YA Through the Decades Challenge Wrap-Up

Way back in December 2009, I signed up for the YA Through the Decades Challenge hosted by Youth Services Corner. I said I would read one YA book from every decade from 1930s (or earlier) to the 2000, with an additional book in 2010.

Until today, I thought I had not completed the challenge because I had a book from the 1980s left. But when I was looking through my blog posts from 2010, I realized that I had read a YA book from the 80s and had forgotten I could include it because my original intention was to go without rereads. So here is the list (finally) of my completed challenge with links to my review of each book:

• 1930s or before - Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912)
• 1940s - Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freeman (1942)
• 1950s - Fifteen by Beverly Cleary (1956)
• 1960s - The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1967)
• 1970s - Summer of My German Soldier by Betsy Greene (1973)
• 1980s - Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986 - the late found re-read)
• 1990s - Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1999)
• 2000s - Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman (2006)
• 2010 - Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (I was surprised to see how many "current" books I read in the past year; this just happened to be the first)

All in all, this was quite an interesting experience. I was most struck with how situations changed while much of the characteristics remain the same: dealing with difficult issues, coming-of-age/growing up themes, regular use of first-person or close third-person accounts are all common throughout the decades. Humor and play could be found in the 2000s or the 1960s, and issues like prejudice are still present in the 1990s, not relegated to the past. At the same time, some stories such as Fifteen, are rooted very much in their times can come across as dated or quaint, making them feel like a much younger story for kids of today or nostalgic parents rather than teens. What an interesting mix it turned out to be!