Another year, another popular series of books for young students. Whether it’s Harry or Katniss, Percy or Artemis, each school year seems to bring about another series of books some readers simply gobble up. And I have found that readers in Massachusetts may have fallen for a different collection than readers in Oregon or North Carolina.
I have no doubt that publishers are anxious to find the next Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen because that’s the way literary and young adult publishing has worked for decades. But children’s reading interests from year to year are fickle. It’s tough to put a finger on exactly why Percy Jackson succeeds while the Underland Chronicles* doesn’t.
As we near the halfway point in the school year, and with Common Core State Standards impacting reading assignments, I am left wondering what’s popular this year. What are your students reading this year? What are you steering them toward? What do you wish they were reading? And is Common Core changing the landscape?
*While I have no doubt that Underland Chronicles has found its audience, I am interested in finding out what the blockbusters are in your classroom.