By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
Three people are waiting to check out the venerable Jane Austen classic "Pride and Prejudice" from the Sno-Isle Libraries, a pittance compared with the 129 in the queue for the modern-day spin-off "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."
The popularity of the ghoulish upstart reflects a trend in teen reading habits. A list of books in greatest demand from the libraries' teen sections is evidence that vampires, werewolves, zombies, shapeshifters, monsters and dragons are in.
So is summer reading in general for teens, who can set aside the deeper, denser classics they are assigned during the school year in favor of lighter literature.
Last summer, teens from around Snohomish and Island counties submitted 5,300 book reviews to the Sno-Isle Web site for the chance to win prizes and share their thoughts.
That number is expected to be eclipsed this summer. They've submitted 1,700 over the past three weeks.
At the Mukilteo library, all 20 books for the Mukilteens Brunch Bunch summer book club's first meeting were gobbled up within 48 hours. On Wednesday, the group -- a mix of boys and girls -- shared their impressions of "Evil Genius" by Catherine Jinks.
All 18 copies of next week's book, "Things Not Seen," quickly disappeared. On deck are "Dragon's Keep" and "Monster."
Many of the books teens are reading these days are labeled "urban fantasy," a genre librarians describe as stories with supernatural fiction set in contemporary times and cities.
"I think it is compelling because there is darkness in it, but also a sense of innocence," said Dawn Rutherford, Sno-Isle's teen services coordinator. "It's a fantasy world, it's fairy tales and it's make believe."
Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular "Twilight" series, a vampire romance, fits into that category. More than 200 copies of "Twilight" had been checked out of Sno-Isle's libraries last week. Other books in the series had waiting lists of more than 140 readers. "Breaking Dawn" -- the fourth book in the series -- has 100 copies checked out from the Sno-Isle system, but a waiting list of 232.
Middle and high school students browse well beyond the teen section, but urban fantasy has been a big draw.
"That would be our single biggest genre I would say at this point," said Kathleen Fernandes, teen librarian at the Mukilteo library. "Just because urban fantasy is the most popular doesn't mean everything else will fall by the wayside."
Lael Wentland, 15, a sophomore at Kamiak High School, prefers action, science fiction and mystery novels with forensics to the urban fantasies. Last summer, she read more than 100 books and it's not uncommon for her to finish two books in a day. So far this summer, despite a busy schedule, she's submitted more than 25 book reviews to the Sno-Isle Web page.
"All my friends read probably just as much as me, but different genres," she said. "I like to read because it gives me so many ideas. It's another way out of reality."
Fernandes said she begins to notice a spike in high school students reading for pleasure as soon as they take their college-level advanced placement national exams each May.
Rutherford notices the shelves in the children and teen sections of the libraries loosen up in June and become jammed again in September.
"We do get a big increase in use during the summer," Rutherford said. "More and more I hear that kids don't really feel they have time to read for pleasure during the school year."
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
Reading program
Sno-Isle libraries teen summer reading program offers prizes, including a laptop computer, for teens submitting book reviews.
To learn more about sending in a review and summer events, go to www.sno-isle.org/cr/ teensummerreading.
