Over on my mirror blog Lara left a comment about yesterday's post that I am now stealing and using here. And yes, I expect her at any moment to show up and beat the living snot out of me for continuously pilfering her posts.

Lara sometimes hands out a list to her class of the 20 books everybody should read before the age of 20. And since it is such a great list, I wanted to share it with you all:

Lara's Bookshelf: 20 Contemporary YA Novels Everyone Should Read before the Age of 20
1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
2. Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson
3. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
5. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
6. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
7. Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
8. Life Is Funny by E.R. Frank
9. Sweetblood by Pete Hautman
10. Damage by A.M. Jenkins
11. The Giver by Lois Lowry
12. Hidden Talents by David Lubar
13. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
14. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
15. Girl: A Novel by Blake Nelson
16. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
17. Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
18. Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger
19. Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
20. The Pigman by Paul Zindel

Now this is a YA list I can get behind. Lara has definitely inspired me, so I think I am going to have to start working on a list of my own. I can't imagine paring it down to only 20 novels (Lara likened it to Sophie's Choice), but I'm going to try my hardest to limit myself to only 20.

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