I think it makes it harder to pull off, but if you can it can be great. Ann Aguirre does it so effortlessly in the Jax books that I seriously forget about the tense, and I guess that's how you know it's good.

I can't think of any examples in YA, but Grimspace is my favorite book I've read in...oh, I don't know. A while. And I think the 1st person present really works for it.

-Bree