Middle school librarians’ picks for tweens: Pageturners for a chilly weekend

Some local middle school librarians offered advice on what ‘tweens and their parents should be checking out on bookshelves for 2012.

Karen Olson has been a middle school librarian for 13 years, almost all of those at Marsteller Middle School at its former location in Manassas and its current location in Bristow.

“With the increase in interest in vampire books because of the ‘Twilight’ series, I would recommend the series, “The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod,” she said. “This series has a male as the main character which helps get boys interested in this series.” The Bristow resident also promoted “The House of Dark Shadows” series by Robert Liparulo, calling it a “great suspense book,” and books by Anthony Horowitz especially the Alex Rider series, Diamond Brothers series or Raven’s Gate series.

Another of Olson’s picks is “Out of My Mind” by Sharon Draper. Olson called it “an awesome book about a girl who is handicapped and has never spoken, written or walked and is almost 11 years old… she finds a way to speak. It’s a really good book to help kids understand that their life might not be as bad as they think when they read how Molly is treated.”

Olson said she plans to check out the Virginia Reader’s Choice Book Award Nominees 2011-2012 because they were honored by librarians and teachers.
“The most rewarding part of being a librarian is the moment you can tell that you have turned a nonreader into a reader because you have found a book they finally enjoyed reading,” Olson said. “I have always believed that everyone can become a reader; it just takes the first book that hooks them to get them started.”

Christine Ware has been a librarian for eight years; with three of them at Gainesville Middle School. She recommends “Last Shot” and other young adult books by John Feinstein; “Under a War-Torn Sky” and other historical fiction by L.M. Elliot, a Virginia author; and “The Strange Case or Origami Yoda” by Tom Angleberger, another Virginia author.

As a sponsor of the book club at Gainesville Middle, Ware said members recently have read “Matched” by Allie Condie, “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfield, “Out of My Mind” by Sharon Draper and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. In fact, Ware said, the last book in “The Hunger Games” series – “Mockingjay” is so popular, she hasn’t been able to check it out of the library to check it off her personal reading list.

For adults, Ware recommended: “The Last Leaf: Voices of History’s Last Known Survivors,” by Stuart Lutz; “The Masie Dobbs” series by Jacqueline Winspear and “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnaya.

The former high school social studies teacher said she loves being a librarian now because “students this age still get excited about the series and authors that they enjoy.” Ware added, “I also believe that the middle years are a crucial time when young people will either strengthen their love of reading or start to get turned off to it. It’s my goal to keep them reading.”

Evynn Blaher became a librarian this fall; books always have been close to her heart. Previously, she taught English at Hylton High School. The Woodbridge resident recommended http://www.vsra.org (click on “resources”) as a good starting point for middle school readers and their parents. “I particularly enjoyed reading ‘Chasing Lincoln’s Killer,’ which is also available as an adult novel,” she said. Blaher recommended “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda” and “When the Whistle Blows.”

She finds middle schoolers love reading series, especially after the international success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson characters. “The newest release [in the Percy Jackson series], ‘Throne of Fire,’ has been so popular with our students that it hasn’t been in the library long enough for me to borrow it,” she lamented.

Others on her recommended ‘tween reading list are: “Maximum Ride” by James Patterson, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney, “The Shadow Children” by Margaret Peterson Haddix and “Princess Diaries” by Meg Cabot. Patterson and Cabot were first known for their adult fiction.

Blaher touted a newcomer to young adult fiction: Kathy Reichs, best known for her Temperance Brennan books. Blaher said Reichs recently released “Virals,” a mystery series about a group of friends who begin to have heightened senses after being exposed to a canine parvovirus.

For adults, Blaher suggested the Kathryn Stockett novel, “The Help,” which was turned into a movie. “It’s a fantastic read, not difficult at all,” she said. “Writing in the dialect of the characters, Stockett transports the reader to early 1960s [in] Jackson, Miss.”