Week 9: Wrap-Up

Assignment 2:

My main experience with book trailers was during a book club for school aged children that we hosted at my branch during the summer of 2015.  I showed the books trailers for Serafina and the Black Cloak, as well as Wonder and Crossover. The children absolutely loved them and many checked out any available copies of the books we had at the branch and others placed holds. My experience indicates that when people do watch book trailers, their interest in the book increases dramatically. I believe that getting a visual preview of a book can definitely help to promote a book in a way that words simply cannot.  I also believe that if a child is reluctant reader, initially encountering the book in a more comfortable form may be the encouragement the child needs to read the book.

Assignment 3:

One of most interesting parts of the training was the chance to explore genre mash-ups in a more in-depth manner. Becoming more familiar with mash-ups such as Western-style Steampunk was exciting. Secondly, I learned more about the Romance genre than I ever thought I would.  I now have a far better understanding about the different Romance subgenres and which ones will appeal to certain readers. Thirdly, I encountered a host of blogs and website that I will now use on a daily basis. These resources will help to better equip me as I engage in readers advisory during my career as a librarian. I’ll be more informed and aware of what’s going on in the world of books and will be able to pass that knowledge on to others.

Week 8: Nonfiction

Assignment 3:

Sports Narratives

Dewey Area: 796-799

There were titles like A Season on the Brink (796.323 F), Friday Night Lights: A Town, a team and a dream (796.332 B) and Seabiscuit: An American Legend (798.4 H).

Crime Narratives

Dewey Area: 364.152

There were titles like In Cold Blood (364.152 C) and The Stranger Beside Me (364.1523C)

Disaster/ Survival

Dewey Area: 910-940 and 363.123

Titles included In the Heart of the Sea and In the Kingdom of Ice.

Travel

Dewey Area: 910-960

Titles Included A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Assignment 4:

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote:

In Cold Blood is an issues-oriented book that takes events from the contemporary world and uses them to tell a story with deep underlying themes in order to reflect on larger truths about humanity. It questions aspects of the American Dream (safety, security and the ability to determine your own fate) that had existed for certain people in a small town by analyzing the actions of characters for whom this dream was never a possibility. This questioning gives In Cold Blood a bleak tone that focuses on the loss of innocence and the environmental circumstances that causes individuals to commit horrendous acts. This title is recommended for those readers who like psychological thrillers and detective stories.

 

Season on a Brink by John Feinstein:

This is a character-driven book that focuses on former NCAA basketball coach Bobby Knight, a highly controversial figure during his days as a coach. It is centered on Indiana University’s 1985-1986 basketball season. Conflict arises often in the book, both internal and external. The tone of the book is that of high-drama as we see Knight walk the fine line between genius and madness as he tries to avoid a losing season. It is very descriptive and detail-heavy as the reader is granted access to practices team meetings, strategy sessions and mid-game huddles.  This title is recommended for those who like boos with flawed heroes.

Week 7: YA and adults

Assignment 2: YA articles


The two articles I read were Who's buying teen books? Lots and lots of Adults and YA Comes of Age.  While neither author stated this explicitly, I feel as though the underlying theme found in both articles is this: YA gives adult readers a chance to engage in escapism. The YA comes of Age article speaks of the shift in YA from paranormal to dystopian. Books of both types feature worlds that are far different from reality and have a large degree of inventiveness.  This, coupled with the relatively simple style they are written in, allows adult readers to easily become removed from their current circumstances and into a far more interesting and outlandish one.

Neither article mentions this, but reading YA is also a possible nostalgic experience for adults, taking them back to a more exciting and carefree time in their lives. This may enhance the escapist effect that these books have on adult readers and heighten these books’ appeal to them


Assignment 3: YA Blogs



Teenreads:

Teenreads is clearly intended for teen readers. They have a reading list entitled the Ultimate Reading List that is described as:

a list of more than 400 titles that we think make perfect pleasure reading for teens. Our criteria: We looked for books that were compelling, beautifully written, pure fun, thought-provoking or edge-of-your-seat gripping; books that we would hand to someone and say, “read this!” We hope that you will use the Ultimate Reading List when selecting books for independent reading

The site features reviews from both adults and teens as well as author interviews. Two interesting features found on the site is the Real Talk Publishing and Adult Books You Want to Read. The Real Talk Publishing section explores working with books as a career and the Adult Books You Want to read is self-explanatory. TeenReads is clearly successful in creating a site that is fitted for teens and reading.


Someday My Printz Will Come:

Someday My Printz Will Come is described as “the place to speculate wildly about books we think are likely to be under consideration for the YALSA‘s annual Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature”. All of the reviewers appear to be adult, as well as those who provide their thoughts in the comments section. The first post for this award season was made on September 9^th. This post introduced the list compiled by the blog’s contributors. It also described the selection criteria and explained some of the features of the list (leaned heavily towards fiction titles). The next two posts are reviews of books on their list. The reviews are straightforward and are clearly written for an adult audience. They highlight the positives and negatives of the books and discuss why the particular title might win any awards. The reviews also actively solicit user comments and suggestions.

It appears form browsing the blog that it’s clearly geared towards adults who care about who would win the Printz award. There didn’t seem to be any actual teen participation at all.

Someday My Printz Will Come is definitely successful in appealing to its target audience. Those who find speculation about awards to be of interest should definitely follow this blog.

Assignment 4: Teen imprints

I browsed the teen sections for HarperCollins and Harlequin. For their late summer releases, there appeared to be numerous titles ( Don’t Ever Change, Paper Weight, The Notorious Pagan Jones) that can be considered realistic fiction that have character-driven storylines. Many of the Teen titles also seemed to feature multiple character perspectives.