KYDYAC

Announcing: KYD YA Championship!

Image: Shutterhacks

We’re extremely excited to announce that between July 30 – August 17 we will be hosting the KYD YA Championship!

At KYD we love YA fiction. Some of our favourite memories of our young reading lives involve characters from favourite YA books or curling up with a YA adventure on the couch. And still, as ‘grown-ups’, we find ourselves regularly turning to the comforting pages of YA books. They really have a hold on us.

So, after many passionate discussions with like-minded folk about YA, we have decided to celebrate this fanaticism and embrace the enthusiasm.

We have asked ten of our favourite YA fanatics – authors, buyers, publishers, readers, writers – to champion their favourite Australian YA book from the last 30 years.

Posts from enthusiasts including Andrew McDonald, Lili Wilkinson and Agnes Nieuwenhuizen will take a personal look at some of the most memorable and formative local YA books. Beginning from July 30, we will be looking to you to vote for your favourite as you will determine the top three.

Everyone who votes for their favourite book in the championship will go into the running for one of three incredible prize packs, courtesy of our sponsors Penguin, Allen & Unwin and Hardie Grant Egmont, including:

Penguin 

• Obernewtyn – Isobelle Carmody
• Little Fur – Isobelle Carmody
• Deadly Unna – Phillip Gwynne
• Nukkin Ya – Phillip Gwynne
• The Ghost’s Child – Sonya Hartnett
• Butterfly – Sonya Hartnett
• Looking For Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta
• The Pipers Son – Melina Marchetta
• Disharmony – Leah Giarratano
• The Shiny Guys – Doug MacLeod

Allen & Unwin 

• Coming of the Whirlpool: Ship Kings 1 – Andrew McGahan
• Love-shy – Lili Wilkinson
• A Straight Line to My Heart – Bill Condon
• Metro Winds – Isobelle Carmody
• Sea Hearts – Margo Lanagan
• The Dead I Know – Scot Gardner
• Holier Than Thou – Laura Buzo
• Dead, Actually – Kaz Delaney
• A Confusion of Princes – Garth Nix
• Somebody’s Crying – Maureen McCarthy

Hardie Grant Egmont

• Shift – Em Bailey
• Silhouette – Thalia Kalkipsakis
• Gone – Michael Grant
• Forgotten – Cat Patrick
• Revived – Cat Patrick
• Of Poseidon – Anna Banks
• The Phoenix Files: Arrival – Chris Morphew
• Survive – Alex Morel
• Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler
• Whisper – Chrissie Keighery

And never fear: we know there are endless Australian YA classics beyond our nominated shortlist, so there will also be a People’s Choice category. If your favourite Australian YA book from the last 30 years was left on the shelf, you can be its champion.

Please join us to discuss #KYDYAC on Twitter (@kyd_journal), Facebook or in the blog comments. We would love to hear what you think about Australian YA fiction: after all,  this is not only an exciting event, but also the chance to raise your voice.

Watch this space for more YA fiction fun!

• Allen and Unwin
• Hardie Grant Egmont
• Penguin
• young adult fiction

17 Responses to Announcing: KYD YA Championship!

1. wild colonial girl
   12:29 pm, July 16, 2012 Reply

   This sounds great! I look forward to seeing what your writers (and readers) come up with…

2. Danielle
   2:37 pm, July 16, 2012 Reply

   YA fiction is the best, and a championship festival devoted to YA lit sounds absolutely fabulous. I cannot wait to see which books will triumph!

3. Madeleine
   12:28 pm, July 17, 2012 Reply

   I am so excited about this!

4. Pingback: The Great YA Championship—Kill Your Darlings! | Misrule

5. Danielle Binks
   3:30 pm, July 19, 2012 Reply

   Oh my gosh – Aussie YA is beloved all over the world! It’s definitely something we should be proud of – and it’s so great to see KYD bellowing their love :)

   But which book to choose?! … ack! This is going to be a mighty fearsome battle, that’s for sure!

6. Pingback: Literary and Interesting Links | Miscellaneous Mum - Trying to find the objective correlative, everyday

7. Pingback: Lili Wilkinson • Blog • All the things

8. Pingback: ‘Net News: 23rd July 2012 « Read alert | State Library of Victoria

9. Pingback: Let the games begin! | Misrule

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11. chrissie
    9:32 am, July 30, 2012 Reply

    Hi. This sounds great. I’m Chrissie Keighery, the author of Whisper. I’d be very happy to be involved in any way.

    • Estelle Tang
      2:09 pm, July 31, 2012 Reply

      Hi Chrissie! We’re so glad enthusiastic readers and YA authors are supporting KYDYAC. The best way to get involved is by voting (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7S7SCR3) or discussing the books in the comments here at the blog — we’ll be covering nine more titles — or on social media (the hashtag is #KYDYAC).

12. Bec
    11:43 pm, July 31, 2012 Reply

    We have so much great YA fiction – think my favourite two from the list would be looking for alibrandi and whisper

13. Bronwyn
    11:17 am, August 1, 2012 Reply

    Glad to see books from my YA days are in the list… go came back to show you I could fly and Space Demons!

14. Pingback: ‘Net News: 13th August 2012 « Read alert | State Library of Victoria

15. Pingback: Don’t kill this darling! | Misrule

16. Pingback: Useful Links for Fans of Young Adult Fiction « Aerogramme Writers' Studio

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