Novels for Young Adults

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Anyone else fond of YA and kids novels? A couple of things I recently read and enjoyed; The City of Ember Jeanne DuPrau Two hundred years after a major cataclysm, a small city continues in the overwhelming darkness. But resources are starting to run low, and the generator is breaking down--the blackouts are becoming more and more frequent. Our heroes are a pair of 12 year-olds, trying to solve the Ember's troubles, while dodging the city's corrupt mayor. Really fun story. On the surface, somewhat reminiscent of Lois Lowry's "The Giver," though thematically is much more of a post-apocalyptic survival story than a dystopian societal deconstruction. The follow-up novel, "People of Sparks" was, unfortunately, not nearly as good. Still readable, but doesn't really amount to much more than a facile anti-war novel with a cheap deus-ex-machina ending. The Bromeliad Trilogy, by Terry Pratchett The story of a group of tiny gnomes who have been living in The Mall for a hundred years (1,000, in gnome years--they live very quickly), who have just learned that the mall is scheduled for demolition. They must now plan their escape into the larger world (a world they only recently discovered actually exists), and all without being seen by humans. Pratchett's customary dry wit applied to a simpler story that still provides some interesting and complex themes. Great series for kids and grownups alike.