The Eternal Question: What Do I Read Next?

April 11, 2012

"So, Jeff...You're a librarian. I need a new series of books to read. What's good?" This question was posed to me by Mark, my best friend's teenage son last night after our Boy Scout troop meeting. He's read the Hunger Games, the Percy Jackson novels, all of the Harry Potter series (multiple times), and much more. I had to admit I was a bit stumped. He told me about his interest in mythology, and I promised him I'd do some searching when I got to work the next day.

Once I got to work this morning, I went straight to the Recommended Books, Movies, Music for Teens page of the MCPL website. Mark had told me that one of the reasons he enjoyed Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series was the use of ancient Greek mythology. With that info in mind, I followed the link Research Databases About Books and Reading to the NoveList Plus research database. With this database, I was able to find a list of series read-alikes for the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, many of which included mythology themes. Mark is very tech-savvy, so I emailed him the list, as well as instructions on how to access the NoveList Plus database, so he could do some further research.

In addition to the Books and Reading Research Databases on MCPL's Recommended Books, Movies, Music for Teens Page, you can also find:

• What's New: new teen fiction, graphic novels, CDs and DVDs
• What's Good: recommended teen book lists and email newsletters 
• What's Next: series and sequels
• Award Lists for Teens: award-winning books for teens
• Online Resources: the above-mentioned databases as well as websites about books, reading, and writing for teens.

Happy hunting,

Jeff D.
Grandview Branch