Who's taking the 48 Hour Book Challenge? Now in its ninth year, this time 48HBC is dedicated to reading and reviewing diverse books (thanks, Pam! 48BHC is MotherReader's baby). I've never been up for the challenge before--we always seem to be hosting a party that weekend, or out-of-town guests; maybe it's one of us out of town, or teaching. This year we are, in fact, hosting a party--but I'm reading anyway. 12 hours at least (that's the minimum; see MotherReader for more details).

What I'm reading exactly has yet to be determined (I'm heading to the library as soon as I hit publish on this post). I haven't been saving up my diverse books, and as we all know by now, they tend to be thin on the ground. I have, however, read a number of good ones already this year. Here's the list, 5 middle grade and 5 YA books published in the first half of 2014 (links are to Goodreads. A division of Amazon. Sigh): 

• The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods
• Caminar by Skila Brown
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin
• Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier by Ying Chang Compestine and Vinson Compestine

• Girls Like Us by Gail Giles.
• Lost Girl Found by Laura M. DeLuca and Leah Bassoff
• The Secret Side of Empty by Maria E. Andreu
• A Time To Dance by Padma Venkatraman
• The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson

I haven't attempted to balance my list in any way, and it's interesting to note that there are three verse novels (not usually my favorite); four historical fiction, three of them middle grade; lots of international issues; and no fantasy or science fiction at all. Now I know where to look for this weekend's reading (not to mention what I should review). I hope this list helps you find something to read, too.

[Edited to add: There is so much historical content in Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier that I momentarily forgot that a lot of it comes from one of the terra-cotta soldiers itself. Fantasy. Thanks, Charlotte!]