VOYA’s Perfect Tens

| Tasha

One of my favorite features of VOYA reviews is that they review books from two perspectives.  One is whether they have literary quality (Q) and the other is whether they have teen appeal (P).  In each of those they can receive up to 5 points, so the top score would be 5Q 5P.  That’s a perfect ten. 

Here is the list of the 2008 Perfect Tens, many of which have 2007 publication dates.  You can see how very rare this high rating is.  Even better, so you can see that they tend to buck the trendy books and you can find unexpected titles to add to your collection.  Books that are guaranteed to appeal to teens but still be well written.

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

Total Constant Order by Crissa-Jean Chappell

The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novel)

The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green

Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright

2 thoughts on “VOYA’s Perfect Tens”

  1. Not only are these books not “guaranteed to appeal to teens”, but many of them simply have not. The P rating is given before almost all teens have seen the book, so it’s obviously an educated guess at best. While I like the idea behind the P rating in VOYA, its use has been somewhat troubling. Consider that the new Sarah Dessen, who has legions of fans, received a 4P for her new novel in the same issue. While it might be the right rating, I cannot believe that some of the 5Ps from 2008 are/were really more popular than her new book will be. The ones that stand out for me as bizarre perfect 10s are: Total Constant Order, The Unnatural Inquirer (which was pub’d as adult), When the Black Girl Sings, and Once upon a time in the North. Most of them have been shelf-sitters, though I think the Pullman book was a particular disappointment in a lot of places. I realize it’s all guesswork, but to highlight these again in VOYA without much analysis of their individual performances seems inadequate.

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    1. Todd,

      Thanks so much for your perspective on this. I agree that at times their P ratings can be off. The Dessen is certainly a 5 around here and that is before it’s released.

      Here is what the ratings mean according to VOYA:

      VOYA’s Book Review Codes

      Quality

      5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
      4Q Better than most, marred by occasional lapses.
      3Q Readable, without serious defects.
      2Q Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q.
      1Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then sometimes).

      Popularity

      5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.
      4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
      3P Will appeal with pushing.
      2P For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject.
      1P No teen will read unless forced to for assignments.

      By that scale, I see you would think that at least some of the Perfect 10s are 3P. Do you think they deserved the perfect 5 for quality? That doesn’t require the use of a crystal ball to predict the future. 😉

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