2009's Best Young Adult Fiction by Jonathan Hunt

All books are available through SHARE libraries

Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman .  

To marry or not to marry: That is the question, if not for Hamlet, then for Charles Darwin, who after weighing his options chose to marry his cousin Emma. It was a happy, fruitful union, but not one without division. Emma was devoutly religious, and although she supported her husband in his scientific endeavors, she fretted for his eternal salvation. Charles, for his part, wanted to believe in God, and tried to reconcile science and religion, but to no avail. With empathy, humor and insight, Heiligman proves the truth of the maxim that behind every great man there is indeed a great woman. There have been many Darwin-themed books published this year (which marks the 200th anniversary of his birth). This is clearly the best.

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

n the staggeringly successful Twilight saga, Stephenie Meyer explores the literary territory where fantasy, romance and horror overlap. If the two novelettes and novella that make up Lips Touch lack vampires and werewolves, they scare up the next best things: goblins and demons. In "Goblin Fruit," Kizzy blithely ignores the warning signs that the handsome new student is not quite what he appears to be. In "Spicy Little Curses Such as These," Anamique, who will kill all who hear her beautiful voice, finds that true love comes with a price. And in "Hatchling," Esme wakes one morning to find that one of her eyes has turned blue — and that's the least of her problems. Each story here boasts beautiful illustrations, lyrical writing, wry humor, surprising twists and — of course! — kissing.

The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge

Why read seven doorstop-sized fantasies (e.g., Harry Potter) when you can find the same enchantments — fabulous world-building, clever fantasy concepts, intricately crafted plotting, food for thought and characters you can't help but root for — in one compelling stand-alone volume? On Gullstruck Island, the settlers and natives have intermingled to such a degree that virtually none of its residents are from pure stock. Yet class and the ethnic divisions remain. When the Lost, Gullstruck's mystical island guardians, mysteriously die it threatens the stability of the entire island. It's up to Hathin, a young girl from the inconsequential Lace tribe, to find her addlebrained sister (quite possibly the last remaining Lost), derail the conspiracy and unite the island in time to avert further tragedy.

Marcelo in the Real World by Fransisco X. Stork

If you madly adored the quizzical narrator of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, here's one that might be just as good, if not better. Marcelo, who, like Haddon's young hero, falls somewhere on the autism spectrum, has made a deal with his dad: If Marcelo works in the mailroom at his father's law firm for the summer, he can remain in his comfort zone for his senior year, attending the special ed school he has been enrolled in since first grade. Otherwise, he'll be mainstreamed into a regular high school. The summer job brings Marcelo new friends, but also a host of ethical dilemmas that he is ill-equipped to cope with, and as he comes dangerously close to making the wrong choices the tension in the story ratchets up another notch.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

What happens when you throw seemingly disparate elements — school story, time travel, mystery — into a single novel? Rarely do they come together as wonderfully as they do in Rebecca Stead's engrossing short novel. At home, Miranda, a latchkey kid in Manhattan, is helping her mother prepare for a stint on the popular game show, The $20,000 Pyramid, by quizzing her every chance they get. At school, the sixth-grader is dealing with the constantly shifting friendships and crushes that are part and parcel of early adolescence. Even more disconcerting, however, is the crazy homeless man who stands outside her building and the cryptic notes she begins to receive. A strange new classmate and his vexing observation about Madeline L'Engle's 1963 classic A Wrinkle in Time prove to be the clue that ties everything together.