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It Happens: A Guide to Contemporary Realistic Fiction for the YA Reader by Kelly Jensen. VOYA Press, an imprint of E L Kurdyla Publishing, LLC. 2014. Personal copy.

It's About: Don't you just love non-fiction books? They have the entire pitch in the subtitle.

Disclaimer: I am good friends with the author. I am quoted in It Happens. And I'm in the Acknowledgments.

The Good: It Happens is organized into three sections: Real Tools; Real Reads; and Real Talk.

The first part defines what, exactly, is contemporary YA fiction and why it matters to readers. As a former lawyer, I love that Jensen does this. I believe that it's hard to have conversations and discussions when we aren't beginning from the same place; and the way to know where that same place is by doing what Jensen does in Real Tools. I think even those familiar with YA fiction and contemporary YA fiction will appreciate what Jensen says.

Next is what is the heart of the book: Real Reads, extensive lists of contemporary titles. The lists are broken into fifteen themes. There are tons of books here, including books from 2014. Of course, I did what I always do when given lists . . . quickly skim to mark what I read, then actually it to discover books that I haven't read.

Real Talk, the final part, is basically "lists plus." Now that Jensen has provided the plethora of titles, with themes (so that they can quickly be used for booklists, booktalks, and displays) Jensen provides the "plus" -- how to use the titles to start conversations, especially tough conversations on topics like bullying and sexual assault.

I'll conclude with some reasons about why I think contemporary YA fiction is loved by readers. I believe that YA readers, like adult readers, should have the books they want and need to read. And so that includes contemporary books. I think that sometimes contemporary books can be easier for readers because they go in "knowing" the world and the characters, but the setting and people are familiar. It's the towns they live in, the families they live with, the friends they go to school with. I think that familiarity is very important to readers -- and it's why I think contemporary realistic fiction has to reflect the contemporary world, in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, economics, family -- well, you get the idea.

I think that too long, the default for books have been that anyone can and will identify with the middle class white main character so that it's OK that the majority of books that show only that world. And I think that is a ridiculous reason to not have the diverse books readers want and need. To bring this back to It Happens, Jensen includes diverse books in her lists, not just in her section about The Diverse World but in other sections. Books about sports includes books with characters that have obsessive compulsive disorder; books about best friends include books about people of color. Multiple entry points are included for each book.

Other reviews and links: Jen Robinson's Book Page; Circulating Ideas Podcast interview.

And a bonus -- a giveaway! Kelly Jensen is having a giveaway of her book over at her blog, Stacked. A winner will be picked later this month.




Amazon Affiliate. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

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As a mom-slash-librarian, I have worked pretty hard to try to make sure that my daughters are readers.  There are books of all sorts in every room of the house, I read in front of them on our commute, and at home, and I read to them when they let me.  As my oldest daughter reached tweendom, I thought, “This is it! I will finally be able to share all of my favs with her!” Cue sad trombone music.  I had to accept the fact that while she is a reader, she is her own reader.  Some of our tastes overlap, but there are often times when we aren’t interested in each other’s books.  And that’s okay.

Many times other parents see my kiddos reading and ask me how I did it.  Or assume that my job did it for me. And many other times the follow up question is how they can get their own kids to “elevate” their reading, meaning  “the classics”.  At these moments I do my best to avoid all signs of side-eye, give a reassuring smile and ask them why the classics?  Is it because they themselves have fond memories of reading the classics?  Are they looking down at the children’s books their kids are reading as somehow “less than” with regard to the classics?

I remind them that the vocabulary in capital L literature is often difficult and unfamiliar to younger readers, which can lead to frustration.  I then tend to recommend reading the classics together so that the parent can scaffold the unfamiliar bits, define some old fashioned language, and add some context.

Ultimately, the message I always try to get across when presented with the classic(s) question is that all reading is good.  If your child is super excited about a mass marketed series paperback, go with it.  Ask your child about what makes it so great.  Read along with them and earn their trust.  Then when you leave the piles of books around the house they can be made up of best sellers, series and classics.  Over time, readers might just pick one up on their own, which in my opinion is the best way to have it happen!

