I mean, not that Susan Cooper is really relevant here, but it’s almost Halloween and the first best of list for 2017 has dropped, and that says the year is ready to come to a close…

Ok, so that first list, as always, is PW.

Here’s the link to the complete list; jump below the fold to see my scattershot response.

On our spreadsheet from early on, 12 titles: Far from the Tree; Gem & Dixie; The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue; The Hate U Give; Landscape with Invisible Hand; Long Way Down; Turtles All the Way Down; Vincent and Theo; We Are Okay; You Bring the Distant Near; The Librarian of Auschwitz; American Street. None of these are surprises; these are all getting critical acclaim and many are from established, respected YA authors.

A further three titles weren’t on our spreadsheet from the start, but we added them well before this list came out, so again, no real surprises: La Belle Sauvage (we had blocked this from our minds out of fear it wouldn’t be as good as The Golden Compass); A Skinful of Shadows (because I had failed to notice Hardinge was having a two book year); and Spinning, which just went of Joy’s pile last week.

Four of the middle grade honorees might also have crossover (and therefore Printz) potential, but I haven’r read any of them: Refugee (it sounds like young YA to me); The Glass Town Game (sounds fascinating but it’s so big!); The Road to Ever After (totally new to me); and The Stars Beneath Our Feet (this was on my radar then off for reasons of being young, but maybe it needs to go back on the radar.

Finally, there were two surprises: I Believe in a Thing Called Love (coincidentally JUST mentioned in a commenton When Dimple met Rishi) and Warcross. I Believe sounds right up our alley; Warcross less so although we’re open to dissenting opinions.

So there you have it. Thoughts? What’s missing? What surprised you?