Young Adult Literature

I read voraciously in my youth. It was rare to see me without a book. And I read most books very fast and then read them half a dozen times. I still love to read. I have a lot less time to do it. But I am usually reading some book- it just takes a lot longer and the retention of what I read is a lot less. But the books of my youth are what really stay with me. My biggest obsession in elementary school was horses. Album of Horses was a constant companion. I read Black Beauty 20 times. I played imaginary stable games in the hallway and stairwell of our apartment building. Entering middle school and into high school, I was reading the "classics" for school and also reading them because I just loved to read and was deeply intrigued by what I learned. Lord Of The Flies, Animal Farm, Catcher In The Rye. I also loved reading unassigned books... Judy Blume, Paula Danzinger, Cynthia Voigt. Eventually moving into trashy romance novels, VC Andrews, and more. Through a series of links, I discovered Lizzie Skurnick today. A collection of essays about the YA Lit that formed our youth. And I clicked over to this page of a collection of articles that Lizzie Skurnick had written about various YA Lit from her own youth and how it impacted her. Side note: Lizzie Skurnick authored 10 Sweet Valley High books. So she must be my soul sister on some level. Jessica and Elizabeth were so much a part of my growing up!!! But that collection of articles... I've read almost every single book listed on that link. And have serious sentimental and emotional attachments formed. I think I'm going to make a list, hit the library, dig around at Half Price Books... I know I kept a good collection of some of my fave YA Lit from my youth. So I must know. What's your fave YA Lit? Books from when you were growing up... recently written (The Book Thief is a must read)... old books recently discovered...