[Melissa K Posts: 650 Status: Offline]

I'm studying endings at the moment, and I'm looking for recently published YA and MG novels (all genres) that have great, satisfying endings. I'm also interested in why you think they're awesome--but no spoilers, please!

[Mike Jung]

It's 10 years old now, which is a little hard to grasp, but Gennifer Choldenko's AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS has one of the best endings ever, partly because it resolves an important story element without being too neat about it. It's a total surprise, BAM, and it injects a note of ambiguity that keeps you thinking after the fact without feeling at all like a cliffhanger.

[HDWestlund Posts: 951 Status: Offline writer and bookseller]

I like endings that feel like an emotional arrival--the character has finally figured out something very key to their sense of self. A couple examples would be THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING by Kari Luna (plot: girl isn't sure if she's going crazy or if she's experiencing the same alternate dimensions her father was before he left their family; or girl seeks love) and DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS by Laini Taylor. DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS is the second in a trilogy and it technically ends as a cliffhanger, but it's the most satisfying cliffhanger I have ever read. And I think it's because she nailed the emotional arc for her main character.

[olmue Posts: 3,560 Status: Offline]

I think one component that middle grade readers look for is justice, so MG books that deliver on that always tend to feel satisfying to me. (Journey to the River Sea is a little older, but has that element. Harry Potter tends to deliver on that.)

For YA, I like a sense of a character meeting a moral conflict and overcoming. I want their choices and sacrifices to matter. I want to see all the vulnerable and all the fail, and then see them finally grow enough to overcome.

[Debby G Posts: 557 Status: Offline]

I think the YA novel We Were Liars had a great ending. I was surprised by it, but once I went back through the book in my head I realized the author had dropped a bunch of clues which all added up. So I was satisfyingly shocked. Also there was great and gradual character development for the protagonist.

[andracill Posts: 5,724 Status: Offline Worlds within...screaming to get out!]

For YA, I prefer books with emotional growth -- characters who do the right thing, even though it's hard, and then are clearly rewarded for it. Two recent reads which stand out that way: When by Victoria Laurie and Tether by Anna Jarzab. Both are filled with challenges for the heroine, and in both (especially Laurie's), the heroine does what she knows is right, even though she's risking things that truly matter to her.

I like how the authors make it clear what *does* matter to the heroines too...and then, in the end, they are rewarded nicely. (Jarzab's reward isn't as solid as Laurie's, but that's partly because it's the second book in a trilogy...room for more.)

[LadySlipper Posts: 174 Status: Offline]

MG = Counting by 7s by Holly Sloan; takes your heart on a roller coaster ride but lands right. 

[Dianna Winget Posts: 334 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

An editor told me once that books for kids should have hopeful, if not happy endings, and I've always tried to remind myself of that in my own books. Even if everything doesn't end quite the way the reader wanted, feeling hopeful can lend itself to that overall feeling of satisfaction.

[MVP Posts: 104 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

This is an old book, but my very favorite MG ending is There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar.  There's a sentence on the last page that made all my fourth grade students gasp "Ohhhhhh" when I read it aloud to them. It's bittersweet and makes me cry, but in a good way, because it makes me so proud of the main character and how far he has come. In spite of the goofy title it's one of the most touching books I know.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,242 Status: Offline]

THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt is an MG with a satisfying ending.

[Melissa K Posts: 650 Status: Offline]

Lots of good thoughts and suggestions here to get me started. I've read some of these before, but not all. MVP, There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was one of my all-time favorites as a kid, and I'm definitely going to re-read it now that you mentioned it. Thanks!

[jojocookie Posts: 334 Status: Offline]

THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE

by

KAT YEH.

[Whizbee Posts: 265 Status: Offline]

The Westing Game. There's nothing like seeing a riddle finally solved, and seeing everyone get what they needed.

[Dionna]

I loved how The One and Only Ivan ended, a true story filled with hope. Couldn't stop crying With joy. I was so happy for Ivan.

[Helen Posts: 224 Status: Offline]

The One and Only Ivan made me cry, too. Just finished The Summer of the Gypsy Moths.

[lab Posts: 49 Status: Offline Savor each second!]

I love the ending of Neil Gaiman's, The Graveyard Book...[quoting]....But between now and then, there was Life, and Bod walked into it with his eyes and his heart wide open. 

To me, that's full of hope!

[writerjenn Posts: 310 Status: Offline]

The ending of HOLES is nice because so many threads come together, and all the puzzle pieces make a complete picture.
For YA: I loved the ending of Brandy Colbert's POINTE. It's not a conventional happy ending, but for me there was truth in it, and also the character became much stronger through not having the conventional ending-with-a-bow.
And TWO BOYS KISSING is good if you like an ending with maximum inspiration.

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,242 Status: Offline]

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME has a very satisfying ending, full of hope.

[Helen Posts: 224 Status: Offline]

The War That Saved My Life....Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. The end was full of hope even though WWII raged around the MC.  :dogwalk

[olmue Posts: 3,560 Status: Offline]

Helen, I agree--I felt an incredible sense of justice at the end of that one!

[kateindc Posts: 11 Status: Offline]

Oh, I loved the ending of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me. There were so many disparate threads that all came together in a neat and surprising ending. Fantastic.

[Marcia Posts: 475 Status: Offline Never Too Late To Be What You Were Meant to Be]

Great suggestions. Two recent books that come to mind are WONDER and FISH IN A TREE--both with satisfying happy endings. I definitely aimed for hopeful, happy endings in my own recently published MG novels, as well.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,104 Status: Offline Encourage]

Lots of great books cited here. What makes an ending wonderful for me is when it couldn't happen any other way, but I don't see it coming.
I loved SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS by Laura Amy Schlitz. Also MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool. Oh, more recently, ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein.

Happy reading, Vijaya

[Mercedes Ortiz Posts: 119 Status: Offline Abracadabra!]

I don't know if "Heidi" by Johanna Spyri is MG, but it's the most amazing book for me, from beginning to end!
What I really love about its ending is that it shows how a young girl can accomplish so much and change the lives of those around her with love and kindness. It's my favorite book!