If someone were to create a list of "Must"s for YA novels, it might look something like this:

1. Must be fast-paced.
2. Must feature a hot guy.
3. Must include romance (preferably with aforementioned hot guy).
4. Must not include stodgy words like "aforementioned."
5. Must take place in a cool city (like New York, Paris, Chicago) OR in a remote and unusual town (like Forks).
6. Must not make allusions to obscure historical facts.
7. Must not make allusions to obscure literary works.
8. Must be written by John Green.
9. Must be turned into a movie starring Shailene Woodley and Alex Pettyfer.

Well, you get the idea.

Anyway. There are a lot of great YA books that follow the rules, but today I want to talk about a great YA book that doesn't follow any of them.

CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

Because CNV doesn't follow the rules, readers tend to either love it or hate it. Personally I LOVED it. One thing that helped: I had been warned that it is a "slow burn" kind of story, so I waited until my reservoir of patience was at its very fullest before I started reading. That patience was deeply rewarded.

All I will say about CNV's plot is that it revolves around two young women (a spy and a pilot) who are part of the British military efforts against Nazi Germany in World War II. To tell much more would risk spoilers -- but there isn't some major mystery or twist that I could ruin. It's just that reading CNV is like putting together a puzzle that you lost the box for: You still have all the pieces, and you know the general theme of the puzzle, but the picture won't become fully clear until it's all assembled.

So, back to rule-breaking. CNV is not fast, does not have any hot guys or romance, includes ton of stodgy words and obscure references, isn't written by John Green, and I hope like hell if there's a movie, it won't star Alex Pettyfer. (He would make a very odd Kittyhawk.)

But what CNV does do, it does amazingly.

1. Strong female characters. Not strong like "I bench press 100 lbs" or "I'm queen of the dragons," but strong like fully developed, richly written, truly interesting, and complexly nuanced characters -- who just happen to be female. Verity is now one of my favorite characters OF ALL TIME. And Kittyhawk's pretty great too.

1b. Female friendship. We need more of this, everywhere. In YA, on television, in real life.

2. Layers. Sort of like Sixth Sense (but without ghosts, I promise!) CNV tells a story that looks a certain way from one angle, and then looks very different from another angle. Both stories are true, and both stories are compelling, and when you put them together, it just might blow your mind. Or break your heart. See #3.

3. The bridge scene. Enough said.

Believe it or not, I could keep on extolling the virtues of this book for quite a while, but I'll spare you any further lists.

Tell me, have you read CODE NAME VERITY? Were you in the "love it" or "hate it" camp? What other books have you read that broke the YA rules? For that matter, what other YA rules did I forget?

KH

I recently saw the movie Midnight in Paris and I loved it for the same reason. How cool would it be to walk around a corner in Paris one night and find yourself transported back in time, rubbing elbows with Earnest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein?

With the rise of social media, there’s an even greater sense of community among writers. It’s cool to think that some of the best YA writers are friends. I love knowing that John Green, Maureen Johnson, Stephanie Perkins, and Laini Taylor hang out in large groups of authors.

Maybe I just haven't come across the right books, but recently I noticed an obvious lack of animal friends in teen literature. Now, I’m not talking about centaurs, dragons, pegasi or hippogriffs. There are plenty of mythological beasts, fantasy creatures, and animals that possess human attributes. I’m talking about Fido and Felix—good old fashioned pets.

Pets of all shapes and sizes are prominent in children’s lit and middle grade (with an emphasis on horses and dogs, it seems), and they often pop up again in popular adult fiction (THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, THE HORSE WHISPERER and MARLEY AND ME).

But offhand, I can only think of a few true teen books that include animals in a significant way: THE HUNGER GAMES (Prim’s cat Buttercup), S.E. Hinton’s TAMING THE STAR RUNNER, and a title I spied recently at the bookstore called THE OUTSIDE OF A HORSE by Ginny Rorby, which looks wonderful.

We know real-life teenagers love their pets every bit as much as kids and adults, yet pets seem to be conspicuously absent in YA books. It makes us wonder… why the gap? If you have a theory on this or know of some other teen titles that do include pets, let us know! We'd love to read them.

Last night, my dog Riley curled up on my legs while I was in bed trying to figure out what to blog about today. As I lay there, feeling his heartbeat against my skin, an idea hit me: animal sidekicks.


Some of the best and most overlooked characters in fiction are the animals. They create comic relief, like Pascal in Tangled. They provide companionship, like Narknon in The Blue Sword. And they offer a sympathetic ear, like Hedwig in Harry Potter.


Just as in real life, animals in fiction are often the best friends a person can have. They don't judge, gossip, backstab, or really have any agenda at all. (Besides being fed, of course!) Sometimes they even save your life, like Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon. Or ride into battle with you, like Talat in The Hero and The Crown. Or set you free, like Rosie in Water for Elephants.

Okay, in case it isn't totally obvious by now, I'm a big animal lover, and today's post is a tribute to our furry, feathery, scaly, and otherwise strangely skinned friends. If I could, I would adopt all of these beasties straight out of the pages I met them on.

What about you? Who are your favorites? Which animal sidekicks would you curl up with at night?

KH

Last night, the four of us WHYA girls sat around a dining room table, reading and chatting and eating and laughing. We get together every Tuesday night, and it's always one of the highlights of my week. (Sometimes it's the highlight.)

In fact, all of my best memories are with friends. Eating lunch together at a picnic table in the school courtyard. Playing soccer on the weekends. Road-tripping to visit each other in college. Watching Grey's Anatomy on someone's sofa, or going to the theater to see latest chick flick.

As much as I love a good romance, I think the friendships in stories are just as important. Your friends are a reflection of you -- the things you like to do, the qualities you enjoy in other people -- so if I don't like a main character's best friend, there's a good chance I won't like the main character either.

To prove my point, here are a few of my very favorite friendships from books:

Anne and Diana from ANNE OF GREEN GABLES

What do you get when you mix a mischievous, rough-around-the-edges orphan with a sweet, proper, and somewhat boring girl? A whole lot of laughs and adventure.

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry were the original "bosom buddies," and I loved how they interacted, each pushing the other to learn and grow. Anne convinced Diana to bend (or break) a few rules, to set her imagination free. Diana showed Anne how to be a lady in modern society, introducing her to a world of wealth and beauty. Together they were the perfect combination of dream and reality, passion and practicality. They helped each other become better people, and they stuck by each other throughout their lives.

Bella and Alice from TWILIGHT

As much as TWILIGHT focused on the love between Bella and Edward (and Bella and Jacob), I think the friendship-love between Bella and Alice was a big part of the reason I enjoyed the series so much. Alice was cute and quirky, full of personality. Plus she could see the future! Who wouldn't want a best friend with that power, right?

Okay, it wasn't always fun. But (SPOILER WARNING) when Edward leaves Bella, who did she write to? Not him. To Alice. Alice was the one she felt she could confide in. Alice was the one she spilled her broken heart to. And later (SPOILER WARNING AGAIN) Alice is the one that Bella lets throw her a party, pick out her clothes, and even plan her wedding. If that's not a sign of true friendship, then I don't know what is.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron from HARRY POTTER

Can I confess something? I never cared who Harry Potter fell in love with. Because to me, he already had his soul mates in Ron and Hermione.

They stuck with him through everything. They risked their own lives for his. They made him smarter and stronger by being his team. Sure, each of them had faults and weaknesses -- but when they worked together, that didn't matter, because they could cover for one another. They always had each other's backs.

And best of all, they were funny too!

All right, those are some of my favorite book friendships. What are yours?

KH