Christmas books for teens

I was surprised and not surprised by the book club's Christmas wish list. I was not surprised by the desire for the two follow-up books after Divergent since the students loved that book and want to read the next one before the movie comes out in the spring. I was a bit surprised by the Kurt Vonnegut book, Cat's Cradle. When students take risks, go outside of the current popular books and best sellers, I remember what it means to be a teen reader - how I loved some of those classics when I was their age, and how we sometimes overlook the literary greats in our attempts to hook kids into reading. 

Yes, The Catcher in the Rye is still a book that some students fall in love with. They appreciate Holden's critical eye and recognition of all things phony.  Yes, students fall in love with language all over again when they read Dickens, Fitzgerald, Shakespeare. Yay to kids who want to delve into Tolkien and take on The Silmarillion. You know what? Kids do still read the challenging works and I love it when I see that. 


My book club's Christmas wish list:
1. Insurgence
2. Allegiance
3. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
4. Kill you Twice
5. Skin Jacker Trilogy
6. The Silmarillion
7. Ender's Game
8. Earth Awakens
9. Hunger Games Trilogy
10. Cat's Cradle

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