What Are They Reading for Fun?
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compiled by Marlene Charnizon -- School Library Journal, 09/28/2009
Brian Odom, Pelham Public Library, AL:
Located a bit south of Birmingham, Pelham has a diverse population of just over 20,000. Kids have “settled” back into another school year of assignments, sports, and clubs, but they are still visiting the library in search of hot new releases. On the fiction front, no title is garnering more attention with teens than Suzanne Collins’s Catching Fire (2009), the much-awaited sequel to The Hunger Games (2008, both Scholastic).
In anticipation of the upcoming theatrical release, they are still flocking to New Moon (Little, Brown, 2006), the second installment of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight Saga.” The Last Olympian (Hyperion, 2009) as well as other titles in the “Percy Jackson” series remain big favorites with both teen and tween boys. Other quick picks are Richelle Mead’s Blood Promise (Penguin, 2009), P. C. Cast’s Hunted (St. Martin’s, 2009), and Alyson Noel’s Blue Moon (St. Martin’s, 2009). On the manga front, Masashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto” and Tsugumi Ohba’s “Death Note” (both, Viz Media) remain standard fare.
Robin Henry, Wakeland High School, Frisco, TX:
Here in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas, we are starting to emerge from the shadow of “Twilight.” Students who still have a hankering for the supernatural are enjoying Claudia Gray’s Evernight (2008) and Stargazer (2009, both HarperTeen) and Brian Meehl’s Suck It Up (Delacorte, 2008). Willow by Julia Hoban (Dial, 2009) and Deadline by Chris Crutcher (HarperCollins, 2007) have been popular with boys and girls alike. Reluctant readers are drawn to Paul Volponi’s gritty urban tale Response (Viking, 2009). Romance fans have found a couple of new loves in The Secret Life of Prince Charming, a great karmic quest cum road trip by Deb Caletti (S & S, 2009), and Perfect Chemistry–a sizzling reworking of West Side Story themes by Simone Elkeles (Walker, 2009).
Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City:
We are a K-12 girls’ independent school with approximately 700 students, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Influenced by teachers, friends, and parents, students in grades 9 through 12 are simultaneously returning to the classics and exploring the world through adult narrative nonfiction. Many are (re)reading Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility, Animal Farm, and Northanger Abbey. Others are enjoying David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day (Little, Brown, 2000), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, and Steven L. Hopp (HarperCollins, 2007), Julia Child’s My Life in France (Knopf, 2007), and Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father (Three Rivers Press, 2004). Our teens’ tastes still include popular young young adult titles, such as Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle novels (Delacorte), private school dramas like Kate Brian's "Private" series (S & S), and Sarah Dessen's Along for the Ride (Viking, 2009).