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This summer my attention was directed to YA author Hannah Moskowitz's blog entry about her perception of a problem with boy characters in YA fiction. Her main point is that one reason more boys don't read YA fiction is because male characters are stereotyped and sanitized; they don't act like real boys. "Boys need their blockbusters, too," she writes.

I have to confess that my reaction to her article, and many of the comments in response, was "Give me a [expletive deleted] break." Hello, Harry Potter? Not to mention Percy Jackson, Vladimir Todd, Eragon, Alex Rider, Pendragon, Cherub, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid... to name just a few extremely popular series for kids and teens that feature male main characters.

Yes, there are gender differences in verbal development and reading preferences, and perhaps teen boys aren't into novels as much as their female peers. But is it true that YA publishing is seeing a dearth of fully realized, three-dimensional teen male characters? Maybe it's because I work in a public library whose policy is to select widely from books that get good reviews in professional journals, and not in a major chain bookstore whose main emphasis is profit (I have noticed that at Borders and Barnes and Noble the shelves of the YA section are filled with "pink" books), but I don't see evidence of such a trend. And I'm certainly not about to attribute teen boys' reading habits to a lack of "real" boys in literature.

Honestly, my perception is that female characters are still playing catch-up. Twilight becomes a worldwide sensation, and suddenly boy readers have no literary heroes to identify with?

I appreciate groundbreaking, feminist YA fantasy author Tamora Pierce's comment on Moskowitz's post. She doesn't cite her sources, but I agree with her perception that -- particularly in fantasy and science fiction genres -- male characters still dominate the field, both in sheer numbers and in terms of how they are portrayed. Yes, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, Kristin Cashore's Graceling, and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series hit it big. But from where I'm standing, a current of sexism runs through the public's response to these exciting books -- this attitude, verbalized or not (and so often it is; as a public librarian, I can attest to this), that these books are great reads for both boys and girls in spite of having female main characters.

Anyway, today Abby (the) Librarian linked to this related post by popular YA author Maureen Johnson: "Sell the Girls. It's a long essay but worth the time to read it. Like Moskowitz, Johnson starts with the alleged "crisis" of literature for teen boys, but she takes it in a completely different direction.

So, we’re thinking about boys and girls and what they read. The assumption, as I understand it, is that females are flexible and accepting creatures who can read absolutely anything. We’re like acrobats. We can tie our legs over our heads. Bring it on. There is nothing we cannot handle. Boys, on the other hand, are much more delicately balanced. To ask them to read “girl” stories (whatever those might be) will cause the whole venture to fall apart. They are finely tuned, like Formula One cars, which require preheated fluids and warmed tires in order to operate—as opposed to girls, who are like pickup trucks or big, family-style SUVs. We can go anywhere, through anything, on any old literary fuel you put in us.

Largely because we have little choice in the matter.<

0 Comments on Return of the "Boy Books" as of 1/1/1900

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Or do we?

Librarian in Black and The M Word - Marketing Libraries are talking about a "staffless" library has opened in Kings County. There is interesting talk, pro and con, at those two blogs, so click on through to add to the discussion. The story the blog posts are based on is at Library Journal.

My first thought: good on that library system! The staffless library is basically a branch in a larger system, and that system actually did what libraries usually just talk about: they listened to what their customers wanted and gave it to them. What I've seen/heard in libraryland is often a "ask customers, pretend to listen, and in the end give them what we think the library thinks they need" philosophy. So yay for that library system for listening rather than paying lip service.

My second thought: just because you cannot see the person doing readers advisory doesn't mean it doesn't happen. (Actually, I owe you all my two cents worth on how RA and libraries is criminally undervalued. Maybe I'll have time in February.)

In having this type of "staffless" library, what the community, the library, and librarians need to remember is that it is NOT staffless. The Librarian in Black listed all the building costs and some of the services that staff a staffless building.

