By Gretchen Beilfuss Witt

Rowan Public Library

Looking for that perfect book? Check out a few selections from the Top Ten Teen Picks of 2006. Teenagers around the country joined in voicing their opinion during the October Teen Read Week and made these choices.

Topping the list is the latest installment from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Harry copes with yet another summer at the Dursleys and the complications involved in inheriting Black’s house. Dumbledore, along with the Order of the Phoenix, continue to defend the wizarding and Muggle worlds from Voldemort.

Along with the general teenage angst in dealing with studies, the difficulties of young love and disagreeable teachers, Harry must identity the Half-Blood Prince and trace the life story of his nemesis.

Runner-up “Twilight” is an appealing novel about a young woman’s choice to leave her mother in sunny Phoenix and make her home with her father in the misty Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State.

Here, Bella makes new friends and falls in love for the first time. Unaccustomed to being noticed by anyone, she finds herself the object of much attention but is fascinated by the one boy in school who seems to have no interest in her at all, the pale, model-like Edward.

Despite his seeming animosity, Edward is secretly as attracted to Bella as she to him, and after dramatically rescuing her from a life-threatening accident, he cannot continue to ignore her.

Sounds like a typical love story until the reader realizes Bella’s paramour is a vampire who finds the very scent of her blood alluring. Bella puts two and two together with some hints from a young Native American friend of her family.

Despite the odd circumstances, Bella and Edward continue to become closer until visiting vampires put the young couple in danger. It’s up to Edward’s family to rescue Bella from “the Tracker,” a vampire who hunts humans for his own amusement. Putting a new twist on the age-old vampire story makes this book an intriguing and quick read.

The third book, “Eldest,” is the continuing story of Christopher Paolini’s “Eragon.” These two books may be particularly appealing as the movie “Eragon” premiers this month. Other books among the top 10 include “Rebel Angels,” “Poison” and “13 Little Blue Envelopes.”

“13 Little Blue Envelopes” tells the story of a 17-year-old following the clues left to her in a packet of letters from her dead aunt as she traipses through Europe.

A girl named Poison braves the realm of the phaerie king to bring back her stolen baby sister and escape her ordinary life.

And in “Rebel Angels,” Gemma must brave the world outside her Victorian girls academy, find the temple and bind the magic she set loose. A collection this enjoyable shouldn’t be missed.

Library hours: Dec. 23-26, all libraries will be closed for Christmas; Dec. 30-Jan. 1, all libraries will be closed for New Year’s.

History room: Anyone interested in donating a copy or allowing the library to scan photos of local Great Depression photographs should contact Gretchen Witt at 704-216-8232.

Computer classes: Headquarters, 9:15-10:45 a.m. Thursday, Basic CSS.

Displays: Headquarters — display by Eleanor Qadirah; East — nutcrackers by Phyllis Buck; South — Christmas display by Rowan Doll Society.

Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second language.

Web site: www.rowanpubliclibrary.org.