What Are They Reading for Fun?

Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL:
The latest trend has been survival humor. Max Brooks’s The Zombie Survival Guide (Three Rivers Pr., 2003), Seth Grahame-Smith’s How to Survive a Horror Movie (Quirk Bks., 2007), and Daniel H. Wilson’s How to Survive a Robot Uprising (Bloomsbury, 2005) are typically read in serial fashion. These are usually followed in quick succession by David Borgenicht’s Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (Chronicle, 1999) and Wendy Northcutt’s The Darwin Awards (Dutton, 2000). Romance is in full bloom as well, with Sarah Dessen and Nicholas Sparks leading the charge. On a darker note, Barry Lyga’s Boy Toy (Houghton Harcourt, 2007), a portrayal of an abusive relationship, is checked out constantly. Most noteworthy, however, is our grassroots push to have the entire school read Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008). Even as we speak, all 34 copies are circulating.

Melyssa Malinowski, Kenwood High School, Baltimore, MD:
Our students’ choices are often informed by recommendations from peers or eye-catching titles on display. While they have always loved manga, recent additions to our collection of “Manga Shakespeare” titles, adapted by Richard Appignanesi (Abrams), have them picking up Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth just for fun! They also love “The Manga Guide” books, such as The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology and The Manga Guide to Physics (both No Starch Pr., 2009). Some readers take them out for help with class, but many borrow them for entertainment, because of the format. The manga version of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride, adapted by NaRae Lee (Yen Pr., 2009), circulates wildly. We have seen a resurgence in requests for drawing books, especially Drawing Manga Animals, Chibis, and Other Adorable Creatures by J.C. Amberlyn (Watson-Guptill, 2009). The wild and weird is still extremely popular, in the form of Lisa McMann’s trilogy, starting with Wake (S & S, 2008) and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008) and Catching Fire (2009, both Scholastic). Teens are also enjoying the 10 books nominated for the Black-Eyed Susan Award—Maryland students vote for the winners. This year they prefer Neal Shusterman’s Unwind (S & S, 2007) and Sharon Draper’s November Blues (Antheneum, 2007).

Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH:
Girls continue to read P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast's “House of Night” series and have eagerly embraced Alyson Noël’s Evermore (2009, both St. Martin’s), but what intrigues me is the diminishing returns: only about half continue to borrow titles in either series after the second book. Similarly, two-thirds of our students don't return for more after they try Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008). Some have told me that they simply buy the rest of the series once they know they like it, but my guess is that most just aren't as fond of the titles as are their friends who recommend them. Boys have mostly been shunning circulation and passing around their own copies of Tucker Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Citadel, 2006) or asking about the English translation of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033 (Gollancz, 2010), but they have been steadily checking out Craig M. Mullaney’s The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education (Penguin, 2010) and Ryan Smithson’s Ghosts of War: My Tour of Duty (HarperCollins, 2009) while perhaps pondering the future. There has also been a recent flurry of interest in The RZA's The Tao of Wu (Riverhead, 2009), which I fully expect will continue. The film version of Alice in Wonderland inspired curiosity to visit or revisit the classic.