Week 7: Assignment 2: Two Articles
You know that moment where you want to hug someone even if you don't know them? That's how I feel about Meg Wolitzer. Nevermind that I loved both her novels The Interestings (which, although was not YA, spends a significant amount of time in the lives as the characters as heartbreakingly flawed teens; Ruth Graham probably LOVED The Interestings because it was a complex and beautiful "adult" book) and Belzhar (which I reviewed for the Between the Covers blog), but this article about loving YA not because it's an escape for the adult mind but because it can be a lovely trip back to your teen self with the benefit of knowing yourself as an adult.
When I taught high school, I was so wracked with grief over the possibility of teaching The Catcher In The Rye. Not because I didn't like it, but because I LOVED it too much when I was 16. I had made a conscious effort as an adult to never read it again because I didn't want to ever lose that feeling of being so wrapped up in a book that "got" me when I was a kid.
Well, I had to read it again. It stood up. Not because I felt like I could relate to Holden, but because I knew that 16-year old Jessica could relate to Holden. It was the pleasure in being that me again that made me love that book in a new and unexpected way.
My favorite novel of 2013 was Eleanor and Park; it was gorgeous and complex and realistic. I will fight anyone in the Rosedale parking lot who says otherwise. (Not really, but I *will* think about punching them in the face.) I'm glad it gets a mention here, but it also makes me think. According to my Goodreads account, I read lots of "worthy" novels in 2013: books by Khaled Hosseini, Jessamyn Ward, Kate Atkinson, Toni Morrison, even Meg Wolitzer's book; so why did that one stand out in my head as the "best"? Is it because I found the story so much more relatable than some of the others? I have lived the life of the overweight, quirky teen. I haven't say, lived the life of a privileged New Yorker whose parents could afford to send her to a prestigious art camp. That usually doesn't matter to me, though. I found The Kite Runner to be an amazing book of friendship and loss and I've never been in Afghanistan.
I don't know. I do know that Eleanor and Park will be a book I reread, and that doesn't happen often in my ever-growing stack of crazy books.
The "New Adult" article was interesting from a marketing perspective. My first initiation to that term was through this Entertainment Weekly article from a while back: http://www.ew.com/article/2014/06/13/sex-and-single-reader
That article focused primarily on the success of the Fifty Shades series and how to market sex to readers past the YA timeline. The article by Rachel Deahl is older and only marginally addresses the Fifty Shades boom (which by this point in 2012, would be happening in a few months). I think a great representative of this genre (?) is Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl; what happens when a YA protagonist goes to college?
At the library level, would "new adult" work as a term? I'm not convinced. First, we use "new" to talk about...new books. Just released. We don't need to confuse people.
Maybe I'm just grouchy about this designation because I'm not even close to its target age range?
Assignment 3: Two websites
OMG. HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT SOMEDAY MY PRINTZ WILL COME?!?! I'm a huge fan of SLJ's Heavy Medal blog for Newbery contention, so how did this escape my notice??? HOW?!?!
I need to get on my reading game for the awards in January. Lots of great info for reading and good reviews. Here's the thing about awards like the Printz and Newbery that gets asked every year: are these really what kids want to read, or just what adults want kids to read? I'm hoping it's the former. I will be visiting this page every day leading up the MLA Midwinter conference. (Already put several books on hold from the list.)
I also am in love with Forever Young Adult. (Mostly for their sweet t-shirt game.) If I could just get a #NoShameYA t-shirt, my life would be set. I can see utilizing the resources on this blog if we start up a YA book club!!
Assignment 4: Publishers and Trends
Quite frankly, the Teens @ Random page has got it going on. Whereas the other pages are mostly about upcoming new releases (will we ever escape paranormal romance? Thanks, Twilight.), Random has an engaging community for teens and emphasizes teen writers. It looks like they have taken the Makerspace movement to the writing world. I particularly love the Figment Chat section where authors respond to teen questions. What a cool feature! Each "chat" goes live for a week and you can read the archives.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Week 6: Street Fiction and Subgenres
Week 6: StreetFiction.org
The great thing about StreetFiction.org is that the reviews aren't just of what is new and upcoming in the system; there are some old favorites that may have been left behind before a lot of the reading public picked up on Street Lit, and certainly before the library started carrying a major selection of titles. Emako Blue was a very popular high school Black-Eyed Susan Award Nominee when I was teaching, and just being reminded of it just inspired me to cull those lists for other Street-friendly titles.
