Week 7: Not Just For Teens

Assignment 1: What to Read Next flowchart

I didn't find this flowchart to be as confusing as some of my peers. However, I wasn't really looking at it as a "follow this until you get to the right choice" perspective. The chart did a good job of organizing the appeal factors into specific categories such as environmental disaster, resistance to authoritarian government, social control, etc. I wish there were more charts like this for other popular teen series!

Assignment 2: Reading Articles

Not Just for Teens: School Library Journal
I liked that this article highlighted appeal factors for all teen books in general, rather than just specific books or series. I read many books from the teen section when I was in middle school, and two of these appeal factors speak to me most: coming-of-age and emotional immediacy. Maybe it was something about becoming a teenager that made stories about teenagers so fascinating. Knowing that I was not alone in my awkwardness or hormones was comforting to me, and it was easy to get absorbed in these stories. I definitely understand the appeal of teen fiction for teens, but I am not quite sure if I see it the appeal as an adult. I don't have anything against teen fiction, but I also haven't had a desire to read it as an adult. One of the authors in the article mentioned that they don't like to delineate between teen readers and adult readers because they usually want the same thing. I agree with this, because I still want emotional immediacy in my books and I would be happy to read about people who are my age. However, most of the characters in teen books aren't my age, which is perhaps why I feel more disconnected reading teen fiction now than I used to. I feel like I may enjoy teen books more when I'm older and I can look back fondly on my teen years as a distant memory. For now I think I'm a little too close to the teen/young adult range to feel that sort of nostalgia.

A Not-So-Young-Audience for Young Adult Books
I thought this article made a good point. Why is there stigma for reading Young Adult books and not any other type of book or genre? They're just different, not necessarily better or worse than each other. I agree with the author of this article that there is a much higher emotional connection with YA books than adult literary fiction. Literary fiction can be very methodical and intellectual. However, who's to say that we should argue the difference between emotional and methodical? People often argue between studying science vs the humanities, claiming that methodical and intellectual studies about computers and science are somehow better or more difficult than studying art or literature. As we (librarians!!) know, all facets of intelligence should be respected. This article shows me that all genres of literature should be respected as well!

Assignment 3: Following Blogs

John Green's tumblr is cool. He clearly knows his audience, because his books are written for high schoolers and I spent many, many endless hours on tumblr during high school (and maybe occasionally still do now). The vlogs are something I haven't seen much on tumblr, but I also don't follow many authors. I think if you type "John Green" or "The Fault in Our Stars" on tumblr you will get a lot more quotes and gifs about the book/movie than vlogs. If I was a John Green fan I would maybe prefer him to write posts about his thoughts rather than recording videos, but maybe that's just me!

Cassandra Clare's tumblr looks much more like what I would have expected from my favorite teen author while perusing tumblr when I was 16. Lots of artistic photos, emotional quotes, and a general aesthetic appeal. Granted, many of her posts are reblogs (meaning she re-posted them from someone else's blog) but overall I think it would be appealing as a teen.

Assignment 4: Publisher Websites

Based on looking at the Harlequin Teen website, it seems like many of the same teen trends from the past few years are holding steady. Fantasy, particularly those that are formed into trilogies, seem popular. In fact, many teen books seem to come in series, rather than individual works.

On the Teens @ Random website I was surprised to find that many of their bestselling authors are authors I read when I was a teen (although I guess that wasn't terribly long ago). I recognized Jerry Spinelli, Lowis Lowry, and Jeanne DuPrau. It's nice to see that some teen books seem like they are becoming classics in the genre.