(no subject)
You guys have got to read Scott Westerfeld. He is probably the best young adult author I've ever read. He has three series out, though I haven't read the Midnighters yet. The Uglies is all about genetic manipulation. On your sixteenth birthday, you're given a Pretty operation, but it makes you rather stupid (unless you end up in a job that requires you to have the full capability of your brain and perks to go along with it). Leviathan and it's subsequent series is young adult steam punk.
The think that really caught my attention is that several of the main characters in both series are young women and they are written like young women. There's none of this lol silly females shit you see in a lot of young adult (that isn't specifically geared toward women). I'm look at you, Ranger's Apprentice. The books all pass the Bechdel test: they talk to other women about something besides men. Well, in the case of Leviathan, it's kind of close because there are only two women in the book and one of them is disguised as a boy in the RAF. Despite that, it's all very fantastic and I can't recommend his books enough.
The think that really caught my attention is that several of the main characters in both series are young women and they are written like young women. There's none of this lol silly females shit you see in a lot of young adult (that isn't specifically geared toward women). I'm look at you, Ranger's Apprentice. The books all pass the Bechdel test: they talk to other women about something besides men. Well, in the case of Leviathan, it's kind of close because there are only two women in the book and one of them is disguised as a boy in the RAF. Despite that, it's all very fantastic and I can't recommend his books enough.