The Readings children's buyers and specialists nearly went into meltdown when we were asked to put together a list of our best Young Adult books for 2010. It's been a great year for YA, and an especially great year for Australian YA. So here are some of the books that we desperately wanted to fit in our top ten, but couldn't:

big_river Big River Little Fish
Belinda Jeffrey

Big River, Little Fish is the highly anticipated second novel from Belinda Jeffrey. Set in South Australia during the 1956 Murray River flood, it tells the story of Tom Downs, a boy trapped between his way of reading the world and the world's way of seeing him.

guardian_of_the_dead Guardian of the Dead
Karen Healey

A gripping fantasy set on the shifting boundary between what is real and what is legend. Can Ellie discover a power she never knew she possessed? At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her essay deadline. Until everything changes... In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting.

graffiti_moon Graffiti Moon
Cath Crowley

An intense and exhilarating 24 hours in the lives of four teenagers on the verge: of adulthood, of HSC, of finding out just who they are, and who they want to be. A lyrical new YA novel from the award-winning author of Chasing Charlie Duskin and the Gracie Faltrain series.

a_love_story A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
Emily Horner

Cassie is in grief over the death of her best friend, Julia, who died behind the wheel in a road accident. She had unrequited romantic feelings for her friend, and now she is determined to cycle from Illinois to California with Julia's ashes, so she can scatter them in the ocean that Julia never managed to see.

cardturner The Cardturner
Louis Sachar

A 17-year-old boy, a rich blind uncle, an attractive girl and a mother who is looking forward to an inheritance create a heady and exciting cocktail of opportunity. A truly original romance, coming of age and mystery novel from the bestselling author of Holes.

a_girl_like_me A Girl Like Me
Penny Matthews

Their lives couldn't be more different, but Emmie can't help liking Bertha Schippan. She's funny and knowing and wild, and she distracts Emmie from the monotony of farm life in their tiny, isolated community. But, as Emmie soon discovers, Bertha has secrets. Terrible secrets. This heartbreaking story is based on a real crime that took place more than a century ago, capturing headlines all around Australia.

glass_demon The Glass Demon
Helen Grant

The first death: Seventeen-year-old Lin Fox finds a body in an orchard. As she backs away in horror, she steps on broken glass. The second death: Then blood appears on her doorstep – blood, and broken glass.The third death: Something terrible is found in the cemetery. Shards of broken glass lie by a grave.Who will be next? As the attacks become more sinister, Lin doesn't know who to trust. She's getting closer to the truth behind these chilling discoveries, but with each move the danger deepens.

life_of_a_teenage_body_snatcher The Life Of A Teenage Body-Snatcher
Doug MacLeod

Thomas Timewell is sixteen and a gentleman. When he meets a body-snatcher called Plenitude, his whole life changes. He is pursued by cutthroats, a gypsy with a meat cleaver, and even the Grim Reaper. More disturbing still, Thomas has to spend an evening with the worst novelist in the world.

quillblade Quillblade: Voyages Of The Flying Dragon Book One
Ben Chandler

Philip Pullman meets Michael Scott in this thrilling ride aboard a stolen airship on a quest to save the world! Twin brother and sister, Lenis and Missy, are slaves aboard the powerful airship the Hiryu - but when the airship is stolen on its maiden voyage, they find themselves working for a captain whose noble quest seems to make no sense.

solace_and_grief Solace and Grief
Foz Meadows

Solace Morgan was born a vampire. Raised in foster care, she has always tried to keep her abilities secret, until an eerie encounter with a faceless man prompts her to run away. Finding others with similar gifts, Solace soon becomes caught up in a strange, more vibrant world than she ever knew existed. But when the mysterious Professor Lukin takes an interest in her friends, she is forced to start asking questions of her own.