Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

I just got back from 75-minute meeting on the reorganization of structure and priorities of my publishing house (by "my" I mean the publishing house that employs me), where we were all told to go out into the world (or at least the parts of it reachable without using scarce travel money!) and build information networks of "Idea Leaders".

Since LJ is my pre-existing network of some of the smartest, most creative, and most up-to-date-on-current-and-future-trends people that I know, let me ask you all to be my Idea Leaders on the item that's at the top of my bosses' current wishlist for new acquisitions: a new fiction series for young adults.

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So, let me ask anyone who has an opinion or bit of information or a recommendation to offer:

1) Have you (or your kids, perhaps?) read any good Young Adult fiction (preferably books that were part of a series) in your lifetime? If so, please tell me the titles and/or authors, and what made those books GOOD, from your perspective.

2) If you read YA fiction or keep in close contact with those who do, what would you LIKE to read in the future? What sorts of themes, genres, issues would you find appealing? Or what kinds of themes, genres, content, etc., are you hungry for?

3) Do you know anyone who's writing in the YA age-range and not already committed to a publisher? Or, do you know someone who's been meaning to branch out into the YA market? Would you recommend taking a closer look at their work?

I don't ask for much, do I?

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Any helpful hints or recommendations from friends, or friends-of-friends-of-friends, or people you just happened to encounter in a chatroom or con-suite, would be much appreciated.