The reviews aren't updated as often as maybe I'd like to make it a daily or even a weekly visit. I might have a better time with Urban Reviews for more current information.
I appreciate the designations of the subgenres of Street Lit, like Christian Fiction (which circs really well) and Urban Erotica.
Of particular interest to me, though, is the Teen Urban section. Teen Urban fiction is something that would really circ well at this branch if we had more selection and our kids knew where it was. I know the standard-bearers in terms of authors are Coe Booth and Nini Simone for this particular subgenre of Street Lit, but there are other authors to explore. I have all sorts of cool ideas about it now!
Assignment 3: Subgenres
In reviewing the subgenres I know the least about, I stumbled upon these three:
1. historical romance: These are very popular at Rosedale, and I'm not complaining. There's lots of hot dudes in kilts on the display covers at our branch as a result.
2. urban fantasy: While I consider myself to be pretty well-versed in Street Lit/Urban Fiction and that this area is my most seasoned in terms of Reader's Advisory, I haven't yet found a lot of readers who are into Urban Fantasy as a subgenre.
3. Native American western: At LA, we had one customer who was responsible for our entire Western collection; he would order 10 - 15 Westerns at a time, read them quickly, and then order more. He was very committed to Traditional Westerns, particularly by William Johnstone (like the Mountain Man and Son of the Mountain Man series). Beyond that very nice customer, Westerns seem to be a very niche market at each branch; one or two dedicated customers love that genre. I have no experience with the Native American western subgenre.
More fun with subgenres:
In looking at Christina Dodd's books in particular, I found it interesting that she as a romance writer covers a lot of genres. I was focusing on the historical romance (she does a lot with Renaissance/England/kings and queens), but she has several fantasy romance series as well that feature mind-control, spells, and myths. Her Chosen Ones series lurches into the paranormal romance subgenre.
The great thing about StreetFiction.org is that the reviews aren't just of what is new and upcoming in the system; there are some old favorites that may have been left behind before a lot of the reading public picked up on Street Lit, and certainly before the library started carrying a major selection of titles. Emako Blue was a very popular high school Black-Eyed Susan Award Nominee when I was teaching, and just being reminded of it just inspired me to cull those lists for other Street-friendly titles.
The reviews aren't updated as often as maybe I'd like to make it a daily or even a weekly visit. I might have a better time with Urban Reviews for more current information.
I appreciate the designations of the subgenres of Street Lit, like Christian Fiction (which circs really well) and Urban Erotica.
Of particular interest to me, though, is the Teen Urban section. Teen Urban fiction is something that would really circ well at this branch if we had more selection and our kids knew where it was. I know the standard-bearers in terms of authors are Coe Booth and Nini Simone for this particular subgenre of Street Lit, but there are other authors to explore. I have all sorts of cool ideas about it now!
Assignment 3: Subgenres
In reviewing the subgenres I know the least about, I stumbled upon these three:
1. historical romance: These are very popular at Rosedale, and I'm not complaining. There's lots of hot dudes in kilts on the display covers at our branch as a result.
2. urban fantasy: While I consider myself to be pretty well-versed in Street Lit/Urban Fiction and that this area is my most seasoned in terms of Reader's Advisory, I haven't yet found a lot of readers who are into Urban Fantasy as a subgenre.
3. Native American western: At LA, we had one customer who was responsible for our entire Western collection; he would order 10 - 15 Westerns at a time, read them quickly, and then order more. He was very committed to Traditional Westerns, particularly by William Johnstone (like the Mountain Man and Son of the Mountain Man series). Beyond that very nice customer, Westerns seem to be a very niche market at each branch; one or two dedicated customers love that genre. I have no experience with the Native American western subgenre.
More fun with subgenres:
In looking at Christina Dodd's books in particular, I found it interesting that she as a romance writer covers a lot of genres. I was focusing on the historical romance (she does a lot with Renaissance/England/kings and queens), but she has several fantasy romance series as well that feature mind-control, spells, and myths. Her Chosen Ones series lurches into the paranormal romance subgenre.
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