Week Seven: Not Just for Teens

Assignment 1: Nicely done flowchart, could be very helpful distinguising subplots/subgenres.

Assignment 2:

"YA Comes of Age": As a longtime crtical YA reader, none of the information here comes as a surprise. Some of the most thought-provoking, intersting and accessible literature is being published for teens. Many of us adult readers have known that all along and we're excited that the word is finally getting out, however it happens. I am surprised that the dystopian craze is hanging on for so long. BEA and ALA conventions show that more series are coming.

"The Next Big Thing": Again, this echoes a similar sentiment. I've been doing more and more recommending of teen books to adults. I've always done it for fantasy and dystopian, but now I find I'm selling John Green to our older Pikesville ladies! The Fault in Our Stars has been a big grownup hit here, as well as Hush and of course, The Book Thief. I agree and identify wholeheartedly with the author's closing words: "Although I like adult fiction, the majority of the books I read are YA. They’re just that good!"

I commented on the Printz blog post that Cynthia W. wrote, and on the one written by Marilyn S.

Assignment 3:

John Green Books: Maybe not the best time to visit, as John is out on paternity leave, but then again, maybe it is. There seems to no shortage of his family members (his brother and sister) and fans to fill the void left by his presence. Lots of videos, interaction, feelings of yes!--this is a place for me, the misunderstood and unheard, the nerd, the geek. It's very welcoming, quirky, informative, and fun.

Forever YA is a site that I love. I wish I had created it myself! It covers essential buzz titles as well as other bits of YA pop culture that appeal to both teens and adults--movies and TV shows. I need to remind myself to read it more often; it's fun and it adds to my ever-growing holds list.

Assignment 4:

I actually looked at all of the teen publisher websites listed. There is not a lot of day-to-day change, and I think they are probably not the best places to intuit trends. (My trend knowledge is to the minute from having attended BEA. As a librarian I prefer the publisher book buzz events.) More dystopian, more (but less than before) paranormal romance, more realistic fiction trickling in. I think Penguin does the best job with an engaging site that has lots of author subpages. Little Brown Teen gets a D from me because if you look under the Books link, the new titles featured are from 2012, as are the "coming soons", although the main page is current. There's no excuse for that.