Forgotten Young Adult Books For Us to Devour

This is exciting for fans of old-school YA, and anyone who loves weird old books. So, um, I think that covers almost all Jezebel readers? Let’s do this.

According to Ig publisher Robert Lasner, the imprint will “bring back the very best in young adult literature, from the classics of the 1930s and 1940s, to the thrillers and social novels of the 1970s and 1980s.” Compiled and edited by Lizzie Skurnick, the author of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, Ig will release 12-14 titles a year.

Publishers Weekly reports:

While Lizzie Skurnick Books releases will be marketed to YA readers, Skurnick believes that women who, like herself, came of age in the ’70s and ’80s, will form the core readership. “[These books] are not for teens,” she said. “Teens’ tastes have changed. It’s for adults who want to read, re-read, and collect these books. If mothers and fathers want to share the books, great.”

First up, Lois Duncan’s Debutante Hill, which I’ve never read, and looks amazing. As a preteen who’d grown weary of Christopher Pike and loved to be scared shitless, I devoured her terrifying reads again and again. I still have nightmares about Julia from Summer of Fear — that girl/woman was nuts!

As for the others on the initial list:

A Long Day in November by Ernest J. Gaines (originally published in 1971), Happy Endings Are All Alike by Sandra Scoppettone (1979), I’ll Love You When You’re More Like Me by M.E. Kerr (1977), Secret Lives by Berthe Amoss (1979), To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford (1982), and Me and Fat Glenda by Lila Perl (1972).

Have you read any of those already? Because I’m already excited for a few — I’m looking at you, Me and Fat Glenda.