This Week's YA Highway Road Trip Topic:
A long-awaited kiss, a surprise ending, a character's sudden decision… these are the moments that make us smile, gasp, and LOVE a book for the rest of our lives.
What is your favorite literary moment?
There are so many great YA moments:
-Meeting Hermione in HP
-Evie's taser love in Paranormalcy
-The chapter beginnings with advice/theories about men from different characters in Honey Baby Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
-How Eragon defeats Galbatorix in Inheritance...It lived up to the four book buildup for me (and that's saying a lot as I think defeating undefeatable villians is one of the hardest things to do as a writer)
-The advertisements in Beauty Queens.
-The friend who's a talking head in Hold Me Closer Necromancer
-The slang in the Uglies series (so crazy making)
-The ending of Heist Society where I decided I wouldn't mind living in that world
-Tiny's monologue on the swing set in Will Grayson, Will Grayson
But the one that got to me most is a complete spoiler from Catching Fire:
**************Spoiler Alert*****************
When I read that Katniss had to go back into the arena I yelled, (OL, for real) "No," and had to put the book down for a while before I could continue.
I laugh and even cry often during books, but that's the only time I remember having a physical reaction to a plot twist...that one killed me.
What about you? What's your favorite one that I listed? What was your most Earth-shattering fictional moment?
Especially in UGLIES, the slang was a good way to show the difference between the Uglies and the Pretties. It also hinted that something more than just cosmetic surgery had taken place. It's also part of Westerfeld's thoughtful and subtle world-building.
ReplyDeleteAnd Hermione's entrance in Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone was actually very well done. Rowling made her such an annoying character, it seems unlikely she would ever befriend Ron and Harry. But then there's the incident with the troll, which made the difference. I forget the exact words Rowling used at the end of that chapter--something along the lines of "you can't survive a close encounter with a troll and not come out of it friends"--I thought that was excellent. :)
Agreed! That part in Catching Fire was like a kick to the gut that first time reading it.
ReplyDeleteI also laughed an awful lot when I read Beauty Queens, and most often from the ads :D
Yep, that was a pretty powerful and unexpected twist to Catching Fire.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about Catching Fire. I didn't see it coming at all.
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling that Katniss would go back to the arena, but it still got me riled up. How cruel! The injustice!
ReplyDeleteAnd Libba Bray's advertisements were totally hilarious. That was my favorite thing about that book.
Ugh, that was so gut-wrenching! I couldn't believe it. Wonderful (and awful) moment!
ReplyDeleteMade up words usually drive me crazy, but the slang in the Uglies totally worked. That was a great series, with such a great message for girls.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely your Catching Fire one!
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I first read about Hermione (I thought her name was pronounced Hermi-own-nee), I thought... she's so annoying! I hope she's not a main character! *hides*
A lot of my jaw-dropping moments come from Hunger Games, but I DO love Tiny's monologue. And I know there are others!
ReplyDeleteNo I didn't see that twist coming but I also remember thinking it was because she broke her own rules or made one up just to get Katniss back in the games! Of course I still enjoyed the book! But the first book was my favorite.
ReplyDeleteLaura- I do see your point...the author may have wanted Katniss back in the games a little more than the rules of the world should have allowed...The Capital would want a chance to get rid of Katniss and Peeta, but breaking their own rules by making the "safe" winning tributes unsafe again risks rebellion.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, this didn't cross my mind at the time...I guess if most of your readers are emotionally involved enough (and not writers themselves) you can probably get away with more plot wise.
The line that stays with me in " the hunger games " was Katniss saying "I volunteer' when prim's name was pulled.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the Catching Fire one! I don't remember exactly what I said, but it had to have been along the lines of, "You've GOT to be kidding me!" when she had to go back. Lots of great moments from the whole trilogy, especially the moment that Katniss volunteers to take Prim's place.
ReplyDeleteIs it sad the only other one on your list that I know is meeting Hermione?
I love Hermione. I haven't read Hunger Games yet. I need to fix that soon.
ReplyDeleteOh, these are all great ones! (well, the ones I know I totally agree with)
ReplyDeleteNot a YA novel but the moment that stopped me in a book was when George killed Lennie rather than let him be taken by the lynch mob. I have read this book several times and still cry when I read that scene and my stomach twists.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Of Mice and Men. Geesh, you'd think I'd proof my comment before publishing. I was so worried about getting the capcha code right, I missed that.
ReplyDeleteCatching up from last week! This is a great list of moments - and some of them I know! (or at least have heard of the books) Still need to put Will Grayson, Will Grayson on my TBR. Hehehe... The Uglies slang is catchier than people realize, I think.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, that Catching Fire moment. I felt a little cheated and said pretty much what Lora did at that point in the book. I felt like the author was just rehashing the first book because she ran out of ways to make the second exciting.
That moment bugged me so much that I blogged about it, in fact. But that aside, my RTW response is here: http://dverted.blogspot.com/2012/03/rtw-those-magic-moments.html