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"I'll run one day. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself ... I'll run to be emancipated." - Melina Marchetta, Looking for Alibrandi (2006)

In Melina Marchetta's debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, we are introduced to a heroine named Josphine who is caught between the old world values of her Italian grandmother and the newfound liberation of what it means to become a grownup. Marchetta is known for writing about tough topics, from family turmoil to issues of mental illness, her contemporary novels often strike a chord with teenagers who are in that middling phase - what it means to be a 'young adult'.

When I was growing up in the early 2000's, I was not fortunate to have authors like Melina Marchetta tackling topics that I could relate to. Now in 2015, the young adult market is flooded with such variety for teens that it's somewhat difficult to keep up with. Still, teens are gravitating towards the tough subjects, and we as library professionals should be a guiding hand into this emerging scene of sensitive topics.

Teens are not afraid to analyze the world around them, and are often more open to reading about tougher subjects than adults give them credit for. Many of them are looking to liberate themselves from popular young adult trends, looking for topics that are relevant to their lives and the society that they are observing.

I would have loved to have had a novel like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak growing up. Why? Although I'm not a victim of rape, the message of speaking up and speaking out is worth promotion. Now teens are lucky enough to have novels like All the Rage by Courtney Summers, which explores rape and rape culture at deeper levels, looking at how young women are often failed by institutions when they are a victim of rape. Yes, rape is a rough topic, but it's relevant and important, and books like Speak and All the Rage are and will be overlooked because there is an innate fear from adults that teens cannot handle the subject matter.

Teens are tougher and smarter than many often give them credit for. There is a reason why books about bullying and suicide are becoming much more popular - they are topics they connect with on a day to day basis, likely because they are being touched by it in some way.

Books such as My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga explore the idea of suicide pacts and how suicide is something that must be combatted, but not alone. There's even a larger abundance of LGBTQI literature that is giving that group of teens a voice that was sorely lacking when I was a teenager. Authors such as Adam Silvera, David Levithan, and Nina LaCour are all tackling the difficult subjects, but are also providing them with an LGBTQI slant. Reading this type of teen literature provides the viewpoint that many of us who were teenagers forever ago may have potentially forgotten - their voices just as diverse and important.

We as library professions need to help in the development of our teens, especially when tough topics are becoming more prevalent in the literature. Providing teenagers with fictional novels to help develop their understanding of tougher subjects will make them stronger in the long run, and will allow them to essentially emancipate themselves from what society and adults deem that they should be reading.

Teens are a challenging group, but they live in a difficult and always changing world where social issues are constantly fluffed under the rug. Liberate them with your collections and recommendation, let them feel like they can handle it. Chances are - they can.
Samantha Marchello is a recent graduate of the Seneca College Library and Information Technician Program. She is also a middle grade and young adult book reviewer over at Cherry Blossoms & Maple Syrup and a games journalist at RPGamer.com. If she's not wandering around library stacks, she can often be found lost in a good book. She can be reached by e-mail at samcmar [at] gmail.com.
[Editor's Note: On the Edge: YA Fiction is a special series examining young adult fiction focusing on sensitive or controversial issues.]

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All the Tough Topics: Sensitive Issues in Young Adult Literature - OPEN SHELF

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"I'll run one day. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself ... I'll run to be emancipated." - Melina Marchetta, Looking for Alibrandi (2006) In Melina Marchetta's debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, we are introduced to a heroine named Josphine who is caught between the old world values of her Italian grandmother and the newfound liberation of what it means to become a grownup.

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Information literacy includes developing a personal taste and being able to communicate (respectfully) with others.

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Reading for personal and aesthetic growth by Heather L Rowan

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TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink

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Booktube is a great way to stay up-to-date with YLA. How do you find out about new titles to add/read/recommend?

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Libraries are about self-determinism. How do we promote NF to encourage curiosity?

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Seattle Picks: Teen - Nonfiction - The Seattle Public Library

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Seattle Picks: Teen - Nonfiction by SeattleTeenLibrarians : Information, humor, history, biography, art and how-to, all here. MS=Books for middle school readers.

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Encouraging students into new genres using book trailers

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Encouraging students into new genres using book trailers

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How do you get boys to consider books with girls on the cover?

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Okay, so I went with some information gathering technology during this booktalk to see what I could gather about the readers here on my campus. This was done in a day (booktalked two days with a colleague) and they were mostly freshmen and sophomores.
12 classes
391 students
189 girls
202 boys

The top five picks for girls:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (book trailer)
Shelter by Harlan Coben (book trailer)
You Have Seven Messages by Stewart Lewis
Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe
The Poisoned House by Michael Ford ( book trailer)

The bottom five picks for girls:
The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolfe
Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon
Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Ahhhh, the girlies. They will read guy books, girl books, non-fiction. You can tell from the top five that they run the gamut of genres. Most of the titles in the bottom five were interesting as well. Three of them were pitched for guys and girls but had a more grisly vibe to them. Girls don't seem to want to read about man-eating horses or zombie pit fights. