This week, the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is celebrating Teen Reed Week, a national literacy initiative.
Until October 24th, librarians, teachers, parents and guardians are promoting teen reading unrelated to school work, asking teens to take the time to read books, magazines, graphic novels and more. The 2009 Teen Read theme is “Read Beyond Reality,” which encourages teens to read something out of this world (literally or figuratively) for the fun of it.
One of the highlights of Teen Read Week is the announcement of the Teen Top 10 list of 2009. Selected by teens across the country from a pool of nominees, the Top Ten books represent the most popular teen books of the past year. This year, John Green’s Paper Town took the number one spot. Other top ten winners include best-sellers Breaking Dawn (Stephenie Meyer), The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman), and Graceling (Kristin Cashore).
Teen Read Week began in 1998 as an initiative of YALSA to promote teen reading and remind teens of its importance. Today’s teens have so many choices when it comes to entertainment; reading often falls low on the list of preferred activities. Research shows, however, that teens who read for fun have better test scores and are more likely to succeed in the workforce. Teen Read Week strives to reinforce the importance of reading for all ages.
In conjunction with Teen Read Week and to encourage teens to continue reading, even after TRW, YALSA and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) have teamed up to create the WrestleMania Reading Challenge. Open to students in grades 5-12, the contest challenges teens to read 10 items in their free time between October 18th and January 19th and to keep a log of their reading. The contest will be implemented by local librarians, who will select three students to continue on to the final round. Finalists will be eligible for the grand prize, which includes $2,000 for their library and a trip to WrestleMania 26 in Phoenix. More details about the contest can be found on YALSA’s website.
