Monday, January 26, 2009
Computers, sports, video games, friends, homework -- all are competing for kids' attention. But what about reading for fun? Staff writer Michael Alison Chandler asked local school librarians to tell us which books would make kids slow down long enough to read.
HIGH SCHOOL· Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
A teenage girl moves to a new town in Washington state and develops an irresistible and dangerous relationship with her biology lab partner, who happens to be a vampire.
· Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
The third installment of this vampire love story.
· Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
The fourth installment of this vampire love story.
· Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer
The moon gets knocked out of orbit and disasters ensue. One teenager tries to survive with her family.
· Epic, Conor Kostick
Violence has been banned and scores are settled in a fantasy computer game.
-- Titles compiled by Tim Brennan, media specialist at Northwood High School in Montgomery County
MIDDLE SCHOOL· Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
· Eragon, Christopher Paolini
A fantasy tale that begins when a young farm boy finds a dragon egg and it hatches.
· Diary of Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
A novel with cartoons about an irreverent, wimpy kid in pursuit of girls and popularity.
· The Clique series, Lisi Harrison
Stories of five girls who make up the "Pretty Committee."
· The Cirque Du Freak series, Darren Shan
Two boys sneak out to see a freak show and get caught up with a vampire and his giant spider.
-- Titles compiled by W. David Jones, supervisor for library media services in Loudoun County
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL· Diary of Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
· Warriors series, Erin Hunter
A fantasy series about cats and clans.
· The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
Adventure that puts Greek gods and heroes in the 21st century.
· Magic Tree House series, Mary Pope Osborne
In a magic treehouse, books take two children back in time.
· Bone series, Jeff Smith
A graphic-novel series about the Bone family.
-- Compiled by Sandra Sterne, librarian at Long Branch Elementary School in Arlington County, with input from several other librarians
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