What Are They Reading for Fun?: Memoirs, Historical Fiction, & More
RSSCompiled by Marlene Charnizon
Our students have fallen in love with books by Simone Elkeles. One boy read Perfect Chemistry (2009) three times. After he was done, he begged two girls to check it out. Of course, they all want the companion volumes, Rules of Attraction (2010) and Chain Reaction (2011, all Walker). Because these are best sellers and the demand is high, I steer students toward memoirs like I Love Yous Are for White People by Lac Su (Harper, 2009). The boys latched on to it immediately. Girls are reading the biography Lady Q:The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen by Reymundo Sanchez and Sonia Rodriguez (Chicago Review Pr., 2008). In our school, anything with gangs is interesting because many of our kids' lives are troubled by gang-related crimes. When girls need a break from reality, they reach for Michelle Moran's historical fiction, specifically, Nefertiti (2007), The Heretic Queen (2008), and Cleopatra's Daughter (2009, all Crown). The boys have lined up for Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry (2011), the sequel to Rot & Ruin (2010, both S & S). Ilsa Bick's Ashes (Egmont USA, 2011) was just book-talked by a boy in our junior class for our school's television station. Good old standbys remain popular. Sharon Draper's Tears of a Tiger (S & S/Pulse, 1996) is always a first choice for our ninth-grade boys. Sharon Flake's story collection Who Am I Without Him? (Hyperion, 2004) is a timeless selection for our girls. One student said, "Miss! My friend was reading the first story at lunch, and that girl was ME!" It never gets old. Danielle Farinacci, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School, San Francisco, CA: Legionary: The Roman Soldier's (Unofficial) Manual (Thames & Hudson, 2009) by Philip Matyszak is usually checked out for a school project, but students report reading the entire book for pleasure after the fact. Sean Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (S & S, 1998) gets checked out a few times a year. Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games" (Scholastic) is by far our most popular fiction series right now, but Matched (2010) and Crossed (2011, both Dutton), the first two books in Ally Condie's futuristic trilogy, are slowly gaining ground. Kathryn Stockett's The Help (Putnam, 2009) saw a student thoroughly enjoy reading it alongside her mother as a shared glimpse into their heritage. Two boys chose to read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for their reading group. We are ramping up our teen fiction offerings and hope to find more students reading for pleasure by the year's end. Sydnye Cohen, Brookfield High School, CT: Fiction that students and teachers alike have been reading includes Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008) and the other books in the series as they eagerly await the debut of the movie, Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Doubleday, 2010), and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Tayor (Little, Brown, 2011). We are also fervently looking forward to copies of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (2012) as both Looking for Alaska (2005) and Paper Towns (2008, all Dutton) were favorites for years after they were initially published. There has a been a resurgence of interest in Dave Pelzer's trilogy, A Child Called 'It' (1995), The Lost Boy (1997), and A Man Named Dave (2000, all Health Communications). If I suggest A Child Called 'It' to reluctant readers, they always come back for more and a snowball effect begins, with teachers and students looking for all three titles. Other memoirs students are reading include James Frey's A Million Little Pieces (Doubleday, 2003) and Colin Beavan's No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process (Farrar, 2009). This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
January 31, 2012
Pamela Schembri, Newburgh Free Academy High School, NY:
Our library serves more than 1,200 students in a rigorous college-prep environment. When they do have free time, they love to browse the revolving nonfiction books we leave open on the counters. Pick Me Up: Stuff You Need to Know (DK, 2006) is always popular, and Secret Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Best Hidden Travel Gems (National Geographic, 2011) draws readers in with its amazing photos.
Students in our suburban district school in southwest Connecticut have sustained silent reading every other day. The books that they have been most interested in this year span a variety of genres. All of our ninth graders and their teachers have iPads on which to read. The rest of us are still old school, reading on our own ereaders or paper.
