Top Ten Underrated YA Books

This is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish .
This week was top ten underrated books in any genre. I'm going with YA even though I strongly feel that YA IS NOT a genre. It is a category like adult fiction or childrens fiction. However, there are so many underrated YA books out there, that I feel like I can't pay homage to any one genre, so I'm just doing YA as a topic. So, here are (some) of my top ten underrated YA books.

1) The American Fairy Trilogy by Sarah Zettel-awesome historical fantasy in the 1930s with a biracial main character who discovers she's half fairy and goes on an adventure when her mother is kidnapped.

2) Arkwell Academy series/Avalon by Mindee Arnett-Arnett burst onto the YA scene last year and I don't know why people aren't talking about her stuff more. Arkwell is fun solid series with a sassy heroine, and Avalon was a great sci-fi adventure that went against much of the YA norm. I'm super excited about this author.

3) The Dark Star series by Bethany Frennette-Why there aren't more YA series out there about superheroes, I will never know.

4) Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce-Most people know about the Tortall series (and if you don't, you should totally check it out), but I feel CoM doesn't get that much attention. Which is a shame because I personally love this series more then the Tortall series (just a wee bit mind you, I have a deep love for Alanna and co.)

5) Mythos Academy series by Jennifer Estep-Such a fun series about a girl who goes to a magic school. Think Percy Jackson with a dash of Veronica Mars by way of Harry Potter.

6) Something Strange and Deadly Trilogy by Susan Dennard-I'll be the first to admit, zombie books? Not my thingl. But this steampunk is so much more then zombies. It's a solid character journey that's entertaining and never boring in all three books.

7) The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane-This is a old school series that got started back during the we-must-write-stuff-like-Harry Potter phase that publishers went through in the nineties (I'm not dissing that phase, FYI. That phase gave us Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl after all). It never got the recognition it deserves, I think.

8) Anything Meg Cabot-Cabot has been around for YEARS, giving us delightful book after book. Yet, you hardly hear anything about her stuff. Which is puzzling to me. Really, you should read all of it, but especially Princess Diaries, the Mediator series, and the 1-800-WHERE-R-U series.

9) The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi-This is the book that got me into historical fiction. Awesome book about a girl who becomes a sailor under a horrible captain.

10) Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell-hilarious fantasy adventure romp about a rich guy who decides he's going to be a knight, despite the fact that there aren't really knights anymore. Good buddy comedy. Also check out Bell's other really underrated books like Goblin Wood.