I saw that list and thought, "but wait! There's more!"

So here is what staff is still doing for this customer base -- and what, truly, all libraries should be doing well because we all have people who just want their materials. Disclaimer: include me in that. I work long hours, I get home, no, I don't want to go to a library program and don't care what they offer. I want my books, thank you very much.

Professional services that are still being done and need to be done very well:

Catalog. About five years back, when I was complaining about catalogs and poor cataloging so it was so damn hard to find books and DVDs and music on it, I was told by muckety mucks in the library world that it is a well known library fact that patrons don't use the catalog to find the books they want. They browse. Conclusion unsaid: so it doesn't matter that something is hard to find in the catalog.

I'm sure you can point me to those studies. I browse myself. But with the advancement of online searching, and Amazon, etc., the truth is people are used to going to a computer and using it to find what they want -- with a different set of browsing expectations. Expectations not of the shelf but of the catalog. If you have people relying on placing holds to get materials, a library has to pay attention to its catalog and what is in it. A valuable professional service right there, done by a professional librarian who is savvy enough and customer-friendly enough to create the online public access catalog that is about finding books rather than organizing and classifying them.

Website. As a member of the book blogging community, I can tell you -- websites matter. Readers Advisory is not about the check out person noticing someone with Nora Roberts and recommending LaVyrle Spencer (and, sadly, too many librarians believe this.) It's about the reviews and booklists and information you provide on your website. Call it handselling, call it booktalking, call it readers advisory -- book blogs are doing this every day and our readers love it. I'm not saying the library website should look like a book blog; but it is so 2001 to believe that your patron won't get suggestions on what to read next from your website.

The important thing, as with everything else about your library, is it has to be done well and it has to be

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My post last week about Diantha McBride’s open letter to children’s publishers prompted some interesting discussion in the comments. Responding to the issue of gendered readers’ advisory, Mr Chompchomp from GuysLitWire pledged to write about books with guy appeal that happen to star female characters. He came through this week, naming four of my all-time favorite fantasy series—for my own enjoyment and for booktalking to kids—in the process.

While the topic’s fresh in my mind, here are some more novels and series with female protagonists that have strong multi-gender appeal:

• Book of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau
• Damar Chronicles, by Robin McKinley
• Flora Segunda and sequels, by Ysabeau Wilce
• Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
• Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke
• Maximum Ride, by James Patterson
• Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landry
• Young Wizards, by Diane Duane
• Just about anything by Tamora Pierce (particularly the Alanna, Keladry, and Beka Cooper series)

I followed Mr Chompchomp’s lead and stuck to speculative fiction here, but what other books or series—of any genre—would you add?

One final point of discussion (for today): In thinking about my own tendency toward gendered readers' advisory, I realized that when I'm booktalking a "girl book" (a book starring a girl) to a male reader—or said male reader's guardian—I tend to say things like, "But it's full of action! But she's tough and kicks butt!"

But, but, but. I become an apologist for girl-centric fiction. It's like I'm saying, "I'm sorry this book is about a girl, but actually it's quite exciting, if you'd only look past the disappointing fact that it's about a girl." Do I use these kinds of qualifications when I'm booktalking a "boy book" to a girl? No. I hate that.

I even had trouble writing this post! That sentence above, "Here are some more novels and series with female protagonists that have strong multi-gender appeal"? The "that" was originally a "but."

Sexism runs so very deep in our culture, in ourselves. Even when I'm actively trying to kick it to the curb, it's still there. Ugh!

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Or not.

Summer reading is the buzz worthy topic now, what with it being summer and all. Some schools and public libraries have reading lists. Just the other day someone asked me (interesting enough, not a parent or teacher or child) where was my summer reading lists? Don't I have a list of books that summer reading participants have to read?

No. No, I don't. Why, I wonder, do you need the list?

What's wrong with a kid picking their own books? Don't get me wrong; I love doing readers advisory with kids. I love talking with them about books that they love - or hate. I love doing booklists and displays. It is simply my most favorite part of my job.

