Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Top Ten YA/MG Books That Feature Characters Who Have A Family

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

The actual topic today is 'Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who ____' where the blogger gets to fill in the blank with anything they want. So, I decided to go with something that I've been noticing more and more in my YA books. Most of these kids are either A) single child, B) stuck with the most indifferent parents ever or C) orphans. I decided to make a list of the books I've read in either YA or MG where the main character has a family. Maybe parents that are involved in their life, or siblings that are total pests. The main character has to have a good relationship with at least some of their family for it to count.

Top Ten Nine YA/MG Books That Feature Characters Who Have A Family


Elise Stokes
The longer I'm away from this book, the more favorable I feel towards it. I won't get into the problems I had (just say the main girl was kind of an emotional wreck through most of the story) but...Cassidy has parents, a twin brother and a younger brother and they actually eat together. Should I be so amazed? Her family was one of the best things about this book.




A Breath of Frost
Alyxandra Harvey
I really had fun reading this book. It's about three cousins that discover they are witches. While the main character's father is in the running for 'most indifferent father ever' all three of the girls do deal with their parents - at least occasionally.



Seeds of Discovery
Breeana Puttroff
Love this book - it's actually the one that made me decide to do this topic. This is a portal fantasy that is really all about family. Such a fun book and there are so many likable people.



Wild Orchid
Cameron Dokey
This book was very different than what I was expecting. Even though it's a retelling of The Ballad of Mulan, a good half of the book is Mulan at home with her father and her stepmother (who, surprisingly enough, is a nice woman that Mulan gets along with well).



I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You
Ally Carter
The heroine of the story is actually going to a school that her mother is the headmistress of. It's been a while since I read it (actually, listened to it) but it seems like they had a standing dinner date once a week.



Also Known As
Robin Benway
The heroine in this story is a spy - taught by her parents. Parents that are involved in her life and want to know what she's doing. Just like real parents, no?



The Beautiful and the Cursed
Page Morgan
Three of the main characters in this series are siblings (two sisters and a brother) and they have parents. Unfortunately the parents aren't the most 'hands on' when it comes to raising their kinds. The mother is loving but caught up in her life and the father is...controlling and domineering - when he's not being all 'do what you want as long as it's away from me'.



Etiquette & Espionage
Gail Carriger
Sophronia has parents as well as several sisters. While I wish they'd gotten to be in the story more, that's to be expected with a boarding school story. However, she does interact with them when she's home and they are not forgotten after she arrives at the school.



The Inventor's Secret
Chad Morris
The main plot of this story is actually about the fact that the two main characters parents and grandfather have just went missing. So, while they are absent - through no fault of their own -  a good portion of the story deals with the two trying to find their family.





So close. I tried so hard to come up with a tenth book but I just couldn't do it. Do you know of any more? I think this will be a really interesting week to see what everyone else is doing, so please drop me a link to your list and I'll stop by.

Comments (12)

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It's definitely difficult to find a "nuclear family" in a lot of fiction, especially YA. I think it's because they use the family situation as part of the plot, or when the parents are barely existent it's because they aren't needed for the story.

MY TTT
Have a great week!
1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
I think you're probably right. I like it when, even if the parents or siblings don't really play into the plot, they're still there. They might not be important to the plot, but I think they really help in the character development aspect and just makes the people seem better rounded.
Ha! That is so true! Most YA books just don't want to deal with the parents and shove them out of the way somehow. I'm struggling to think of a book that has characters with traditional families!
My recent post Top Ten Tuesday: Books Which Feature Characters Who Are Assassins!
1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
Yeah, there's really not many. Especially in speculative fiction which is what I read the most of. I think it's great though when the character's family gets involved in some way - even if it is just being the 'annoying sibling'.
Great list! This is so funny - I was almost going to do a top 10 of characters who don't have any parents. Because seriously, does ANYONE in YA have parents anymore? Ally Carter is one of my favorite authors and I love I'd Tell You That I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You. There are so many great family relationships and close friendships in that series!
My recent post Top 10 Tuesday: Platonic Relationships
1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
I know! I actually came across a couple of those lists today. Sometimes it really seems like they don't have parents, much less an extended family. I thought that was really great about that book - even just reading the first in the series I can tell it's not going to have the typical 'no parents' set up.
YES! Urgh the number of books that have orphan/indifferent parents for the protags is just upsetting. I love it when there is a GOOD family unit. The Lynburn Legacy books has a couple of really good family units in, I love the portrayal of family in them. Also The Scorpio Races and The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. There's also a couple of good family units in some adult book favourites - The Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn (a family with a father and ten children, all grown! Makes for some interesting dynamics!) and The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn, eight siblings (all grown) plus the mother. I love big family dynamics!
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1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
I couldn't agree more. I love when the family is actually an active part of the story! I really want to read The Lynburn Legacy (more now that I hear that) and am very interested in trying some Maggie Stiefvater. Probably The Scorpio Races because it sounds really good. Never heard of The Lady Julia Grey series before - I'll be looking into it - but The Bridgertons series is one that has crossed my mind a few times. It's so great to see adult siblings interact. Especially considering the way families get along!
Excellent choice for the TTT this week. I admit I haven't read any of these particular books, though I do have some of them on my TBR pile. I agree that there's an alarming number of characters in YA with the worst home situations that's if they even have some kind of family unit at all.
My recent post Teaser Tuesday & Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____
1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
I recommend all of these books - just some more than others but I did enjoy all of them. I know! It's like 'no matter that they're teenagers, let's just let them do whatever they want'. Good parenting for you. (And now this makes me sound old.)
I'm actually reading I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You right now, and yes, they eat dinner together every Sunday!
1 reply · active 515 weeks ago
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know.

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