Recently I was approached by a YA reader in search of "clean and innocent" books to read. Boy is that a hard mission when it comes to historical fiction. Sadly it made me realize that I generally have not covered many reads that are made for young adults. I need your HELP and I am posting a Mr. Linky (listed at the bottom) to see if anyone out there has a link for "clean and innocent' YA books. It does not matter to me if your link is a review, a new release post, or even a link to an authors website. My only requirement is that if you do post a link you have to know for a fact that it is age appropriate to YA which means, no sex, no foul language, and defiantly no over the top bloody violence. I would love to hear from you on this.
YA For Sure Appropriate
YA For Sure Appropriate
The Redheaded Princess by Anne Rinaldi" Growing up, Elizabeth fears she can never be Queen. Although she is the King's daughter, no woman can ever hope to rule over men in England, especially when her mother has been executed for treason.
For all her royal blood, Elizabeth's life is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Sometimes she is welcome in the royal court; other times she is cast out into the countryside. With her position constantly changing, the Princess must navigate a sea of shifting loyalties and dangerous affections. At stake is her life—for beheading is not uncommon among the factions that war for the Crown.
With the vivid human touch that has made her one of the foremost writers of historical fiction, Ann Rinaldi brings to life the heart and soul of the young Elizabeth I. It's a portrait of a great leader as she may have been as she found her way to the glorious destiny that lay before her".
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
The prolific Georgette Heyer--author of more than 70 novels--is perhaps best known for her Regency romances. A consummate storyteller, Heyer was also an astute historian of the times she wrote about; every detail of the language, dress, and customs rings with authenticity. Arabella is one of Heyer's most charming Regency novels. In it, young Arabella Tallant, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished clergyman, comes to London for her social debut and almost immediately runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris, a wealthy, eligible aristocrat. Beaumaris suspects that Arabella engineered a carriage accident in order to meet him; Arabella, in a rage, leads him to believe that she is the heiress to a massive fortune and thus quite uninterested in his own riches. Having set the stage for inevitable misunderstandings between this arrogant Romeo and hotheaded Juliet, Heyer then peoples it with unforgettable secondary characters. Arabella's warm heart and strong principles lead her to befriend such unsavory types as an abused apprentice to a chimney sweep, a stray dog, and a fallen woman happily known as "Leaky Peg"--all of whom she foists on the reluctant but gallant Mr. Beaumaris. Arabella is an intelligent, witty romp--both a romance with a hearty sense of humor and a historical novel that remains true to the times it depicts.
YA Unsure Appropriate
Emma and the Vampires by Wayne Josephson
For all her royal blood, Elizabeth's life is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Sometimes she is welcome in the royal court; other times she is cast out into the countryside. With her position constantly changing, the Princess must navigate a sea of shifting loyalties and dangerous affections. At stake is her life—for beheading is not uncommon among the factions that war for the Crown.
With the vivid human touch that has made her one of the foremost writers of historical fiction, Ann Rinaldi brings to life the heart and soul of the young Elizabeth I. It's a portrait of a great leader as she may have been as she found her way to the glorious destiny that lay before her".
Arabella by Georgette HeyerThe prolific Georgette Heyer--author of more than 70 novels--is perhaps best known for her Regency romances. A consummate storyteller, Heyer was also an astute historian of the times she wrote about; every detail of the language, dress, and customs rings with authenticity. Arabella is one of Heyer's most charming Regency novels. In it, young Arabella Tallant, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished clergyman, comes to London for her social debut and almost immediately runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris, a wealthy, eligible aristocrat. Beaumaris suspects that Arabella engineered a carriage accident in order to meet him; Arabella, in a rage, leads him to believe that she is the heiress to a massive fortune and thus quite uninterested in his own riches. Having set the stage for inevitable misunderstandings between this arrogant Romeo and hotheaded Juliet, Heyer then peoples it with unforgettable secondary characters. Arabella's warm heart and strong principles lead her to befriend such unsavory types as an abused apprentice to a chimney sweep, a stray dog, and a fallen woman happily known as "Leaky Peg"--all of whom she foists on the reluctant but gallant Mr. Beaumaris. Arabella is an intelligent, witty romp--both a romance with a hearty sense of humor and a historical novel that remains true to the times it depicts.
