There are several libraries in our system that have had very successful book discussion groups for teens. If you are thinking of doing something like this, there are a few resources right here in western Wisconsin for you to consider!
Susan Pesheck from
River Falls has had a well-attended and rewarding book discussion group for teens for several years.
Chris Byerly in
Frederic is working with a treatment facility in town and holding book discussion groups for at-risk teen girls. She even got a grant from ALA to continue this great work!
Elaine Meyer from
Amery is a past recipient of grants from ALA for book discussions for at-risk kids, and she also can talk to you about Manga discussion groups, and general discussion groups with teens.
How about you? Do you have a group for teens? What has worked? What hasn't worked? How do you choose books? Let us know!
The
Amery library has large sets of books they can lend for book discussions--just contact the library. Here is a list of Amery's collection, which Elaine has used in a variety of discussion settings. There's some great variety in this list!
Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson 12 copies
A Spell For a Chameleon By Piers Anthony 8 copies
Tithe By Holly Black 11 copies
Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte 9 copies
Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card 10 copies
My Antonia By Willa Cather 10 copies
The House on Mango Street By Sandra Ciseros 11 copies
City of Bones By Cassandra Clare 12 copies
Gingerbread By Rachel Cohn 6 copies
House of the Scorpion By Nancy Farmer 13 copies
Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle 9 copies
The Eyre Affair By Jasper Fforde 9 copies
Lord of the Flies By William Golding 10 copies
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time By M. Haddon 10 copies
King Solomon's Mines By H. Rider Haggard 11 copies
Godless By Pete Hautman 11 copies
Invisible By Pete Hautman 11 copies
Siddhartha By Herman Hesse 11 copies
Geeks By Jon Katz 10 copies
Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd 9 copies
Crack in the Line By Michael Lawrence 9 copies
The Call of the Wild By Jack London 9 copies
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency By Alexander McCall Smith 8 copies
I Am Legend By Richard Matheson 12 copies
Tree Girl By Ben Mikaelsen 9 copies
Dairy Queen By Catherine Murdock 10 copies
The Car By Gary Paulsen 9 copies
My Sister's Keeper By Jodi Picoult 10 copies
The Golden Compass By Phillip Pullman 11 copies
Ishmael By Dan Quinn 7 copies
The Radioactive Boy Scout By Ken Silverstein 8 copies
A Walk to Remember By Nicholas Sparks 7 copies
Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe 10 copies
Falling Through the Earth By DAnielle Trussoni 9 copies
Stuck in Neutral By Terry Trueman 10 copies
The Traveler By John Twelve Hawks 10 copies
Saturday Night Dirt By Will Weaver 12 copies
Double Helix By Nancy Werlin 10 copies
The Picture of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde 10 copies
Make Lemonade By Virginia Euwer Wolff 9 copies
The Book Thief By Markus Zuzak 10 copies
Labels: book discussions, book-related programs, booklists, teens