What Are They Reading for Fun?
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compiled by Marlene Charnizon -- School Library Journal, 05/11/2010
Liz Deskins, JW Reason Elementary, Hilliard, OH:
I am constantly amazed at the wide variety of books my students select to read and am lucky to work in a school that encourages student choice for reading. Here is a sampling of what is being checked out right now: Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis’s “Grey Griffins” trilogy, beginning with Revenge of the Shadow King (Scholastic, 2005); Sarah Beth Durst’s Into the Wild (Penguin, 2007); and, not surprisingly, Kate Klise’s “43 Old Cemetery Road” books (Harcourt). The last is not only because my kiddos like anything with ghosts, but also because our school is on Cemetery Road!
The others are a mix of old and new, like Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants (HarperCollins, 2009), Kristin Kladstrup’s The Book of Story Beginnings (Candlewick, 2006), and Gary Blackwood’s Mysterious Messages: A History of Codes and Ciphers (Dutton, 2009). Our most popular graphic-novel series is “The Hardy Boys” (Papercutz). A huge favorite for two reasons, one because it is on our Buckeye Children’s Book Award list, and, two, because the author lives in the area, is Found, the first title in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s “The Missing” series (S & S).
Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI:
Our district is in the process of becoming an IB school, and students are especially reading fiction and nonfiction that gives them global perspectives. Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World and Listen to the Wind (both Dial, 2009) have a following here. Many of our students went to hear the author when he spoke at Grand Valley State University during spring break.
Third to fifth graders are addicted to a regional Stine-like author, Johnathan Rand. His alliterative “Michigan Chillers” books, including Dinosaurs Destroy Detroit, have been followed by “American Chillers” like Alien Androids Assault Arizona (both Audio Craft). Kids of all ages reach for the “You Wouldn’t Want to Be…” (Watts) nonfiction series. Jeff Smith’s “Bone” (Scholastic), Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Abrams), and “Geronimo Stilton” (Scholastic), satisfy our graphic-novel fans. Series readers in upper elementary love Suzanne Collins’s Gregor the Overlander (Scholastic, 2003) and its sequels, as well as Anthony Horowitz’s “Alex Rider” (Philomel), Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” (Hyperion), and Erin Hunter’s “Warriors” books (HarperCollins).
Lindsay Persohn, Crystal Lake Elementary, Lakeland, FL:
At our small neighborhood school in central Florida, series are king. When our students find a series they like, they read every title in the set. Of course, Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (Abrams) have reserve lists a mile long. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Found (S & S, 2008) created quite a buzz as it was the favorite for our Sunshine State Young Readers’ Award, and students have been equally interested in the sequel, Sent (2009, both S & S). “The 39 Clues” (Scholastic) and Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” (Hyperion) have become quite popular, even with students in second grade. Reluctant readers are quick to pick up Michael Dahl’s “Dragonblood” and “Library of Doom” series (both Stone Arch) and read through all we have. R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” (Scholastic) and Mary Pope Osborne’s “Magic TreeHouse” (Random) series still fly off our shelves, and graphic-novel renditions of Ann M. Martin’s “The Babysitter’s Club” (Scholastic), “Nancy Drew Girl Detective” (Papercutz), and “The Hardy Boys” (Papercutz) rarely stay in the library long enough to return to their proper shelves. We are using the momentum behind series books to help students find authors they might want to follow like Rebecca Stead, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Kate DiCamillo.
