10 must read YA books

of all time? ye gads! this is hard. but everyone is doing it and viewpoint magazine has asked for it, so here 'tis:

kate's top ten list of young adult books of all time, chosen because these are either the ones i read and reread as a teenager, or maybe that really affected me the one or two times i read it (i'm talking to you ponyboy!), or that i've come across as an adult and wished it had been around for me as a teen. (in no particular order)

• after january, nick earls
• tomorrow, when the war began, john marsden
• people might hear you, robin klein
• paper towns, john green
• the simple gift, steven herrick
• homecoming, cynthia voight
• the outsiders, s e hinton
• the knife of never letting go, patrick ness
• mahalia, joanne horniman
• nick and norah's infinite playlist, rachel cohn and david levithan

and some i might have liked to include:
harry potter series, j k rowling (or would this be classified children's, not YA?)
guitar highway rose, bridgid lowry (didn't include this because on re-reading it it jumps out at me as being a leetle contrived)
hatchet, gary paulson (but whenever i mention this book i am met with collective groans of disgust, so i think i am alone in my love of this one)
finding grace, alyssa brugman (just because it is so special and hilarious and sad)

ok. that'll do. except for this picture of the guys from the outsiders. hubba hubba.