Tools

 

"I'd help teens find books to read if I knew of books to suggest to them... but where do I start?  The last teen books I read were for my own 8th grade book reports!!!"

 

Just like you don't need to know how to repair a carburetor to help someone find the information on repairing one, you don't need to be a teen book wizard to help teens find good books to read.   We hold that you don't necessarily need to have read a book to suggest it, you just need to know enough about it to speak about why a teen might like it.  These sources are a good place to start in building your personal stash of books you can recommend:

 

Another Wiki

www.teenreadersadvisory.org

A growing list of online resources for finding great books for teens.  Organized by type of resource, this site's goal is to grow into a one-stop site for teen RA.

 

Printable RA for YA Questions Matrix

Approaching teens for the first time can seem intimidating, so carry the RA for YA Questions Matrix card in your back pocket. It is a business card sized trifold crib sheet that includes questions to fit any readers' advisory situation. It also provides space for you to write some of your favorite recommendations so you don't forget them just when you really need them. Download and print the card below:

RA for YA Questions Matrix.doc

 

 

I'm working on developing a form for teen RA.  This particular form will go to a classroom as a "pre-screen" before I go to do a booktalk and is currently a work in progress.

teenRAform.doc

 

 

Favorite Websites for Teen RA

Reading Rants: http://www.readingrants.org/

Thematic lists with teen interests in mind. Mainly fiction, including quirky, edgy books. Updated regularly, and now a book too!

Sample lists:

• Silver Pentacle: Wicca, Witches and Witchcraft in Teen Fiction,
• Historical Fiction for Hipsters: Stories from the past that won't make you snore
• Deadheads and Mosh-pits: Books about being in a band

 

Nancy Keane’s ATN Reading Lists: http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.com/

Serves a wide range of ages and interests, some lists rather outdated, but the new wiki element of the site may bode improvement on this. Use this site for read-alike lists, school assignments, unusual thematic requests.

Sample lists:

• Immigration (high school readers)

• Chick Lit with minority character

• If you liked “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”…

 

Read On: Hennepin County Library: http://www.hclib.org/teens/read.cfm

Up-to-date lists on a variety of topics. Useful also for its book reviews by teens. A relatively new portion of the site, Bookspace, features user-created lists similar to Amazon’s Listmania.

Sample lists:

• It's Due Tomorrow!: Skinny books for book reports!

• Best Shonen Manga of the Century (reader created)

• Sassy Sisterhood: Meet savvy females and their fabulous friends.

 

YALSA: Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/poppaper

Selected yearly, the popular paperback lists include both fiction and nonfiction and are arranged by topic, not by publication year like YALSA’s other lists. Useful for high interest nonfiction, thematic and appeal based recreational reading.

Sample lists:

• Books That Don't Make You Blush: No Dirty Laundry Here

• I've Got a Secret

• Now THAT'S Comedy!: Humorous Books

 

 

 

Favorite Books for Teen RA

 

RoseMary Honnold. The Teen Reader’s Advisor (New York: Neal Schuman, Inc., 2006)

A user friendly reference for teen fiction titles, sorted by broad genre, with subgenre sections under each heading. Notable are the easy to scan annotations that include the main characters’ age and gender, the story setting, and a suggested grade level range for readers. Additional resources for librarians serving teens through readers’ advisory are included in a separate chapter.

 

Diana Tixier Herald. Teen Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests. (Westport Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2003)

A wonderful resource for teen recreational reading, as well as homework assignment help. Note the early chapters, in which Herald relays important and pertinent information regarding effective service to teen readers and offers tips on building and supplementing teen reading collections. Enough information is conveyed in the annotations to give a sense of the book, but not so much to gives spoilers, and they are conversational enough that a teen could browse the book comfortably.

 

The New York Public Library. Books for the Teen Age. Office of Young Adult Services, New York. Annual. Also at: http://teenlink.nypl.org/bta1.cfm

Broad concepts structure its organization, with several lists included under each heading. An ideal title to include in the teen area, as it easily lends itself to browsing. The newest titles are indicated, and every title has a very brief note about the content, as in “3 cool sisters and their interfering aunt.” Due to the brevity of the annotations, it is not always the easiest tool to use in the midst of a reader’s advisory interaction, but it can be a great tool to use with teens who just want to browse for a good read. Additionally, it is useful for librarians trying to familiarize themselves with popular new titles in a variety of categories.

 

... and lastly, a book that pulls it all together:

Heather Booth.  Serving Teens Through Readers' Advisory (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2007)

 A VOYA Five-Foot Bookshelf pick and Booklist Starred Review

Accessible and encouraging for beginners and an informative refresher for those more experienced, this hands-on guide addresses teens’ unique needs with practical tools that help Readers’ Advisors:

*Build winning relationships with teens and connect on their terms

*Communicate with this hard-to-reach audience

*Create a positive readers’ advisory experience

*Use proven questions and techniques to uncover teens’ worldview

*Get up to speed fast using “sure bets” lists, expanding thematic reading lists and sources of reviews

*Deal with challenges of controversial topics, homework reading, and recommending “by proxy”