Teen Read Week was started by a library association (YALSA) as a way to celebrate and encourage teens to read. Teen Read Week is also when the Teens' Top Ten list is announced. Teens nominate and vote for the titles on the list. View this year's winners with links to their availability in our catalog here.
The El Paso Public Library System participates every year by hosting fun activities, book giveaways, and more. Don't worry if you missed this year's events, because each library branch hosts a Teen Hangout program where teens can come meet other teens, play games, video games, watch movies, enjoy snacks, make crafts, do homework, and more! Teen Hangout is every Thursday @ 4:30 pm.
To wrap up Teen Read Week, we asked staff members to help us celebrate by telling us about their teen reads, as well as past and current favorites. A list of the books mentioned with links to our catalog can be found below. What are you favorite young adult/teen books?
Susan: I just read "Glow" and "Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy." Both were very different. Glow, I couldn't put down! My absolute favorite YA book is "The Hunger Games." I love Katniss!
Mary Helen: Jane Eyre! My mom didn't really approve of all the gothic paperback romances in my cousin's basement, but I got away with reading that one, in public, because it was a classic. Woo-woo...stormy moors and forbidden love-I'm there! Who needs vampires?
Aracelli: My favorite YA book is Killing Mr. Griffin. I just reread it last month. All these years later, it's still a great read!
Sandra: I just finished reading 'Thirteen reasons why' by Jay Asher and I liked it. It has a different flow than other YA fiction I've read. It plays more like a movie in my head than a novel. Of course, I LOVED the Hunger Games Series. Each book is totally one of those books I couldn't put down until I finished it. My favorite of the 3 I think had to be Catching Fire. This is the second of the 3 and it's the one most involved with the characters.
Other YA books I enjoyed:
Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Elvia: I have 2 books that come to mind: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and On The Road by Jack Kerouac.
Aimee: My favorite book is The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Harry (her real name is truly horrible, so she prefers Harry) is a young girl that gets caught up in a life she never expected and has inner talents that can change the world. I read this book about once a year and have since I was 12.
Laura: My favorite book as a teen was "The Diary of Anne Frank" - Spanish "Diario de Ana Frank", and right now my favorite book is "The Freedom Writers Diary". It's funny, I just found out that the story in these 2 books are somehow related!
Lizett: Silence (third book in series) by Becca Fitzpatick was awesome! Also Abandon by Meg Cabot.
Lisa: On the Road by Jack Kerouac was my favorite as a teen. Looking for Alaska by John Green is my current YA favorite. It was the first YA book I read as a librarian, and I LOVED it. I also really liked Freak Show by James St. James.
Juanita: One of my favorite YA Books that I have recently read is Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King author of Please Ignore Vera Dietz. The main character Lucky Linderman has been bullied since he was 7 and now he is in high school. His experiences of bullying has effected him tremendously that he at time escapes from reality through his dreams. This is a very powerful book, I strongly recommend it to teens.
Here's the list!
Glow
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockinjay
Jane Eyre
Killing Mr. Griffin
Thirteen Reasons Why
Loose Girl
Speak
Fallen
On the Road
The Blue Sword
The Diary of Anne Frank
Diaro de Ana Frank
The Freedom Writers Diary
Silence (not available yet) Hush, Hush & Crescendo
Abandon
Looking For Alaska
Freak Show
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Everybody Sees the Ants
