Week 7 ~ Assignments 1-4

Assignments 1-2 ~ What to Read Next flowchart - Useful, and I printed it because I will not remember all those titles.

I didn't find much news to comment on in the YALSA article. We know that adults are reading teen literature. I did find interesting the Bowker study that listed the percentage of adult buyers. That 55% of teen lit buyers are 18 or older was a surprise. I didn't think it would be quite so high, but never thought about what the percentage was.  Also, the fact that the largest segment of this group is aged 30-44 is probably a discussion for another day; however, it is a nice segue now to my comments on the next article.

The Publishers Weekly article on the New Adult genre tag seems to address the need to clamp down on those YA readers ready to move on. We see from the Bowker statistics who is enjoying these books. So, with certain sub genres of teen literature attracting teen readers (12-17 year olds) AND a large chunk of 30 plus readers enjoying the same material, is slapping a New Adult label targeting 18-23 year olds with same age protagonists necessary or practical? I understand the label speaks mainly to "voice, style, and theme."

 In this case I think it makes sense to ride the coattails of a very hot segment that wants to explore the more mature themes that naturally come with growing up, moving out, etc. It's not so much that these challenges are new or more defining than years past, or that young adult readers are suddenly being drawn to these type of books. There has been and always will be crossover, and as librarians we are charged with matching books to customers regardless of genre label. Regarding what to call these books and/or where to merchandise these books I think it is just another marketing tool to get these books moving. If it fills a niche, why not. If it makes browsing easier for readers to identify what they want, I am OK with that. I also posted comments on Mercedes Mendoza and Becky Kuhn's blogs.

Assignment 3 ~ Blogs/websites: I followed the blog, Stacked, run by a couple of librarians, Kelly Jensen and Kimberly Francisco. I liked the look, feel, and content level. Because it's maintained by librarians I can see where librarians would gravitate toward it for industry news. But this well-visited site is also for readers who benefit, too, from the generally brief reviews of new writers, plainly written and to the point. It's been around since 2009  and has a good following, so it must be doing something right.

In addition, I checked out School Library Journal's My Printz Will Come maintained by Karyn Silverman and Sarah Couri. It is appealing to industry professionals and those who want to be familiar with buzz titles and speculation on contenders for YALSA's Printz Award, but because it's seasonal its updates are not as regular as other sites. Posts are thoughtful and funny.

Assignment 4 ~ I checked out teen sites for Penguin and Harper. Scifi and fantasy combos continue to be popular, like Through the Ever Night, second part of a trilogy by Veronica Rossi, along with chick lit, like the Pretty Little Liars series. I also liked on Penguin's website their link for teachers and librarians-good resources there.