Recommendations for Teen Reads Week

We’re in the middle of Teen Reads Week, October 13 -19, 2013. Teen Reads Week was created in 1998 by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) to encourage teens to use the library and become regular readers. This year’s theme, Seek the Unknown @ Your Library, highlights mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure books.

I write fiction for young adults, so I read this category of children’s literature more than others (and more than fiction for “adults”). This week we attended conferences for our son at Middle School East and I was so excited to see a great number of teen reads available for students (and even picked one up for myself). Yesterday I popped into the library and immediately headed over to the Teen Reads Weeks display, which featured a number of books, wrapped in brown paper, with the invitation: Are you ready to take a chance? Seek the Unknown! Those enticing packages held a number of popular YA reads – mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and adventure.

We are so lucky to have an amazing library in St. Michael, from the programming for both kids and adults, to the selection of titles in a variety of formats, to the knowledgeable and friendly staff. I’m not sure that I should share this secret, but it’s really quite easy to get your hands on new young adult releases by placing requests before their release dates. I’ve frequently gotten notification that my holds are in on the day the book is released! And while sometimes the request list for a young adult new release is in the hundreds at a neighboring library system, the hold list at Great River is frequently in the single digits or teens for the very same book.

Here’s my list of recommendation for Teen Reads Week. Most are series, most fall into the categories featured in this year’s theme, but at the end I’ll throw in a few contemporary titles.

• The Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier – RUBY RED, SAPPHIRE BLUE, and EMERALD GREEN. I cannot stop gushing about these books. Originally written in German and translated into twenty-some odd languages, the Ruby Red trilogy tells the story of Gwyneth Shepherd, an ordinary London teenager who suddenly learns that she carries the family time-travel gene and becomes involved in a secret society and a mystery that spans centuries. The final of the three books, EMERALD GREEN, was released on October 8 and provided a very satisfying ending. I highly recommend listening to the series on audio book.

• DIVERGENT, INSURGENT, and ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth. The Divergent trilogy is THE hot ticket this year. The last book in the series, ALLEGIANT, will be released on October 22 (next week!) and the Divergent film is slated for release in March of 2014. People can’t get enough of the dystopian society and its five factions in this thought-provoking series. By the way, ALLEGIANT does not fall into the category of easily-accessible new releases at Great River. The waiting list is currently in the 200s – better get on the list!

• The Delirium series by Lauren Oliver – DELIRIUM, PANDEMONIUM, and REQUIEM. Two teens live and fight in a dystopian society that has found a way to immunize against the disease of love. (And check out my favorite Lauren Oliver book, BEFORE I FALL, in which a girl must relive the day she dies, over and over, until she gets it right.)

• THE CAGED GRAVES by Dianne K. Salerni – a historical YA novel with a compelling mystery.

• THE BOOK OF BROKEN HEARTS by Sarah Ockler. Ockler is one of my favorite writers of contemporary YA fiction, and she does not disappoint with her latest release, the story of a girl who must find her place in a family of much older sisters while dealing with their father’s illness.

• MOONGLASS, IN HONOR, and GOLDEN by Jessi Kirby and AMY & ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR and SECOND CHANCE SUMMER by Morgan Matson. Great for fans of Sarah Dessen’s contemporary fiction.

What are you waiting for? It’s Teen Reads Week – the possibilities are endless. Are you ready to take a chance?

What are some favorite Teen Reads at your house?