reads4teens.org

Remember that I said that the Carmel Clay Public Library was having a contest to celebrate Teen Literature Day on April 15, 2010? 

(That post is http://reads4teens.org/blogpost.cfm?idnum=112, if you want to re-read it.)

Well, guess what? Over 200 teens stopped by the library's Young Adult Services desk between April 1 and April 14 and wrote down their “fantastic five” favorite books for us. Thank you, everyone who took the time to do this!

The contest was Page’s idea (yay, Page!), so she counted the votes and requested the above poster from our Communications Department to report the results to everyone in the department, both staff and teens. The top five books were pretty much as we had all expected. 

However, we were surprised and delighted that 575 different titles were selected by teens as favorites! I love that there is really no such thing as a typical teen reader. 

Below is Page’s compilation of the “Young Adults’ Fantastic Five Plus” followed by her compilation of the “Fantastic Authors,” based on the teens’ votes:

1.       Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (37)

2.       Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (31)

3.       Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (26)

4.       Eragon by Christopher Paolini (15)

5.       Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J. K. Rowling (13)

6.       The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini (12)

7.       The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (11)

8.       Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan   (10)

   The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (10)

9.       Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz   (9)

   Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (9)

   New Moon and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (9)

10.   Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (8)

11.   Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (7)

   Clique by Lisi Harrison (7)

   Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (7)

   Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (7)

12.   The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (6)

   Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (6)

   Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (6)

   Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (6)

   Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (6)

   A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (6)

   To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (6)

1.       J. K. Rowling (83)                                                            

2.       Stephenie Meyer (56)

3.       Rick Riordan (50)

4.       Christopher Paolini  (25) and Nicholas Sparks (25)

5.       Meg Cabot (20)

6.       Sarah Dessen (19)

7.       Suzanne Collins (17) and Khaled Hosseini (17)

8.       P. C. Cast (14) and Anthony Horowitz (14) and Melissa de la Cruz (14)

9.       Jodi Picoult (11)

10.   Dan Brown (10) and Markus Zusak (10)

The Friends of the Carmel Clay Public Library provided a choice of candy or gum as a little “thank you” to each teen that took the time to fill out a ballot during the contest. Thank you, Friends!

So...what do you think of these winners?  What would your top five books be?

Hope

(Photo above taken with my trusty iPhone.)