Best of 2010
(contributed by Angela)

I have mainly just searched for childrens’ and teens’ lists – some can’t be separated.

1. Thoughtful reviews, toddlers to teens list:



2. The Listener best 50 :


4. Canvas magazine, NZ Herald


5. Sunday Star Times [NZ]
Seems to have been written by someone who doesn’t read much teen or children’s literature but the adult lists may be useful:


6. Kirkus
This is for adults mainly :


For Teens and children:
Childrens' and Teens'

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/best-of/2010/children-and-teens/




7. This looks interesting for older teens; from the Daily Beast [US]
Taylor Antrim

The Patterns of Paper Monsters, by Emma Rathbone—This funny, terrifically enjoyable debut, set in a juvenile detention center in northern Virginia has shades of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the most appealing 17-year-old delinquent protagonist I've encountered in some time. It's funny and fast-paced, and has, to me, the year's saddest ending.
A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan—Egan's novel-in-stories is wonderfully unpredictable: a smart, daisy-chain narrative about rock music and growing up. It's good start to finish, but the PowerPoint chapter is an absolute must-read. (Read review)
The Room and the Chair, by Lorraine Adams—Adams' spidery, propulsive novel gives us a newsroom crisis at a thinly disguised Washington Post, the war in Afghanistan, a shadowy U.S. intelligence official, and a double-agent Iranian nuclear scientist. It's Syriana meets The Wire: as timely as fiction gets.
The Ask, by Sam Lipsyte—The funniest sentences of the year, probably of the last six years (or since the author's previous novel Homeland). No one puts male failure and foibles on the page as well as Lipsyte.
Things We Didn't See Coming, by Steven Amsterdam—A book of linked dystopian stories that combine humor and horror in equal measure.


8. Superb site with lists from all round the world:
this person has got together an amazing assortment of lists – very useful for teen reading especially:


Apart from this site I cannot find any ‘best ofs’ in Australian websites apart from their Awards Lists.

9. Publishers' Weekly , US
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/45090-pw-s-best-children-s-books-2010.html









Storylines Notable Books list will be out in February and “NZ Children’s Books in Print” will also be available in the New Year.