Welcome to my blog. I got the idea to make this because one of my professors wants my classmates and me to keep reading logs for a Services and Resources for Young Adults library course. We have been asked to read books that are written for teens and keep a journal of what we read throughout the term. There are certain types of books we have to read, but the specific ones we read are up to us. This blog serves as that journal.
I will be posting my reading entries soon, but first I wanted to give you an idea of how I am going to complete the project. First of all, my professor gave me a list of the types of books I have to read. It looks like this:
- 1 Award-winning fiction (Printz, Alex, GG, etc.)
- 1 Hi/Lo book
- 1 Revised Fairy or Folktale
- 1 Realistic Fiction
- 1 Fantasy or Science Fiction or Horror
- 1 Historical Fiction or Biography
- 1 Romance
- 2 Magazines
- 1 Controversial Book
- 1 Series Fiction (at least 2 books from that series)
- 1 Graphic Novel
- 2 Audio Recordings (music, audiobook)
- 2 Video (movie, tv show)
- 2 Library Websites for Teens
These are just the minimum requirements. We can read as many books as we want, but we have to make sure we cover everything on the list.
I have decided to make my reading choices as natural as possible. In other words, I want to try and pick my books the same way a normal teenager would. I have tried to stay away from reading lists and decided to rely on recommendations from friends or just browsing the shelves. As a result of this, the postings you will see over the next few months reflect my own personal tastes. For instance, I tend to have a lot of historical fiction, because I like stories that are set in the past or are retellings of famous events. I also tried to find books that were written by Canadians, because I am Canadian, and like to support home-grown talent. I will mark these entries with a CAN.You will notice after a while that my entries follow a certain format. The assignment requires that I include certain elements in my comments about a book. I do not pretend to be an expert on whether a book has all its facts correct or not, or at what age a person will be able to read it, but I have made notes about who will find the book interesting. The age group that librarians label "young adults" can range anywhere from 10-18, so I have tried to include books with a wide range of interest levels.
I hope that this blog will be of use to librarians, teachers, parents and others who work with or read teen books. I especially hope teens will visit this site. It is meant to give you an idea of some of the great books that are out there, and to get you thinking about why you like certain ones over others. If you have any questions, or you would like to make suggestions about a book that I should read, feel free to let me know.
