Emma's Top Recommended YA Books

This post is supposed to be a follow-up to the post "Emma's Top 10 Recommended Classics" for several reasons. If I were one of you, I would read it, laugh, maybe leave a laudatory comment, and then ignore it. Which you probably did, yes? Which is exactly what I do when people recommend books to me (with the exception of Ellie) because they seem to be under the impression that I like to read soppy, badly written books about vampires who smooch people. (This genre is somewhat laughably called "Teen Paranormal Romance," but that's just a bunch of baloney. Romance is okay as long as there's some good swordfights and a dastardly scheming villain or two.)
This is one of the reasons I don't usually read YA books. Most of them are, shall I euphemistically say, the weaker end of the originality spectrum. And the quality spectrum. And the creativity spectrum. And pretty much every other spectrum out there.
But this attitude is the teeniest bit cynical, so I'd like to point out some good YA books for those kindred spirits who really don't care which mythical being the girl falls for in the end. These suggestions are gender-neutral, in no particular order, and, I promise, free from vampires.

-Evil Genius, Catherine Jinks
     Finally! Some good, original sci-fi for adolescents. Sci-fi for adolescents is usually either aimed at boys and about gory violent war stuff that guys are supposed to like, or unconvincing dystopia in which you know a) the rebellion will definitely succeed, b) yes, they will be allowed to fall in love, and c) which character is going to sacrifice his life for the others. Which is why I read this book and went "Wow! This person was evidently once a teenager because they wrote effectively for them!" The plot is original. The characters are excellent. The main character is actually truly a dynamic character, which is also a rare thing (and really hard to do, as any writer will gladly tell you. While sobbing on your shoulder). It also has great plot points that aren't really plot twists, but will still make you go "Aaaaagh!" and walk around doing things one-handed until you finish. (Yay to Maddie, who got me this book.) Oh yes, and the sequel is great too, but I haven't read the third one yet.

-The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson
     Ellie is probably smirking because she made me read this and I'm glad because it was great. (I'm going to run out of synonyms soon.) It took me an afternoon to read but that's just me, and it's a perfectly normal-sized book, although the cover isn't that good. The main character, Rory, moves from Louisiana to a boarding school in London. It's very predictable (albeit hilarious and well written) until a brutally murdered corpse is discovered in the vicinity. Then it gets even more hilarious. However, it isn't comedy, or a murder mystery. It is in its own unique genre (which I say only because I cannot figure out what genre it's in. Help, Ellie). Apparently the sequel is coming out soon.

-The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton
     We read this book for English class last year. It was remarkable, if only because it defied the usual parameters of assigned reading (preachy, unrelatable to, and accompanied by way too many worksheets). It wasn't trying to teach us a lesson, and the characters were understandable. (No comment on the worksheets.)

Hah. Sad that I could only think of three good young adult books. Although I'm sure there are other ones out there, so don't come after me with pitchforks trying to get me to write about your favorites. Anyway, if you're one of those teens who are sick of hearing about books that sound, frankly, really bad, read these.