Best Books of 2007 - Library Wholesaler Picks

Today we have two Top 10 lists focusing on children's and teen books by selection staff from library and school wholesalers.

Kate Newman's Top Ten List - National Book Service

Great fiction for teens! (In no particular order)

1. Soames on the Range by Nancy Belgue
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
3. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (the third book in the Twilight series)
4. How It Happened at Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn
5. Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
6. Leaving Simplicity by Claire Carmichael
7. The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher
8. Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughan with art by Niko Henrichon (Yes, it’s a graphic novel… and totally mind blowing!)
9. The Blue Helmet by William Bell
10. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Bonus Book:

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff – while not published this year, it is one of the most moving, thought provoking, and riveting books I have ever read.
Why these books:
Finding amazing books for teens can be very difficult. I always look for books with the right balance of maturity and fun; that is, books that acknowledge the intelligence of the reader and still manage to keep readers (me) interested. Books that ring true to the teenage experience (angst and all) are always winners.

Kate Newman is the Young Adult Selection Specialist for National Book Service. I am lucky enough to work in an industry that I love, one that allows me to help bring great books to young people. With my background as a children’s bookseller, my time in the publishing world, and now, as a book buyer, I have had the privilege of learning about the delicate balance of matching the perfect book with the right reader.

Helen Wilding Cook's Top Ten List - Library Bound

If I’m honest, these are the books that I couldn’t wait to start, and was sad to finish. They have literary merit, too. I love fantasy novels as my list, with few notable exceptions, shows.

Top Ten 2007 Novels
1. Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher
2. Becca at Sea by Deirdre Baker
3. Power Plays by Maureen Ulrich
4. Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
5. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
7. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
8. The Ellie Chronicles. While I Live by John Marsden
9. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
10. Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain by Sean Cullen

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer
- did an excellent job transforming to Graphic Novel.
(To see reviews of most of these titles, please click the link, then “Staff Favourites”. )
http://www.librarybound.com/

Top Ten 2007 Books I Still Really, Really Want to Read
(alphabetical order)
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Big Big Sky by Kristyn Dunnion
The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane by Polly Horvath
Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel
Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Into the Ravine by Richard Scrimger
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Mirrorscape by Mike Wilks
Schooled by Gordon Korman

Helen Wilding Cook is the Children’s Collection Development Coordinator at Library Bound Inc.