Once again, the Buchanan-Haralson Public Library is asking area teens “What do you think?” as they take part in the Georgia Library Media Association’s 2009-10 Georgia Peach Book Awards.

For the fourth year, the Buchanan library is participating in the annual book award contest, which gives teens the opportunity to cast their vote for their favorite young adult book by giving any of the 20 nominated texts a score rating them from a zero to a four. The scores are tallied at each participating local library or media center and sent in to the GLMA, who then combines the scores from around the state to announce the 2010 Georgia Peach Book Award winner and two honorable mentions.

“It’s really a wonderful program, and it gives teens a voice,” said Buchanan-Haralson Library Branch Manager Jana Gentry. “It empowers them and shows them we do care what they think.”

Each year, the GLMA convenes its reading and administrative committees in order to nominate young adult books, or adult books appropriate for young readers, to the Peach Awards list and narrow that list down to 20 titles, which are voted on by Georgia’s teens. The organization’s goal in presenting this list to young readers and asking them to rate the works is to “help promote reading and literacy skills in teens,” according to the Association’s Web site.

The GLMA site also says they strive to encourage teens to recognize and read quality literature appropriate for them, recognize authors in the young adult genre, and develop cooperative services for teens between local schools and libraries.

The reading committee that selects the reading list is made up of five representatives from public libraries and five representatives from school media centers, and each committee member reads all texts recommended for the final nominee list. Books eligible for the list must be published in the last five years, currently be in print, and have literary and artistic merit. The committee focuses on young adult fiction; however, up to five books may be non-fiction and up to five books may be adult books that are still appropriate for young adults. Also, much thought is given to the themes of each text. The committee gives consideration “to genre diversity, gender representation, ethnic diversity and diversity of cultural, social, political, economic and religious viewpoints,” according to GLMA’s Web site.

“They do a very good job of selecting a variety of books,” Gentry said. “They choose not just fiction, but also graphic novels and non-fiction and a variety of themes.”

The same seems to prove true again for this year’s selection of titles, which include fiction novels ranging from realistic social situations to the fantastical realm of other worlds to a comedic coming-of-age story. The list even includes a fictional rewrite of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” that focuses on Ophelia and a non-fiction memoir of a girl raised in foster homes.

Gentry says while the program is meant for students in ninth through twelfth grade, she often encourages middle school-aged children to participate as well – as long as they have their parents’ permission as several texts often deal with more mature themes.

“I enjoy the realism of these books and how they deal with real issues that teens may be facing,” Gentry said. “These books can be a bit dicey, which is why I urge caution to the younger students who want to participate. [The books] may have language or deal with difficult issues, such as street issues, heartbreak issues or even suicide. They are real-life issues [... but] they are dealt with, and they are dealt with respectfully. For these reasons, it takes a mature teen to read some of these books.”

However, Gentry says teens and parents shouldn’t shy away from these texts for their mature themes as the texts are selected with teens in mind. A complete list of the nominated texts and a synopsis can be obtained at the Buchanan Library or the GLMA’s Web site.

While students are making their selections and rating their readings over the next three months, Gentry has prepared a series of events at the library to get teens excited about the program and talking to each other about the books they have read so far – as long as no one spoils any endings.

The library already hosted it’s first event Dec. 17: “The Great Peach Mystery.” At the event Gentry reviewed the books on this year’s list with the teens who attended, and then they held a contest for a prize. That activity was followed by “The Great Peach Craft” on Jan. 14, which offered participants the opportunity to make a “peachy” craft.

“[At the first event] I made a crossword for them with all the answers to the questions coming from the list of descriptions of the books,” Gentry said. “I was hoping as they scanned the descriptions they might find something that they wanted to read. The first one to finish the crossword received a gift card to Subway in Buchanan.”

Gentry said the library had a pretty good turnout for the first event, which was attended by about 10 local youths. Those same students, as well as any more wishing to take part in the book awards selection, have two more events to look forward to.

The next event will take place next Thursday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m. and has been dubbed “The Great Peach Love/Hate Debate,” in which readers will have a chance to share with their fellow students which books they’ve read so far and which ones they love or hate and why.

The entire program will be wrapped up at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 11, with “The Great Peach Pig Out,” which will give local teens a chance to meet renowned Personal Chef Carlin Breinig. The chef will be demonstrating how to prepare several dishes, including a recipe for pork loin with peach barbecue sauce, to teens who show up for the final event to turn in their ratings for their most recently read books.

“Chef Carlin is going to prepare a ‘peachy’ menu, and the teens will get to sample the food and watch the demonstration,” Gentry said. “The day after, we’ll get all the votes compiled and send them in to the state.”

Each participating school or library tallies their own ratings and comes up with a first, second and third place for favorite books amongst their students. Those results are then compiled, and the book with the highest ranking state-wide is awarded the Georgia Peach Award.

Last year’s Georgia Peach Book Award winner was “Impulse” by Ellen Hopkins.

“We picked differently than the state pick last year,” Gentry said. “Our vote was for ‘Plane J.A.N.E.S.’ [by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg.]”

The book was determined the winner after 107 rating votes were turned in by Buchanan and Haralson County-area students.

“That means our teens read 107 books last year that they weren’t forced to read,” Gentry laughed.

Gentry says the program has brought new faces into the library over the past few years and has been, overall, very beneficial and successful.

“Our job is to serve our community, and I feel like the broader base of community we serve the better off they are and the better off we are,” she said. “Anything that brings people into the library is positive, and [doing this program] allows us to see more teen activity in the library.”

Gentry says the library isn’t the only beneficiary of the program, however. She says participating students also gain improved reading and comprehension skills, improved vocabulary, and improved sentence structure.

“It makes a difference and prepares them for college,” she said. “These plots can be very intricate and can also improve memory skills.”

With all this in mind, Gentry encourages all high school-aged teens to participate in this year’s Georgia Peach Book Awards contest by turning in their votes and rating the books they read as a pit (zero) or a peach (four). She also encourages teens to come out to the library to participate in the upcoming events, see just what other teens are reading and how they stack up against their own favorites.

All 20 books listed as nominees are available for check out at the Buchanan-Haralson Public Library as well as other participating libraries and media centers. Books that are unavailable can be ordered through interlibrary loan.

For more information about upcoming events at the library or the book awards contest, contact Gentry at the library, 770-646-3369.