YA Unsure Appropriate
Emma and the Vampires by Wayne Josephson "Watch out Edward Cullen! Meet Mr. Knightley…The Vampire
Screenwriter Wayne Josephson Gives Jane Austen’s Emma Some Bite. Literally. From Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of the Count in the 1931 film Dracula, to the hit 90s TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, to the modern-day HBO series True Blood and the blockbuster book and film franchise Twilight, the vampire has evolved from a being that wreaks horror on humans to one that wreaks havoc on the affairs of the heart. Pop culture continues its fascination with vampires in the latest classics mashup Emma and the Vampires. The Regency-era comedy of manners finds Jane Austen’s beloved title character, Emma Woodhouse, attempting to arrange the affairs of the young ladies and gentleman vampires, including Mr. Knightley, in her social circle with delightfully disastrous results. Emma and the Vampires reflects the author’s passion for retelling the great classics of literature for a modern-day audience. Josephson originally rewrote Emma for his teenage daughter, who then suggested he add vampires given their popularity in books, TV, and film.
Emma is the most popular Jane Austen novel with young adult readers, and continues to delight audiences today, including the loose adaptation of the story in 1995’s Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone, and the 1996 film adaptation with Gwyneth Paltrow portraying Emma. Is the mashup dead? No, it’s undead".
The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent
The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent
"On the brink of revolution, with a tide of hate turned against the decadent royal court, France is in turmoil - as is the life of one young woman forced to leave her beloved Paris. After a fire destroys her home and family, Claudette Laurent is struggling to survive in London. But one precious gift remains: her talent for creating exquisite dolls that Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France herself, cherishes. When the Queen requests a meeting, Claudette seizes the opportunity to promote her business, and to return home...Amid the violence and unrest, Claudette befriends the Queen, who bears no resemblance to the figurehead rapidly becoming the scapegoat of the Revolution. But when Claudette herself is lured into a web of deadly political intrigue, it becomes clear that friendship with France's most despised woman has grim consequences. Now, overshadowed by the spectre of Madame Guillotine, the Queen's dollmaker will face the ultimate test".As far as Trent goes, this one is really a maybe for me. I remember that there is a part where there is an attempted rape but as far as I remember that was the worst of it. It was not sexual and the main protagonist Claudette is more the prim and proper type than the rebellious wild child. Tell me what do you think appropriate for YA or not
Update: Thank you to everyone who contributed to the YA list here is the submitted links as follows:
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I review a lot of YA historical on my blog so I am going to add a few links in Mr Linky of books I reviewed that are appropriate. Hope these help!
ReplyDeleteThe Young Royals Series by Carolyn Meyer are historical novels about famous women from history written for a young adult audience. I have read two of them The Bad Queen, about Marie Antoinette, which I recently reviewed on my blog, and Doomed Queen Anne about Anne Boleyn, which I will be posting a review of soon. Other books in the series are about Catherine de Medici, "Bloody" Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, and Catherine of Aragon. There is also a wonderful novel about Maid Marian and Robin Hood called The Forest Wife, it is actually a trilogy and can be bought in one volume, that I read a few years ago and loved, and I don't usually read young adult books. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteI had to add this from Facebook "Gail Frazer Any of Rosemary Sutcliff's novel for Young Adults. The Lanternbearers is prime".
ReplyDeleteIt sounded too good not to have in the comments here.
Rebecca, thank you so so much I am so excited to announce that the links that have been submitted so far are about to top fifty entries. I can not wait to publish them all for everyone to see.
ReplyDeleteBrandy, always knowing exactly what I am thinking of Meyer is the one author I was trying to place that I saw at the library in the YA section. Thank you and it did help.
Anne Rinaldi is a sure bet for YA appropriate books. I am not sure just how "clean and Innocent" YA books need to be. They should be exposed to what the real world is like without getting to graphic or violent. Her NINE DAYS A QUEEN about Lady Jane Grey with the ending very well done.
ReplyDeleteAvon books put out a True Romance Series of teen historical romances that were sweet first kiss type books. They were all written by major adult historical romance authors. They all have two person titles - SAMANTHA AND THE COWBOY by Lorraine Heath and GWYNETH AND THE THIEF by Margaret Moore are two of them. They are decent little books. There are 12 of them, most of which I read.
Carolyn Meyer has a good series on the younger years of several famous royal women in history. I see that Brandy Purdy has already mentioned those. Very good books.
The Ann of Green Gables series is certainly appropriate for this age level.
If you look a much of the regency romances that came out in the 1960's and even later, they tend to much like Georgette Heyer in their lack of any real sexual activity.
There are many more out there worth the read.
Librarypat, I was hoping you would catch this post since your a YA specialist. I read some of Rinaldi's Elizabeth book and it was real good how she got into the details of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. I respected that she limited to a YA prospective. Right on for the Avon suggestion, I will add that them to the list I am going to post up shortly. Meyer is one I am going to have to post about she sounds very interesting. Ann of Green Gables I completely forgot about that series, I loved those growing up. My sisters and I read all of them and then we would have a movie marathon of all the movies but we hardly ever made it to the last movie before we passed out. Since you jogged my memory I am going to have to watch those again. Good suggestions Pat thank you for contributing. I appreciate it very much.
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