What I don't love so much? Parents not letting kids pick out their own books. Oh, the reasons may vary. Too busy to come into the library is always a good reason; wanting to make sure the kids read the "good" books; not wanting their child to waste time with a book they find boring or to miss out on a really good book.

But you know what? Just as there is value in learning who you can turn to for getting a good recommendation for a book, there is value in learning how to pick out books for yourself.

To slowly browse the shelves, discovering on your own that your favorite author wrote another book.

To not find anything and have your Mom saying "pick something already" and to grab a book and then be really really bored six days later and find out OMG despite the awful cover it's a great book.

To think you're going to like something, to find out you didn't and realize that you don't have to finish it.

To start forming your own tastes and ways to pick books, rather than always having a parent, teacher or librarian telling you what your tastes should be.

If summer is about freedom --at least, for students if not for the rest of us! -- why not the freedom to pick your own books, including the freedom to fail at picking the right one?



My summer reading post from two years ago is still timely: Play A Half Hour of Baseball Every Day


© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

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Progress report on what my library has done since the ILA conference session on library service to GLBTQ teens:

• We have ordered (but not yet received) Serving Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians, by Martin and Murdock (Neal-Schuman, 2006).
• As of today, our list of recommended Gay and Lesbian Books for Young People is available on our website and in the library.
• Modernizing/streamlining catalog headings hasn't happened yet, and I don't think it will for at least another month what with various other things happening. But it's still on my agenda.

So, more about the list. "Gay and Lesbian" is not a very inclusive title, I know. But we were going for transparency, and it was the best title we could think of that wasn't too long, clever, obscure, general, or clinical. We figure that people looking for a GLBTQ list will recognize this as such, and that people serendipitously finding the list will have a good idea of what it includes. The list description spells out the contents further.

As for what's on the list, it's got books about queer youth, children and teens with queer family members and friends, various other queer issues, different types of families, and some other gender identity issues. The books have an intended audience of preschool through high school. All the books are owned by the library. It's not comprehensive, but I squeezed in as many titles as I could within our one-sheet, double-sided constraints.

I'm very appreciative of my boss (Hi, boss! Yes, my boss reads my blog), my uber-boss, and my fellow youth librarians, who have been very supportive of this list. (So far, no one has asked why we need this list.) My boss has even suggested we do a display to highlight the list, after our Day of the Dead display comes down. That's really gutsy, but what is a good librarian, if not gutsy? Let's do it!

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So, this week's Weekly Geek challenge is a quotation on every post. I'm going to see if I can do all fortune cookies:

The greatest truths are the simplest and so are the greatest men.

That's what I got in today's fortune cookie. (Dan is back after spending the weekend in Houston with his family. They're fine, he's fine, and now he's home, so I'm fine. Anyway, we ordered Peking Duck for dinner. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Peking duck. Also, just another plug for The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee, which is AWESOME)

So, it's Nonfiction Monday!

This is not nonfiction for kids or teens, but rather a book for those of us who work with kids or teens or just like reading their books.

Book Crush: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest by Nancy Pearl

Ok, if you haven't yet read them, you must read Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason and More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, you need to go do so. Like, now.

Anyway, Book Crush is along the same lines, but focusing on children's and teen books. As usual with Nancy Pearl's works, my To-Read list grew by PAGES. Everything from fiction to older teen works are covered.

If you're not familiar with the Book Lust books, Pearl offers a subject, and then several books that deal with the topic. In this offering, such topics include "Rebels with a Cause" which includes Where the Wild Things Are or "Friends Make the World Go Round" which includes both The Egypt Game and Meet Danitra Brown (the most splendifirous girl in town.)

I mean, who can resist book lists titled "May I Have This Dance? Old-Fashioned Love Hip Enough for the Jaded-at-Twelve Crowd" or "Kung Fu, the Samurai Crowd, and Ninja Stealth" or even "Dragooned by Dragons"?!

