any books she endorses, you'll love.  - one of my very favourite corners on the internet to hang out in :) 

1. The Aussie YA scene is so strong at the moment - with so many BRILLIANT titles that came out this year. What tops your list of favourite Aussie YA reads this year?

Tye: Oooooooooohhhhhhh! Could you have asked a harder question???? This is very difficult to answer, because I am SO proud of ALL our Aussie YA Authors! So. Trying to do the impossible and narrow it down to a few. Hmmmm. 



My TOP 3 this year would have to be: Five Parts Dead- Tim Pegler, The Pipers Son- Melina Marchetta and This Is Shyness- Leanne Hall.

2. . What books from previous years are on your all-time favourite Aussie YA list?

Tye: I LOVE this question!!! My top favorites EVER in Aussie YA are without doubt... On The Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta, The Beginners Guide To Living- Lia Hills, So Much To Tell You- John Marsden, Once- Morris Gleitzman, Game As Ned- Tim Pegler, Loathing Lola- William Kostakis and Saving Francesca- Melina Marchetta. These are titles I have re read many times and every single time, they never fail to ‘get’ me. They still pack the same punch on a re read as they did the very first time I read them. That to me is the mark of a truly great read.





3. Any lesser known Aussie YA books/authors you adore?

Tye: I would have to say Tim Pegler. It doesn’t seem to me that he has the following he deserves. He is such a beautiful author, his novels are so poignant. Not to mention, he is a truly lovely person. When he came to visit our school, he had the kids eating out of the palm of his hand. They adored him and still talk about that visit today. He is very humble and deserves to be given a bit of the rockstar treatment, though having said that I am sure he would HATE it! 


Another amazing Aussie author to watch, who is nowhere near as familiar as she deserves to be, is Lia Hills. Lia is an OUTSTANDING author and her book The Beginners Guide To Living is my absolute favourite YA Aussie Read this year, even though it was published in 2009.

4. What upcoming titles are you hanging out for?

Tye: Cannot wait for Angel Creek Sally Rippin, coming in March 2011. And I am always enthralled to see what the winning novel from the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing will be. This year gave us Leanne Hall- This Is Shyness. I am hopeful to see something new from our other amazing Aussies next year :)

Quick 5: Choose the book you'd recommend to someone in the mood for:


  • Tear Jerker - The Beginner's Guide To Living - Lia Hills
  • Awesome Male POV- Game As Ned- Tim Pegler.
  • Quirky and hilarious- Six Impossible Things- Fiona Wood
  • A story that lingers- On The Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta
  • A book you cant put down- Grace- Morris Gleitzman.





14 comments:

  1. I think I'm going to haver to track down something by Tim Pegler for sure if not Lia Hills as well. So much Aussie goodness to discover, thanks for the post and the giveaway, Nomes!

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  2. i'll have to look for those.
    a book i was very excited about this year, but i haven't managed to read yet is now by morris glitzman. i'll have to find it because the others were lovely.

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  3. Wow some great recommendations. I am still waiting for the Pipers Son to be release in the US. March cannot come soon enough.

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  4. Awwwww Nomes! made me blush!!
    You are such a Legend for doing this series of posts and I was SO flattered to be invited!

    You ROCK my dear!

    Tye x

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  5. Ooh, I'll hve to look for Tim Pegler! He and Lia Hills are both new to me.

    Love this series, Nomes, and discovering new books through it :D

    Yay for Aussie YA!!

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  6. Awesome post. I noticed we have a couple of the same favourites but Tye has lots more that I didn't even have on my wishlist. I must run off now and add them all to my Aussie shelf especially Tim Pegler.

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  7. thanks for the comments guys :) I am getting good recommendations through it as well.

    and yes - track down Tim Pegler and Lia Hills - both amazing talented writers!

    x

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  8. I liked that John Marsden was in there for So Much To Tell You. I also think his Tomorrow Series of books are great young adult reads. They have turned many a young adult non-reader into keen readers as Marsden weaves his magic words and pulls them into the story.

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  9. Great post! I am a huge fan of Aussie YA, but I live here in the States. In fact, one of my reasons in wanting to buy an e-reader is so I can get Aubooks more easily. I will link to this in next week's Thur. News Roundup. New follow!

    -Linds, bibliophile brouhaha

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  10. Well, I have Jelicoe (thanks to this really awesome Aussie chick who very generously bought and mailed it to me allllllllll the way to the states ;-)), which is next on my list to read! Can't wait. A book that lingers? Me likes that.

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  11. LOVE this post. I have immediately put all of them on my TBR list. However, it looks like some are not available in the US - I am going to check out The Book Depository. Any other suggestions for tracking down these great titles you have suggested?

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  12. @ literature for lunch - goo point - i think i'll put up some links at the end where you may be able to get the books from...

    x

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  13. Thanks for sending the link, Nomes. I clearly need to recruit Ms Tye to my marketing team.

    It's great to be mentioned among so many sensational authors, particularly John Marsden who played a part in helping Game as Ned find its way to publication.

    Lia Hills' Beginner's Guide was one of my favourite reads in 2009 and I'm very keen to read Fiona Woods' Six Impossible Things!

    Have a great Christmas,

    Tim.

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  14. Nomes, this is such an awesome feature! Some of the best YA fiction I have read is Australian. Thank you, Tye for the recommendations!

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Thanks for the commenty love :)