Best of Teens 2010 - Contemporary Novels

by Karen Calabria on November 15, 2010 | Young Adult

A sprawling novel that crosses oceans, cultures and centuries, Revolution is a painstakingly detailed look at growing up a troubled teenage girl. Weaving back and forth between the lives of Andi Alpers, a typical Brooklyn private-school student, and Alexandrine, an aspiring French actress who comes of age during the French Revolution, Jennifer Donnelly’s transcendent prose allows readers to shuttle through time with the greatest of ease. The author doesn’t shy away from the meaty issues we grapple with in adolescence: the nature of sorrow and grief, the formation of political consciousness and the power of art. Here, Donnelly talks to Kirkus about her love of James Joyce, spying on teenagers in Paris and the petrified heart that began it all.

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by Jenny Brown on November 15, 2010 | Young Adult

For Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green and David Levithan each created a character with the same name. Levithan, who has a best friend named David Levithan, thought there might be a book in that and approached Green with the idea of a collaboration. Roughly a third of the way into their book, the two Will Graysons meet by pure chance. Green’s Will is straight, and Levithan’s will, who purposely spells his name with lower-case letters, is gay but not out. Tiny Cooper, whose nickname belies his giant size, is Will’s best friend. Tiny is openly gay and writing a high-school musical based on his life. Here, the authors discuss the book:

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Hush: The Danger of Secrets

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