So...

[Esmeralda Mendez]

I just got a big gift card to Barnes and Noble, and I have no idea what to get with it.

Any recommendations??

[Lenora Byers]

His Dark Materials - I have only read Golden Compass from it so far but it was quite good. Better than the movie which was quite good too. Much better than Narnia - and people didn't see it because they thought it was a Narnia rip off *sigh* Don't know if you have already read it or not but if you haven't I would say you should.

If you are into comic books/graphic novels The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is quite good though I will be honest I found it hard to start with the first one because of the way it just hurles you into the story so I would suggest you start the way I did - with the companion book Endless Night. And even if you aren't into graphic novels anything by Gaiman is brilliant. Remember the movie Stardust this summer? Staring Clare Danes. It was based off a novella by Gaiman - the book was better than the movie again - but the movie was pretty okay too. And I would highly highly recommend Stardust. Especially if you were a fan of fairy tales.

Umm I don't really know what you read so I am trying to kinda stay within fantasy (which I don't read over much of) as I obviously know you enjoyed HP but if you wanna tell me more what your tastes are I can give you a ton of authors to check out

[Mackenzie Holden]

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank something lol Beddor or something like that. It's a great spin off of Alice in Wonderland.

The Great and Terrible Beauty Trilogy - I have yet to read the third one, but the first two were great. That's by Libba Bray.

Twilight by Stephenie Myer if you haven't already read it.

Let's see, what else...? Um...

His Dark Materials - like Mary recommended.

I'm not quite sure what else... I have a lot but I'll get back to you.

[Celia Richmond]

The Noughts and Crosses trilogy by Malorie Blackman. Amazing books, which discuss important issues of racism and things it can lead to. Set in a parallel, somewhat inverse world, so not really fantasy...they're just really good books, if you haven't already read them. I'd reccommend them to anyone, seriously. They're just fantastic, and I'll tell you, without giving the plot away, you'll never get over the ending of the fist book.

And if you feel like reading something rather light-hearted and girly, The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot is good. An easy read, and good if you feel like reading something kinda immature though rather funny. Well, some of the issues aren't immature, but the way she handles them and goes over the top are sometimes =). However, the movise do the books no justice, especially the second =).

Fantasy-Wise, the Sabriel, Lireal and Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix is good. As are Tamora Pierce's books, though I've only read a few of those. They're in quartets, of which I've read 2. And the Saga of Darren Shan is also good. If you wanna read about vampires as you've never seen them.

[Esmeralda Mendez]

I've heard of the Looking Glass Wars, and it sounded kinda interesting. I'm going to look into that.

Twilight is one of my favorite books of all time, I have that one already.

I haven't seen the movie or read the books for His Dark Materials, but I'll get to that eventually...I think I'll get those as well.

As for the Meg Cabot books, by sister loves them. She's got a shelf full of them in our room (that we are forced to share...urghh) But I can't get into those no matter how much she tries to make me.

And the other's I'll look into as well. I think I have almost every Lurlene McDaniel book there is, and I'm still looking for more. She's one of my favorite authors. Has anyone read Garden of Angels? That's my favorite one by her.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Ariane Chan]

Kat basically listed all the ones I would've recommended.

Well... my favourite books for the last few years are manga ones; Fruits Basket in particular. Kia will agree with me - my goodness, such an amazing, amazing manga (I have to let you and Izy have them as well, Kat... whoops!). It takes a while to get used to manga type books, especially those that go backwards if you don't normally read back to front (it's like that for oriental books a lot of the time). However, once you get into manga, it is addicting - 'Furuba', as it is nicknamed, in general. I think the plot would suit you, Ezzie. It can be a bit shallow and random at the beginning, but it spans out into a fantastic storyline. *dies with love for it* I could worship those books. Currently there are eighteen volumes out in English; a few more to be published. I suppose you could them online though. If you're interested, I could give you the website address. The books are a treasure to collect though; the great things about manga books are, they're easily portable and not heavy; easy to read/light reading for any time you feel you can't absorb something too deep; and you can read them over and over again. Furuba is one of those that gets quite emotional after a while, so another good manga for comic relief is definitely Ranma 1/2, another one I collect. I also think this would suit your tastes, Ezzie. I suggest trying to find a blurb of both these mangas if interested. Basically they are very good! lol! (Fruits Basket is by Natsuki Takaya; Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi.)

Um, aside from manga (lol), I would say the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, although was not a great piece of literature, drew me in very well a few years back. I don't have as much time for reading now, though. Alex Rider is good for fantasy and fun to read. A book that will definitely get your tears jerking is either Chinese Cinderella or Falling Leaves - the latter being the adult version. It's basically the autobiography of a Chinese woman, Adeline Yen Mah, who suffered a lot of hardships in her childhood by the hand of her step-mother, etc. Oh oh! One of my favourite young teen books was The Doomspell by Cliff McNish. That totally and utterly captured my imagination; a wonderful piece of work. It's a trilogy, and I just love it so much still.

Like Kat said, the Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen trilogy is great; much deeper than The Doomspell. Same goes for Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Noughts and Crosses series is AMAZING, I would definitely recommend that.

Oh, one of Izy's favourites is the... ugh, what are they called? AAAH. The City of Flowers or something. They were good, indeed. I can't remember the author, but it was a trilogy also.
City of Masks is the first one. By Mary Hoffman.
Inkspell, which is being made into a film, I remember was good. You can tell I haven't read a book in a long time - all the ones I'm listing are ones I read in my early teens. Brilliant fantasy ones though - if you enjoy Harry Potter, they're bound to interest you.

[Jasmine Anderson]

He He. More recommendations!

*gasp* You love Twilight as well! *huggles Bella/Edward/Jacob plushie* I used to hate Jacob, but now I kind of like him actually. Still think Bella and Edward are meant for each other.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is also another good choice. I know its a classic, and you might have to read it for English, but I absolutely loved this book as well. If you into a group of British boys that slip from sanity by the lust for power and downfall of rules. (Hehe...a still working thesis statement)

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is another great read. Again if your really into fantsay, then this fairy relastic world will mostly certainly enchant you.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins is a final choice. This isn't a fanstay book I promise you. It deals with a young teenager who gets addicted to drugs. The style of writing is more in the line of poetry, but its a really deep book. I cried while reading and couldn't even put the book down.

Hope this choices have helped you.

[Aimee Sinclair S3]

Hey! he Meg Cabot books are amazing. I don't know why you don't like 'em.