Books kids are picking up

By ALINE MENDELSOHN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 31, 2000

There's still time to get in some summer reading, and if you're looking for some good titles, about 20,000 fourth- through 12th-graders across the country have recommended books that "have changed their own way of thinking about the world." Their choices come out of letters written to authors in the Weekly Reader Letters About Literature 2000 contest.

Here are the most popular books:

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

2. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

3. Giver by Lois Lowry

4. Chicken Soup for Kids and the Teenage Soul books, ed. by Jack Canfield et al

5. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

6. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

7. Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

8. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

9. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

10. Holes by Louis Sachar

11. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

12. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

13. The Cay by Theodore Taylor

14. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

15. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye

16. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

17. A Child Called "It' by Dave Pelzer

A party with Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-Ais throwing a back-to-school party. The All About Kids celebration will feature interactive play areas, lessons in the Chick-fil-A chicken dance and door prizes.

The event, for kids 12 and younger, is noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Tampa Convention Center. Tickets are $6 for adults; kids get in free. Bring a school supply to donate to Somebody Cares Tampa Bay and get $1 off adult admission.

Eminem versus 'N Sync

Rapper Eminem and boy band 'N Sync are tied with six nominations each for the 2000 MTV Music Awards, set to air Sept. 7.

Eminem's hit The Real Slim Shady and 'N Sync's Bye, Bye, Bye will compete in two categories, video of the year and the Viewer's Choice Award.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.