Hello dear neglected readers…

In a little under a month, I am presenting my picks for this year’s CBCA Older Readers’ shortlist at the NSW Branch’s annual “Triple A: Anticipate! Appreciate! Applaud!” event (what we used to call the Clayton’s Shortlist back when I was on the committee). I am starting to narrow down on my list, but it’s HARD! And I hope they don’t want me to pick my Book of the Year tip, because I honestly haven’t yet got that short a shortlist! I think some of my absolutely favourite books from last year I would put in the children’s category (aka younger readers) but many books I think of as classic children’s books have been entered into the Older Readers category, where I’m afraid some of them might slip through the gap…

I’ve also noted that my list is so far very heavily weighted towards books by women (Happy International Women’s Day!) and I am as anxious to address my own biases as I hope those who claim there are none against women in literary awards are to examine theirs.

So, I want to know what you think. What for you were the outstanding YA books from 2011, and why. I’m not asking you to do my homework, I’m just anxious not to overlook something awesome. Have at it in the comments—I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks! And I might see some of you at the Triple A event and we can compare notes!