Fantasy Books Top the List for Teens
Young adults choose their favorite books as part of YALSA Teen Read Week
By Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2004
What book ranked number one? A Wizard Alone: Young Wizards Book 6 (Harcourt, 2002) by Diane Duane. Other fantasy titles included Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (S & S, 2002) by Holly Black, The Thief Lord (Scholastic/Chicken House, 2002) by Cornelia Funke, Abhorsen (HarperCollins, 2003) by Garth Nix, and The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild (Llewellyn, 2003) by Cornelius Rumstuckle. E. R. Frank's America (S & S/Atheneum, 2002), about a child living in foster care, was one of four realistic novels that made the list, which was unveiled on December 9, 2003.
"We've said for years that young adults like fantasy and science fiction," says Diane Monnier, chair of YALSA's young adult committee, which obtained more than 100 review copies from 22 major young adult publishers. The teens then narrowed the titles down to 35 choices.
Why was there such a discrepancy between what librarians choose as their favorite young adult titles and what teens choose for themselves? Because teens tend to choose books that have fun and interesting stories—books that are rarely nominated for young adult book awards like the Printz Award—while young adult librarians tend to choose books based on their literary merit. That probably explains why graphic novels, which are the rage among teens, were entirely omitted from the list of choices. Monnier, however, says they'll be included next year.
"We've never tried to claim it's a perfect list; it's more of a fun thing," says Audra Caplan, director of the Harford County (MD) Public Library and the current president of YALSA. "All we were trying to do was get new books in the teens' hands."
