The Light in YA

So the Wall Street Journal kerfluffle is beginning to diminish (some noteworthy things to look at are NPR's fantastic article, the many many brilliant posts and blogs under the #YASaves tag, and the parody #YAKills tag. Hilarity!), but there was one more thing I wanted to mull over.

The article laments the lack of ANY lighthearted YA fiction. This is completely false. There is light YA, and there should be light YA. Like I said, the darkness is important (and even in the lighthearted books there has to be SOME measure of darkness... otherwise there would be no plot).

But sometimes after English class, when we read HAMLET and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and MACBETH and HEART OF DARKNESS and THE SUN ALSO RISES, all sorts of grim and violent and depressing stuff, it's time to turn to something fun. Sometimes we just want something fun to read, and there are plenty of books out there that fit the bill.

I'm not saying that these fun books are "lesser" because they might not have big weighty issues in them, because that isn't true. Some of them have even appeared as Printz honor books. Fun and silliness is important, because there is darkness in the world, and we have to face that, but we have to learn to laugh, too.

So. Here is a list of some good old lighthearted YA. (At least, the ones I can think of.)

1. AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES - John Green
2. AIRBORN - Kenneth Oppel
3. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS - Stephanie Perkins
4. LET IT SNOW - John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
5. AVALON HIGH - Meg Cabot
6. SONG OF THE SPARROW - Lisa Ann Sandell
7. EAST - Edith Pattou
8. ALL AMERICAN GIRL - Meg Cabot
9. SORCERY AND CECELIA - Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
10. NOBODY'S PRINCESS - Esther Friesner
11. PRADA AND PREJUDICE - Mandy Hubbard
12. DEVILISH - Maureen Johnson
13. THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS - E. Lockhart
14. GOOD OMENS - Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett
15. THIRTEENTH CHILD - Patricia C. Wrede

What are some lighthearted YA books that you would recommend?