Valedictorians are top-ranked, typical

They're the top students in their classes, but in some respects, they're just like other teenagers. They like Harry Potter and "The Godfather," and you'll likely find them hanging out with friends and listening to music. With most graduations taking place this week, we asked the Triangle area's valedictorians to tell us about themselves. These are among the interesting things we found out:

HOW THEY RELAX: Hanging with friends and family, basketball, barbecue and the beach are favorite leisure activities. Not surprisingly, reading also is popular. So are volleyball and pingpong. Running, swimming and other exercise keep valedictorians fit. Music -- from singing to guitar picking -- is another break from the books. One valedictorian loves to have "cafe discussions," while another lives for counted cross-stitch.

FROM GENESIS TO HOGWARTS: The vals have wide-ranging reading interests, with the fantasy of the Harry Potter series barely edging out the Bible in popularity as favorite book. But they also have an old-school streak, digging some of the faves of their latter-stage boomer parents, such as Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," George Orwell's "1984" and J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher In The Rye."

A yen for the classics was also evident: Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" nearly topped the Bible in popularity, while some vals like F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless Jazz Age novel "The Great Gatsby."

Among more contemporary fare, "The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini's tale of a boy growing up in Afghanistan, was a favorite.

TARANTINO, HANKS AND DON CORLEONE: The year's valedictorians were all over the lot with favorite movies, picking everything from the Jason Bourne trilogy and "American History X" to "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Lion King." Other favorites were "Pulp Fiction" and "Forrest Gump."

Again with the old-school streak, though -- "The Godfather" (presumably the first and second installments only) and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" cropped up, along with one vote for the Gene Kelly classic, "Singin' In The Rain."

The film versions of Harry Potter didn't fare as well as the books.

CAROLINA IN THEIR MINDS: They must love the soothing pastel vibe of Carolina Blue. Hands down, UNC-Chapel Hill is the top college choice, with nearly 30 Triangle valedictorians headed there. Duke and N.C. State trailed a distant second and third. A scattering of valedictorians are bound for Ivy League schools such as Brown, Yale and Harvard.

MAJOR INDECISION: There's a decided tilt toward math, medicine and science majors, with two valedictorians aiming for degrees in aerospace engineering. "Undecided" is also a frequent listing.