FIVE Great Debuts

I was planning on taking a bit of a blogging break from today until January 2nd, but then I came across Adele's FIVE Challenge and well there went my plans of a break. It sounds pretty interesting to look back on the year and look forward to 2011, so I couldn't resist joining in. Join in the fun here.

From December 21st to 31st Adele has picked different elements of YA to post about:
December 21 - 5 Great Debuts
December 22 - 5 Great Covers
December 23 - 5 Great Series
December 24 - 5 Great Re-Reads (books you've LOVED so much you went back for more)
December 25 - 5 Most Anticipated (2011 titles)
December 26 - 5 Hopes for YA in 2011
December 27 - 5 Great YA Movie Deals
December 28 - 5 Great Author (in the flesh) Moments
December 29 - 5 Great YA Bloggers
December 30 - 5 Great Miracles that Occurred to Get Me Reading More ______ (choose your genre)
December 31 - 5 Best Titles for 2010 (which I double because 5 was too hard)

I'm going to try to participate in most of these, but I know with the craziness of the holidays I likely only do a few.

Great Debuts:

1. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

"Alex's voice is so realistic. I really liked her -- she struggles to deal what has happened to her while trying to allow herself to continue living her life. Her friends are also wonderful characters; they all want to help her speak out and move on. Their voices are all just as realistic as Alex's. There isn't a single fake or preachy character in the book." Full review

2. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

"I have to start with the voice of this novel; I absolutely loved Kody's voice from the first page. It just felt like an honest teenager, not preachy or trying to hip and edgy. It was incredibly refreshing to read something so realistic. Kody didn't shy away from anything here or gloss over the difficult situations teens face. And she managed to be funny and clever throughout the whole thing. Plus Kody is only 19 and wrote the book when she was only 17! Can you believe it!?! She is an absolutely amazing writer and I can't wait to read her next book and see how her wonderful voice grows and changes." Full review

3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

"Although the entire book is just one day over and over again, Oliver has repeated just enough to get you into Sam's mindset as she struggles to figure out what's happening to her and how to stop it. She doesn't repeat the unnecessary or let the novel get bogged down in the middle around the fourth time she relives her day. Being able to do this makes Lauren Oliver a brilliant writer - at least in my humble opinion." Full review

4. Paranormalcy by Kirsten White 

"Let's just start with characters: Evie is awesome. Although she works for a secret government agency chasing down paranormals, she is still just like any other teen girl -- she worries about boys, loves to shop, feels out of place, struggles to figure out who she is and what she wants. And through everything she's pretty clever and runs around with a pink sparkly taser. Kiersten White proves that you can be girlie and love pink and still be a strong, smart, independent girl. As for the rest of the characters, they are all interesting and play their rolls in the overall story well. Lend, the romantic interest is an interesting opposite of Evie in many ways adding to her character as well as his. I love these sort of character dynamics." Full review

5. Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

"Unlike many of the other dystopias I've read recently this one is extremely plausible and realistic. Only being about thirty years in the future rather than hundreds helps with realism and believability, but the events leading up to the current situation are highly plausible and even likely. There's no crazy natural disasters or bizarre epidemics -- the world runs out of oil, pollution is at an all time high, and the world economies collapse. All of which are completely possible. Plus all of this background information is introduced and discussed easily and naturally throughout the story. There's no confusion about why the world is as it is; everything is explained and accounted for." Full review