As a readers’ advisory at the public library (working in a bunch of departments), I need to stay current about literature for all ages. This is a challenge, requiring me to read widely in the areas of children, teen and adult publishing.
I have discovered that The Woozles Battle of the Books is a great way for me to discover new reading suggestions for teens and youth.
As an adult reader, these are the five titles on the 2011 teen booklist which I find the most intriguing. And for once they’re not all sci-fi / fantasy. Mostly, but not all.
Word Nerd
by Susin Nielsen
First one I’ve read, and it was excellent. Take a kid with low self-esteem and minimal guidance, mix in a Scrabble addiction and a kindly neighbour’s ex-con son, some heartbreak, chronic lying, and deadly peanut allergies and…well, you get the idea…
by Pearl North
A dystopia about books! Reading and writing tore civilization apart. Science is considered ‘magic’. Librarians are monks that fight book-burning zealots. Mazes of protected literature. (Get it? Libyrinth?)
Of course, this is just an average day for me…
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Four novels and fifty-six short stories! It may take a few days to slog through, but it will be worth it. And with the fame from the recent Sherlock Holmes movie, maybe we’ll have a new generation of Doyle fans.
Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
I had heard of this book before checking the list, and even started reading it. I was told this was a werewolf novel, written in the style of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. But I’ll try this book anyway. So long as the wolves don’t sparkle…
by Suzanne Collins
In the future, a corrupt government televises an annual fight-to-the-death between 24 teenagers, a boy and a girl from each political district. Sounds similar to Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale, with more politics and less bloodshed. Keep your eyes open for a potential feature film (being scripted by the author as we speak, er, as I type…).
