As a follow up to the previous post and comments, if you really did try to match excellent YA titles for age and venue and tone, what would you come up with? Here are some that occurred to me.
Jellico Road and Tomorrow When the War Began I’m trusting Maureen’s opinion about Jellico Road for this, plus the Amazon description of the book, because as you recall, I haven’t read it.
The Floating Islands and Airborn by Kenneth Oppel — they’re both adventure stories with elements of flight.
The Attolia series and The Riddlemaster series — the whole series for each because that’s only fair, right?
The Changeling Sea and The Truth-Teller’s Tale. To me, these two seem to be aimed at the same age group and to have something of the same lyrical fairy-tale tone. Agree / disagree?
What are some other good ones? The Sunbird and what? Something historical-ish? It would have to be something intense. What would work?
The Year of the Griffin and what? Another school story? I hesitate to suggest Harry Potter. What other school stories are there? I mean, I know there must be heaps, but it’s not a subgenre I’m all that familiar with.
Jinx and what? Oh, how about the Enchanted Forest books by Patricia Wrede? I think those would match up pretty well. Wait till the third Jinx story is out and match up each series as a whole.
Oh, hey, what would you match up against The Scorpio Races? Something intense and tightly self-contained. I’ve got something on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite think of it.
Anybody want to finish any of these off or offer a pairing of your own?
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Mmm. The Perilous Gard, maybe, for Scorpio Races? I feel like there’s a better option, but tired brain is tired.
Perhaps HOMEWARD BOUNDERS? Intense and self-contained.
You probably want to match THE BLUE SWORD up against something, but I have no idea what.
Girl with horse? Maybe something by Mercedes Lackey? I never read the Valdemar books, but I think they were very popular.
I like Elaine’s suggestion! The Valdemar books are certainly ones I angsted over in middle school (I remember one memorable occasion when I was reading in the lunch line and crying my eyes out) but to me now they seem not-quite-YA, or at least an old-fashioned YA that Stiefvater is not. But that would actually make for an interesting comparison, probably.
I think the Lackey horse books ought to be paired with CJC’s Nighthorse duo, because I’ve always thought CJC read one to many of the sort that Lackey writes (there are others, she’s just the most popular), and said “I’ve had it! It *wouldn’t* be like that.” and sat down to write what it would much more likely be.
But I only read Lackey’s original trilogy with the girl.
I bet CJC was indeed having a reaction to the “telepathic horse” trope — you’re sure right that Lackey wasn’t the only one on that bandwagon.