Katie Bartlett, Author

Have you ever wondered what the agents and editors are reading?  What is it that really catches them?  The Book Review started in my last blog entry is mostly composed of books that agents and editors I’ve met have suggested.  But I recently attended the annual NJ SCBWI Conference and left armed with a monster industry-recommended Reading List.   So, I’m sharing it with you.

This list is made up of books the industry professionals attending the conference worked on, mentioned in their bios, cited in class as a favorite, or used as a teaching tool.  I’ll be slogging though it this summer.  If you’re looking for a book suggestion, feel free to join me.  I can’t vouch for whether the books listed are any good, although it’s a pretty fair guess that they’re top of the class.  As I work my way through them, I’ll add them along with my comments to the ‘Book Review’ page.

Suggested Reading List by YA, MG, and PB professionals (in no particular order):

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Voice Lessons by Nancy Dean (how to improve your writing syntax)

Children’s Books by Hallie Durand (a.k.a. super-agent Hollie McGhee)

Children’s Books by Alison McGhee (a.k.a. Hollie’s sister – my daughter just picked one of her MG novels off of the library shelf all on her own)

Because of Winn-dixie by Kate DiCamillo (she also co-wrote a book with Alison McGhee –turns out my daughter just read this book in third grade)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

The Uglies & The Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Movie Suggestion:  Pan’s Labyrinth

Forbidden Sea by Shiela A. Nielson

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Young Adult Novels by Amanda Hocking

Matched by Ally Condie

Books by Grace Lin

White Cat and Red Glove by Holly Black

Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan (a must read for any PB author)

Keeper by Kathi Appelt

Rampant and Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund

Vesper by Jeff Sampson

How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Nothing by Janne Teller

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

Dovey Coe by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Dangling by Lillian Eige

Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey and Heather Solomon

Silent Night by Sandy Turner

Imagine a Day by Robb Gonsalves

Someday by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds

Legend by Marie Lu

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Vordak the Incomprehensible by Vordak the Incomprehensible

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Barnes

Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Elliot and the Goblin War by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Flutter: The Story of Four Sisters and an Incredible Journey by Erin Moulton

Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden