Less Known YA Authors

[rune]

Anyone discovered a new or less known YA author

I recently discovered - Alison Croggon. Only written two books so far.
The Gift and The Riddle

Lovely writing style, and very imaganative

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

I'll take the opportunity to extol the virtues of Douglas Hill.
A very prolific YA sci-fi & fantasy author who's also a very nice man

His best work IMO is the Colsec Trilogy, but the Young Legionary & Master of Fiends books are pretty good too.

 

[Mark Robson]

Me!

Also, Katherine Langrish, author of Troll Fell - her first book published by a major publisher - excellent!

 

[Jeremy]

Here are a few books that I enjoyed in the last few years that you might not have heard of:
The Angel Factory by Terence Blacker
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Also 2 less known books by famous authors:
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
A Dusk of Demons by John Christopher
Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon

 

[rune]

You're right not heard of some of those Jeremy.

 

[dwndrgn]

Thank you for these names. Sadly, as with many other authors posted, I don't have them available at my library. Usually it is because the book was published 10 to 20 years ago and the author is no longer living...now I suppose it is the opposite - their books are so new that there isn't enough of a fanbase or hoopla to cause the librarians to take notice.

I just may have to attempt to fix that!!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've been meaning to mention something I read a few weeks ago: The Book of Dead Days, by Marcus Sedgwick. Sort of a youngish YA by the pacing and the straight-forward prose (it says ages 10 and up on the dust-jacket), but for all that it manages to be quite evocative. A dark and moody tale in a vaguely Dickensian setting. I liked it enough that I'm looking to get my hands on the sequel.

 

[Jeremy]

Thank you, Kelpie, for recommending The Book of Dead Days. I have long considered buying the novel, and you have just helped me make up my mind. Did you or anyone else have a chance to read the sequel, Dark Flight Down?
Has anyone read The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan? It has great reviews on Amazon.com, but apparently it is not very well known.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, I did read Dark Flight Down. I found the plot of the first one more engaging, but at least number two managed to wind up the story and answer all the important questions.

 

[elvet]

I recently read a Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. It is apparently the first in a trilogy. It's about a British 16 yr. old girl raised in India in the late 1800s. Due to circumstance, she gets shipped to a boarding school in England, where she finds an old diary that gives her insight into her background. She learns that she (and her mother) are part of an magical Order, that can travel between different realms.

After a bit of googling, I found that the second book is already published - Rebel Angels. Guess I'm going to add another to my shelf.

 

[Jeremy]

Less known YA author? Me! (Just to imitate Mark Robson above, who is my hero.)
Anyone read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro? Again, famous author, but maybe few know that he wrote a SF&F novel. I loved his debut novel, The Remains of the Day, but haven't read anything else by him since.

 

[Mark Robson]

Less known YA author? Me! (Just to imitate Mark Robson above, who is my hero.)
Anyone read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro? Again, famous author, but maybe few know that he wrote a SF&F novel. I loved his debut novel, The Remains of the Day, but haven't read anything else by him since.

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery ... and flattery will get you everywhere! Not read Kazuo. I hear he's very good, but I certainly wasn't aware that he'd done a SF&F novel.

 

[BookStop]

Ever heard of Electronic Echoes of the Mind by Wade Kimberlin? It's not specifically YA, the protagonist is an adult, but my kids and nieces and nephews over 11 really enjoyed it, as did I.

 

[samzen]

Hey, umm, I'm new to this forum, I was just gonna add an author which I think is lesser known...I'm not actually sure if hes counted as known or not but....R.A Salvatore, hes published by Wizards of the coast (creators of dungeons and dragons etc)

 

[Gladestrider]

Has anyone read The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan? It has great reviews on Amazon.com, but apparently it is not very well known.

I actually started searching the YA topic to find an answer to this very question! I'd love to hear opinions, if any are available.

Great forum, packed full of great info. I found it a few months ago after posting on Madeline Howard's site (heya Madeline, thanks for the tip!).

I'm not actually sure if hes counted as known or not but....R.A Salvatore, hes published by Wizards of the coast (creators of dungeons and dragons etc)

He's pretty well known in the US, but I can't speak for other lands. Here, his books aren't considered (or at least aren't marketed as) Young Adult. He's particularily good at describing detailed combat, and as a former Dungeons and Dragons player, I like to read his work on occasion as it contains a lot of the names, places, characters, etc, from the D&D Forgotten Realms world. I like reading the occasional Salvatore novel, but there are a lot of better writers out there.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I thought your name looked familiar but couldn't remember where I had seen it before. Now I do.

And you are absolutely right, this is an excellent place for information -- thanks to Alia who moderates this YA forum, and rune who is always discovering new authors for us to talk about.

 

[BookStop]

Tamora Pierce, Michael Chabon, Tracy Lynn, and Robin McKinley are gaining popularity. I just picked up Snow by Tracy Lynn. (retelling of Snow White) So far I like it.

James Patterson's series with Max the bird-girl (When the Wind Blows, The Lake House, Maximum Ride) is also gaining popularity with the YA crowd. I read the first 2 without realizing they were YA. I think I'll have to pick up the next one too

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Tamora Pierce has had a lot of shelf space in the YA section -- at least in US chain bookstores -- for quite a while now, so I don't know that you could call her a less-known author. But you're absolutely right that her popularity seems to be growing, because the last time I looked she seemed to have about a shelf and a half.

Snow was just so full of silly errors, like calling the daughter of a British duke a duchess (don't copy-editors pay attention to these things anymore?), that I couldn't get through it. I thought Lynn had a nice style of writing though.

 

[Rosemary]

It seems as if Isobell Carmody has entered the YA fold...

I saw her new book the other day entitled 'Little Fur'. I am afraid I have not read it but the reviews seemed very encouraging.

 

[ZoeRat]

I like Cynthia Voigt, especially "On the Wings of a Falcon" and "On Fortune's Wheel."