New classics for teen readers

By Richard Robinson

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Great Expectations” are all great works that generations of high school students have read. However, something has happened that changed what we read.

Long gone are the days when students labored over Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, when they wrote of "Beowulf," "Othello" and "Oliver Twist." Today, it seems to be all about J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyers telling tall tales about wizards and vampires. These instant classics can touch students’ imaginations with their coming-of-age themes and help teens better understand their own experiences.

Rowling’s seven Harry Potter novels have been translated into 68 languages, selling more than 400 million copies in more than 200 countries, according to Stacks for Kids website. Meyer’s "Twilight" fantasies are just as popular among young adult readers. In 2009, four “Twilight” books topped USA Today’s best-seller list. Both authors’ books sales also get a boost from their respective movie franchises.

Qhasia Washington, 16, a sophomore at Walter H. Dyett High School on the South Side, loves the supernatural "Goosebumps" series by R.L. Stine. Qhasia doesn't limit her reading choices to the hairy and scary. She also enjoys Sharon Flake's inspirational books "The Skin I'm In" and "Begging for Change."

The fiction/fantasy/sci-fi segment is where most young adult sales exist. Sales are expected to rise 13 percent, Publishers Weekly reported in 2009. "I don't like books about things that really happened," Qhasia said. Dyett students are even assigned dark novels like "The Lovely Bones," a murder victim's first-person narration from heaven.

What keeps them craving for more? Young adults identify with the books’ recurring theme of teenage angst: get-up, break-up, make-up, with werewolves and vampires thrown into the mix.

Teachers and librarians may miss the classics but are encouraged by the renewed interest in reading. "One microtrend at the moment is publishers re-releasing classics with covers akin to other popular titles, such as "Twilight," which is an interesting attempt to hook teen readers," said Ruth Lednicer, director of marketing at the Harold Washington Library. "Basically, 'classic' book popularity is very driven by school reading lists and media interest (e.g. a new movie of 'Pride and Prejudice')."

Qhasia said she doesn't like to read the classics because she does judge a book by its cover and "that the classics' covers look boring. Teens check out the classics only when they need them for homework, added Hubert Thompson, librarian of the Hall branch.

With competition from movies, social networks and smart phones, libraries are embracing the new technology. Some are purchasing Kindles on which users can read eBooks. Social media, such as the Chicago Public Library's YouMedia learning space, can be used to get teens into and excited about reading if used properly, Lednicer said.

At the American Library Association annual conference later this month in Washington, D.C., the Young Adult Library Services Association (YASLA) will focus on increasing teen reading using the Web and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And at Shelfari.com., users can create a virtual shelf to display their books and see what others are reading. Educators hope teens will see this as a cooler or not-so nerdy way to read.

Slate.com is joining the young adult craze this June by serializing the novel "My Darklyng," where the characters update their virtual adventures on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books, sized up the growing teen market at a panel of book agents assembled in April by Publishers Weekly: "We go where our readers go," PW reported. "If they read on their phones, we go there."

Richard Robinson is a student at Walter H. Dyett High School.