Smackdown Books 2021

Ordinary Hazards
We Dream of Space
If These Wings Could Fly
We Are Not Free
The King of Jam Sandwiches
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team
The Companion
Punching the Air
Show Me a Sign
Land of the Cranes
Furia
Dragon Hoops
When Stars Are Scattered
Snapdragon
The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark
American as Paneer Pie
Tune It Out
The Gilded Ones
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
Switch

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

I'll Give you the Sun

I threw my support behind this book early on in the competition and I stand by my initial choice. Sure, it might be drama heavy and rely a bit too much on coincidence, but what YA novel doesn't? For me, it comes down to a beautiful story that captures the complexity all kinds of relationships - siblings, first loves, marriages, parent/child, friendships. The book has a richness and depth that is lacking in Nazi Hunters (of which people rightly commented that there was no real substance to any character) and The Night Gardener (which, owing to it's Victorian Fairy Tale style, seemed more about archetype than character).

I'll Give you the Sun is a novel I continue to recommend and students continue to love. It is the CLEAR winner of this Smackdown Edition.

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