YA fiction has well and truly made its mark on the world over the past few years but while international novels like The Hunger Games and The Fault in Our Stars are making their mark on the big screen, there are some absolute gems sitting on book shelves a little closer to home.

I had the pleasure of reading many of them while growing up in Dublin, so they seemed the natural choice to kick off a brand new weekly YA series on my YouTube channel.

Every Friday for the month of November I’ll be talking all things YA in honour of the brand new YA Book Prize. Be sure to subscribe if you think #YAFriday is your kind of entertainment.

From Joan O’Neill to Joan Lingard, Claire Hennessy to Ruth Gilligan, my choices can barely begin to cover the vast array of titles that charmed Irish teens.

When I threw a question about Irish YA out on Twitter the responses illustrated just how many more authors and novels I quite simply couldn’t squeeze into one video.

@sarahisnothere @yabookprize Have you read any of Ian Somers’s Gift trilogy? The third came out in Sept. Haven’t read it but 1st 2 v good.

— Jim (@Yayeahyeah) November 4, 2014

@sarahisnothere Ignoring the obvious ones, what about the Rebecca books by Anna Carey? @yabookprize

— Skim (@kimmiebells) November 4, 2014

@sarahisnothere I’ve been recommended to read The Butterfly Series by Irish author Denise Deegan 😊 I’ve heard nothing but great things!

— LivingAwkwardly ♥ (@wearefreaks_x) November 7, 2014

One author seems to have made QUITE the impact during my time in University. I didn’t have much time to read fiction during those years due to a manic schedule so I missed the boat myself, but Anna Carey‘s name continued to pop up in conversations about the genre.

Her first book, The Real Rebecca, picked up the Children’s Book prize at 2011 Irish Book Awards so I’m making a note to pick up a copy the next time I’m in a bookshop.

Speaking of popular titles, I picked up Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours (featured in the vlog above) today and look forward to finding out what all the buzz is about. The book has been nominated for a Bord Gáis Energy Book Award so I’m going to wager that it’ll be well worth reading.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love a decent YA tale, but I know there are many more Irish offerings I may have missed. Perhaps someone out there might be able to fill the gap?

Until next time, happy reading.