Thoughts on YA Literature: Hex Hall (Hawkins) & Found (Haddix)

I am reading about a dozen or so books this semester that could be used within a classroom filled with young adults. I will probably mention a few novels here and there that I find interesting. For the first few weeks of school, I read Hex Hall, by Rachel Hawkins, and Margaret Peterson Haddix's Found.

Currently, I am reading Need, by Carrie Jones and I will be starting Cynthia Lord's Rules, hopefully by this weekend.

I am not going to talk much about these books since I believe that everybody should probably learn for themselves, what is available between the pages. Young adult literature are not hard reads; quite honestly, if you do not do a lot of reading and just want to pass the time by, I suggest picking up any of these books just to escape. I found the majority of what I have read so far to be enjoyable. Some of them are too slow for my liking, but everybody has their own choices and opinions.

If you like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, then perhaps you should pick up Hex Hall by Carrie Jones. I found a lot of similarities between Jones's novel and Rowling's Harry Potter. I was a bit shocked at first with what the book would be like when I heard about it from my professor; but I surprisingly found it a bit comforting that I was able to find myself indulged within the text itself. Though similar, there are quite a few twists and turns that I never thought would of been possible in the HP series. Although a bit too much like HP, HH was a good distraction from what HP-hype.

Haddix's Found was breath-taking. This is perhaps my favorite novel so far out of the three that I have read or am currently reading. I'm not sure where to even begin explaining this novel; there is just a lot of things going on within this text that I would not want to further explain before I end up ruining the story itself. If you like science fiction, I would strongly recommend this short read. And if you do not like sci-fi, pick this novel up anyway. I never thought of myself as a science fiction lover and I couldn't put this down.


I am only halfway through Need. To be frank, I am not enjoying this novel. I was excited to start this piece of work by Carrie Jones, but it has been a slow build up so far. I am not sure what is wrong with it; or perhaps it is just me. Honestly, the reading has just been a tedious task for me. I do not find myself wanting to read the novel. Unfortunately, I will have to push myself through it, just so I can get on with the rest of what I have to do for this course. And if that doesn't work, I'll have to just pick up another book. If that is the case, you will hear some excerpt about Rules in the near future.