Of course, as a children/teen book aficionado, I had a few sad moments-- first off there's no mention of the the Alice series by Phylis Reynolds Naylor. I really think this is an important work of middle grade and YA lit. I like Alice in small doses, but still, an important aspect of the field and completely ignored. And, I really don't think The City of Ember is a fantasy (sci-fi? yes, dystopian? yes, fantasy? no.) And was sad to see that the description of Private Peaceful was just plain wrong. (But then again, so is the flap copy, but in a different way. Let's just say that Tommo is NOT spending the night up on watch (which is was the flap says) and people are NOT being executed for falling asleep on sentry duty (which is what Pearl says) I won't say what is really going on though, because it's a spoiler.)

But there were happy ones too. Pearl laments that not enough people know about the out-of-print Madeline L'Engle title And Both Were Young. I was horrified to learn this was OPP (but you can buy it from Amazon used for one cent, plus shipping and handling) but was happy to be one of the chosen few who love this book. (Seriously, buy a copy now and read it. It's wonderful.)

Anyway, many weekly geeks ago, we asked for questions on unreviewed titles. Here are mine on this book:

Chris asks: How is Book Crush? Would you recommend it to your fellow book fiends or should we pass?

Recommend! Especially if you like children's or teen lit-- I highly recommend all of Nancy Pearl's works to book friends.

Molly asks : Hi Fellow Weekly Geeker! I'm a HUGE Nancy Pearl fan, but have not read Book Crush. As someone who has not read a lot of teen and tween books, would I still enjoy Book Crush?

Yes. I'm a big proponent of getting adults to read younger lit, because it's SO FREAKIN' GOOD and I think adults would enjoy it if they read it. So, I think if you like Nancy Pearl, you should check this out and read some more teen/tween and even younger than that books.

This books is super up-to-date and includes books that must have been ARCS when she was writing this!

Anyway, it's non-fiction Monday and, as per usual, Anastasia has the round-up. Woot!

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Christine M over at The Simple and the Ordinary is looking for some readers advisory for her ten (almost eleven) year old daughter: Actually, she specifically wants books set in the 1st half of the 20th century in America (where people aren't riding in buggies and wearing sun bonnets). They don't have to be specific about a topic - just using the time period.

So, basically that is any time up to World War II (and yes, I checked with Chris, and up to and right after WWII is good; basically, 1900 to 1950.) I know, a kid who wants to read historical fiction! Awesome.

Any ideas? Let Christine (and Pippi) know.

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Shannon Hale has a post up about her book, Austenland:

"And on the other hand, I've come under criticism from some for writing a "vulgar" and "trashy" book. This absolutely astounds me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for every reader having that individual reading experience, for their experience to be much different than mine. I'm just so surprised by it! If it were a movie, I feel pretty confident it'd be rated PG. When I was writing austenland, I thought, "People like me who enjoy romance but don't like to read the smutty stuff will dig this book! It's so fun and clean and yet still sexy!" And then come the accusations of vulgarity. sigh You really, really can't anticipate how people will respond."

It's also well worth it to review the comments for the post, as people respond to this (and other things mentioned in the post.)

I'm intrigued because Hale set out to write a "clean" book. (A term I use reluctantly because I don't agree that sex in a book makes it "dirty", yet it is a term that is used so frequently that I don't have much of a choice.) I didn't get into this aspect in my review, and I have since lent my copy out, but my recollection of the book is that Hale did a great job of being vague about the s.e.x, to the point that it was entirely possible for the reader to think that the main character was still a virgin. Oh, there were boyfriends and kissage and making out; but no s.e.x. Yet, apparently, just the multiple boyfriends (um, not all at the same time!) and the kissing/ making out (all very PG, as Hale says) was enough for people to say "no go." (Actually, vulgar and trashy.)

