Reading Wildly: Thriller/Suspense

Last year, I was working the Teen Desk when a girl who was CRAZY about the author April Henry came in looking for books. Of course, all of April Henry's books were checked out and she was asking if we had anything similar. And I was stumped. Nothing came to mind that I had read or even really heard of except The Face on the Milk Carton, which kids were reading when *I* was a kid.

That's a long story to say that I requested this genre for one of our Reading Wildly months this year. Of course, I helped my patron with the help of sources like Novelist, but it definitely identified a gap in my knowledge.

This month, we read "thrillers" and I learned after Becky Spratford's RA workshops at my library that what we were actually reading about would be considered suspense novels.

Here's what we read:

• Blackbird by Anna Carey
• Fake ID by Lamar Giles
• The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
• Girl Stolen by April Henry 
• I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga 
• The Night She Disappeared by April Henry 
• The Plot to Kill Hitler by Patricia McCormick 
• The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda 
• The Gathering (Shadow House #1) by Dan Poblocki

For the most part, this genre wasn't a huge favorite with my staff, although I had one who got really into it and found several books that she enjoyed. 

Next month, we're going the complete opposite way and we're going to be reading gentle books. I suggested three ways that staff could take this genre: 

• Christian fiction - definitely something that gets requested in our fairly conservative community
• Gentle teen reads - books from the teen area that don't contain mature language and content
• Children's books for kids who are reading way above grade level (say, a first grader reading at a fourth or fifth grade level)

So, we'll see what we end up with next month! When I passed around the paper for staff suggestions for this genre, we were very lacking in gentle options for teens.

What are your favorite gentle reads for teens?