Beyond Harry Potter, Other YA Collectibles

There are a number of collectible young adult series' that have come out in the past 15-20 years and fairly or not have been overshadowed by the love many of us have for all things Harry Potter. It's only fair, since I did "10 days of Harry Potter" that I do a little back tracking now to focus on some of these other authors and titles. (I'll go into older YA titles from the 60s - 80s in an upcoming set of posts.)

I've already hit on Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, and you can read about that here, but what about other books that came out around the same time?

Philip Reeve, probably best known for his Fever Crumb series, made his debut with Mortal Engines in 2001. That went on to be a quartet of novels featuring an alternate / steampunk future in which cities turned into giant roaming machines in order to survive a planet whose resources were running out. The first book in the series won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Award.

The U.K. editions are the "True Firsts," published by Scholastic Press. The U.S. editions were published by HarperCollins and are usually about one-half to one-third the value of the U.K. editions. As always, with these listings, condition is key. The better the condition, the higher the potential value. All prices mentioned are for first edition listings.

Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve (Scholastic Press, London 2001)
debut novel
hardcover
293 pages
Original price: £12.99

signed: lists up to $300
unsigned: lists up to $150

(U.S. first editions, published by HarperCollins are worth about $50 unsigned)
Predator's Gold, Philip Reeve (Scholastic Press, London 2003)
hardcover
316 pages
Original price: £12.99

signed: lists up to $280
unsigned: lists up to $100


Infernal Devices, Philip Reeve (Scholastic Press, London 2005)
hardcover
336 pages
Original price: £12.99

signed: lists up to $280
unsigned: lists up to $100

A Darkling Plain, Philip Reeve (Scholastic Press, London 2006)
hardcover
544 pages
Original price: £12.99

signed: lists up to $200
unsigned: lists up to $80


Note: You can still find signed first editions on the market for less than $100.