Libraries Change Lives - Haonan Du
Eleven year old Haonan Du is the 2006 winner of the Young Adult Summer Reading Program. Every year the library encourages teens to continue reading throughout the summer months by keeping a reading log of the titles that they read. This summer there were 209 participants and they collectively read over 3400 books! Each teen who read over ten books received a free movie pass, compliments of the Chateau Theatres. Additional prizes included combination book/DVD sets, $50 Barnes & Noble gift certificates and the grand prize was a portable DVD player.
Grand Prize winner, Haonan Du, read 185 books between June and August. Haonan always reads a lot, but not quite as much as she did this summer, and she even picked up the speed of her reading during her 2-3 hours of reading per day to stay on track with the contest. “I love to read!” said Haonan, “It’s really fun! I lose track of other stuff, and I get lost in another world!” She prefers realistic fiction and fantasy books, and she listed M or F? and Once Upon A Marigold as titles that she would recommend to friends.
In addition to reading, Haonan participated in an acting workshop and a screen writing workshop. Both were presented as all day seminars at the library. “The acting workshop was fun and I learned a lot in the screen writing workshop,” commented Haonan. Like many avid readers, Haonan is also a writer. She is currently working on a middle length story that has yet to be titled. As Haonan looks forward to going back to school, she reflected on her summer and considers her involvement with the Young Adult Summer Reading Program to be a very positive experience.
