Gacked from a guest post by Rachel Simon over at Hey, Teenager of the Year! These are my top 5 YA literary crushes:
5. Quentin Compson. The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner.
Okay, so this is cheating a little bit because neither The Sound and the Fury nor Absalom, Absalom are really YA books, like, at all. Like not even in the way that you might say Catcher in the Rye is a YA book. But I can't help it. I love Quentin Compson. Is he screwed up? YES. Is he ultimately not a very heroic character? YES. Do I love him enough to put up with William Faulkner, who I actually can't stand as an author? God help me, yes. When I say I am character driven, this is what I mean -- I will read William Faulkner in order to be close to Quentin Compson. That, my friends, is dedication.
4. Matt Perino. Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler.
Matt Perino is not on this list because Sarah Ockler is a cool person (although she is), or because she, too, is represented by my beloved Agent Ted (although she is), but because one of the male leads in her book, Matt Perino, is dreamy. He's older, and he's romantic, and he's maybe a little messed up, too, with the whole "let's keep this a secret" thing, and the "I'm going off to college in the fall, but I'm going to make out with a fifteen year old" thing. And sure, maybe he dies in the first fifteen pages*, but man those first fifteen pages really count.
3. Sodapop Curtis. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton.
If you read The Outsiders and you're not a little in love with at least one of the characters by the book's end, then your heart must be made of stone. My personal favorite is PonyBoy's older brother Sodapop** who has dark-gold hair "long and silky and straight" and dark brown eyes, and is movie-star kind of handsome and also happens to be sweet as pie.
2. Arthur "Sully" Sullivan. The Grounding of Group 6, by Julian F. Thompson.
This is Thompson's description of Sully:
1. Sorenson Carlisle. The Changeover, by Madeleine L'Engle.
Sorry Carlisle is another in my long list of "boys who are messed up and somehow desperately attractive." He's aloof and distant to our heroine at first, but only because he's afraid of getting hurt. And no wonder, when we understand what happened to him before the book started. He's also tall and blond, and has eyes like this:
What, about that, doesn't make you dizzy?
~~~
* I'm not giving anything away -- that information is on the jacket flap.
** And my book group gets on me for giving boy characters girl names? sheesh! Maybe when I become the next S.E. Hinton, they'll let it go. :)
5. Quentin Compson. The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner.
Okay, so this is cheating a little bit because neither The Sound and the Fury nor Absalom, Absalom are really YA books, like, at all. Like not even in the way that you might say Catcher in the Rye is a YA book. But I can't help it. I love Quentin Compson. Is he screwed up? YES. Is he ultimately not a very heroic character? YES. Do I love him enough to put up with William Faulkner, who I actually can't stand as an author? God help me, yes. When I say I am character driven, this is what I mean -- I will read William Faulkner in order to be close to Quentin Compson. That, my friends, is dedication.
4. Matt Perino. Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler.
Matt Perino is not on this list because Sarah Ockler is a cool person (although she is), or because she, too, is represented by my beloved Agent Ted (although she is), but because one of the male leads in her book, Matt Perino, is dreamy. He's older, and he's romantic, and he's maybe a little messed up, too, with the whole "let's keep this a secret" thing, and the "I'm going off to college in the fall, but I'm going to make out with a fifteen year old" thing. And sure, maybe he dies in the first fifteen pages*, but man those first fifteen pages really count.
3. Sodapop Curtis. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton.
If you read The Outsiders and you're not a little in love with at least one of the characters by the book's end, then your heart must be made of stone. My personal favorite is PonyBoy's older brother Sodapop** who has dark-gold hair "long and silky and straight" and dark brown eyes, and is movie-star kind of handsome and also happens to be sweet as pie.
2. Arthur "Sully" Sullivan. The Grounding of Group 6, by Julian F. Thompson.
This is Thompson's description of Sully:
Sully looked as fresh as butter in the mornings; sleep never seemed to leave a mark on him: his eyes were wide and bright, his short hair flopped into place, he even smelled good if you got that close. He had a yellow T-shirt on that he was growing out of, so there was skin between the bottom of his T-shirt and the sleeping bag that lay across his lap. Looking at him sitting there, Marigold decided he was worth at least an 8.
1. Sorenson Carlisle. The Changeover, by Madeleine L'Engle.
Sorry Carlisle is another in my long list of "boys who are messed up and somehow desperately attractive." He's aloof and distant to our heroine at first, but only because he's afraid of getting hurt. And no wonder, when we understand what happened to him before the book started. He's also tall and blond, and has eyes like this:
He had grey eyes with the curious trick of turning silver if you looked at them from the side. Some people thought they looked dependable, but to Laura there was nothing safe about them. They were tricky, looking-glass eyes with quicksilver surfaces, and tunnels, staircases and mirro mazes hidden behind them, none of them leading anywhere recognizable.
What, about that, doesn't make you dizzy?
~~~
* I'm not giving anything away -- that information is on the jacket flap.
** And my book group gets on me for giving boy characters girl names? sheesh! Maybe when I become the next S.E. Hinton, they'll let it go. :)
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