What Are They Reading for Fun?
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compiled by Marlene Charnizon -- School Library Journal, 02/16/2010
Given the movie tie-ins, they're into Nicholas Sparks, Alice Sebold, and Rick Riordan.
Nora G. Murphy, Los Angeles Academy Middle School:
Thanks to some recent movie releases, we have looooong waiting lists for Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones (Little, Brown, 2002) and Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief (Hyperion, 2005). Lovers of Percy Jackson are also gravitating toward other titles about the Greeks, such as Katherine Roberts’s I Am the Great Horse (Scholastic, 2006), Esther Friesner’s Nobody's Princess (Random, 2007), and Tobias Druitt’s "Corydon" books (Knopf).
Vampires are still in, but so are werewolves, demons, faeries, and psychics. Our students like Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate (Delacorte, 1997), Wendy Corsi Staub’s “Lily Dale” books (Walker), and Catherine Jinks’s The Reformed Vampire Support Group (Harcourt, 2009). Books about dreams and stories with an eerie twist are getting hotter, most notably Vivian Vande Velde’s Remembering Raquel (Harcourt, 2007) and Lisa McMann’s Wake (2008) and Fade (2009, both S & S), which are all page-turners of the first degree. Memoirs are ever popular, particularly Erin Vincent’s Grief Girl (Delacorte, 2007) and A Girl's Life Online (formerly Katie.com) by Katherine Tarbox (Plume, 2004). The Period Book by Karen and Jennifer Gravelle (Walker, 1996) does not stay on the shelves for a single minute, but instead can be found tucked away in hidden corners so kids can come back day after day to giggle and learn. It's one of those titles that is rarely checked out, but well loved and constantly used.
Susan Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT:
Set along the Connecticut River in Southeastern Vermont, Springfield won a recent competition to become the official hometown of the Simpsons, so it stands to reason that Simpsons Comics (Harper) circulate constantly. Other graphic novels that move are Jeff Smith’s “Bone” (Scholastic) and Natsumi Ando’s “Kitchen Princess” series (Del Rey).
Fond favorites from years past are Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet (Bradbury, 1987) and its sequels, and Marilyn Reynolds’s books, especially Detour for Emmy (Morning Glory, 1993). Verse novels, such as Planet Pregnancy by Linda Oatman High (Front St., 2008) and Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass (Little, Brown, 2007), and titles by Sonya Sones, including What My Mother Doesn’t Know (S & S, 2001), are popular by word-of-mouth. Lauren Myracle hits the mark with ttyl (Abrams, 2004) and her Winnie novels Eleven (2004), Twelve (2007), and Thirteen (2008, all Dutton). While boys are devouring sports stories by Mike Lupica and by Rich Wallace, and John Flanagan’s “Ranger’s Apprentice” series (Philomel), both boys and girls are enjoying the fun of Jeff Kinney’s “Wimpy Kid” series (Abrams) and Blake Nelson’s novels.
Lindsay Cesari, Durgee Junior High, Baldwinsville, NY:
At the moment, the biggest circulation among our eighth and ninth graders stems from Nicholas Sparks’s novels as the mostly female population is preparing for a visit to the theater to see the newly released film version of Dear John. They are also clamoring for copies of his At First Sight (2005) and The Rescue (2000, all Warner Bks.). Sticking with the theme of movie tie-ins, we have lots of reserves for Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. Our building runs a reading challenge program for eighth graders, so many of our highest-circulating titles are part of the program. Big sellers related to this challenge include Kathi Appelt’s lyrical novel The Underneath and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains (both S & S, 2008).
