Week 7 - Not Just for Teens

Week 7: Assignment 1Take a look at  the “What to Read Next” flowchart from the Lawrence Public Library (also available in PDF format.)

I like the flowchart from the Lawrence Public Library. I like the way it groups like books together and categorizes them with a phrase. I will definitely use this flowchart in helping my customers find their next book to read.


 Week 7: Assignment 2
Read any two of the following short articles. Post comments on your blog, and make comments on two colleagues’ blogs.

•  New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre? Publisher’s Weekly, Dec 14, 2012
• Who is Buying Teen Books? Christian Science Monitor Sep 14, 2012
•  The Next Big Thing YALSA; The Hub, Oct 2012
•  YA Comes of Age Publisher’s Weekly, Oct 3, 2011
•  Not Just for Teens Library Journal, Jun 15, 2011

Who is Buying Teen Books / The Next Big Thing

I would have to agree that alot of adults are reading Teen books for a variety of reasons. One reason is that alot of adult fiction authors like, James Patterson, Kathy Reichs, Harlan Coben are writing teen novels. Another reason is that teen novels are appealing to a wider audience than ever before because of the Hunger Games trilogy and the Twilight novels. I have been reading teen books for quite a few years and never really thought much about it. There is no difference for me when I read teen novels or when I read adult fiction novels. The major difference is that the characters are teenagers and not adults. I think it is the same way for most of our customers when it comes to teen novels.

I left comments on Justin H. and Bryce R.'s blogs.


 Week 7: Assignment 3
Choose any two of the following blogs/websites. Follow them for a week. Post comments to your blog regarding who is writing it, who is the intended audience, is it successful, etc.

• John Green Books or John Green’s Tumblr
• Stacked
• Teenreads
• Forever Young Adult
• Cassandra Clare’s Tumblr
• School Library Journal:  Someday My Printz Will Come (Seasonal)
• Squeetus Blog:  Official Blog of Shannon Hale

Teenreads
Teenreads website is designed with Teens in mind. The website has alot of useful information on it like new books coming soon, book reviews, books that are coming to the big screen. The website even has a Teen board and it lists each board member's top five books. This is a great website to recommend to teens to get them plugged into reading.


Forever Young Adult
Forever Young Adult website is designed for readers of Young Adult that are more adult than teen. The website uses alot of graphics and is very interactive. I think the website would appeal to adults in their 20's and 30's because it integrates social media into its website.


Week 7: Assignment 4 Choose any two of the following teen imprints and spend some time on their websites. Blog about any trends you find in either current or forthcoming teen fiction.

• Harlequin Teen
• Harper Teen
• Little, Brown Books for Teens  
• Teens/Penguin Young Readers
• Teens at Random
• Tor Teen (Macmillan)

Little, Brown Books for Teens
Little, Brown Books for Teens website is designed with Teens in mind. The website uses graphics, multimedia and has links to social networking sites. I see that alot of books with a Sci-Fi/Dystopian twist are being released. This could be partly due to Hunger Games and the Twilight series.


Teens/Penguin Young Readers
I think the Teens/Penguin Young Readers website is designed for anyone who reads young adult/teen novels or recommends young adult/teen novels. I see alot of books that have vampires in them. I realize that vampires in teen novels are hot these days because of TV shows like "True Blood." Also alot of teen novels are being made in movies. This makes alot of sense  because teens want something visual and if you can give them a movie then they will probably read the book as well.