The point? For some people, even dating and kissing and trying to figure out "do I like guy y or guy x" is going to render a book "not clean." It can be very difficult to match the book to a reader, either as an author or as someone doing reader's advisory (whether the person doing RA is a librarian, parent, teacher, or blogger.) It's yet another reason I try to stay away from the term "clean" and instead ask, what it is the reader wants and is comfortable with reading. Matching up books and readers is an art, not a science; and not everyone shares the same standards, the same criteria, or even the same definition of what a term means.

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I'd like to thank Carlie, the matchmaker between me & my new TV boyfriend.

This is how we met:

Carlie likes the TV show Numb3rs, with Don Eppes (FBI guy) and his math whiz brother, Charlie*. Now, Melissa and Carlie had tried to introduce me to this show before, during the infamous Flavor Flav weekend, I believe. But, it didn't take.

I was visiting Carlie a few weekends ago and we were watching Supernatural (pretty, pretty boys.) And Carlie then did the best Readers Advisory for TV ever. Picking up on a significant reason why I adore the show, she said, "You know, this show is just like Numb3rs."

"How so," I asked, wondering what a show about demons had in common with a show about crimes.

"Supernatural: two brothers and a Chevy Impala. Numb3rs: two brothers and a Craftsman house."

Casting it in the light of family drama and brotherly angst, I had to watch. How obsessed am I?

I chose to watch the Season 2 DVD rather than watch original shows this past month.

I am now slightly obsessed with the show, and Don Eppes. (Let's be clear: I'm not some crazy stalker girl who has confused Rob Morrow with the character he plays. And I know Don is not real.) Why I like the character: well, have you seen him? Adorable. But also? There is all the family drama and emotions; the two brothers who trying to reconnect, the father, the family dynamics. Sigh. Forget the crime solving, I like the conversation over dinner. And they bicker, just like Sam and Dean! Seriously, Alan Eppes is just like John Winchester; except nicer and not so psycho. And I don't think the Winchesters are Jewish.

Past TV boyfriends have included Brian Ash, Joe Dubois is my TV husband, and book boyfriend: Gen, of course, as well as Michael Jennings (and half of EEW's main characters). I think Will was one of my first book boyfriends.

So, confess. Don't leave me here on my own. Who is your TV/book/movie boyfriend or girlfriend?.

*edited to add: holy hannah, what a difference a hair cut makes.

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As you all know, I am a school librarian. For the last 6 years or so, I have been mixing up my read aloud for the 4th grade. We have done The Last of the Great Whangdoodles, by Andrews. We have done Desperaux, by Di Camillo. We have done Ruby Holler and Heartbeat by Creech. There's been a bit of Spiderwick in there too.

I am working on Ulysses Moore right now, and I think that will work. Does anyone have a read aloud that has gone over well in the past?

I do something else that I call the "book tease" with the 4th graders as well. Not a booktalk, but simply a read aloud of a chapter or two of a title. This way, I can present genres and multiple titles that I may not otherwise have time for.

I am also thinking of taking the leap away from my 3rd grade classic of Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher, by Coville. I call it classic, since it has never failed me.

Thoughts?

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Whimsy is starting a new blog, Deliciously Clean Reads, and is looking for contributors to review books.

What I like about this brand new blog:

* It's about finding books to read and recommend, rather than finding books to keep away from people. It's a positive review source, not a negative review source.

* Whimsy acknowledges that different people have different definitions of what is clean; so she sets forth her criteria and a sample book list.

* It includes a lot of new books, but it's also looking at older titles.

* The sidebar links to a variety of booklists from many sources.

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Sophie got a request over at Pop Goes the Library for "my 13 year old girl, there was nothing that appealed to me or that I thought would appeal to her, an athlete with little interest in clothes, makeup and to a lesser degree, boys."

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a no-go, because the mother and daughter want to avoid books "about girls having sex and other more adult topics."

Full request is at Pop, along with Sophie's initial responses. My "off the top of my head" responses are in the comments (and I apologize now for typos etc., it's the posting while packing ohmygoodness I forget my makeup madness.)

I know the readers and lurkers here will have tons of suggestions; please post suggestions over at Pop.

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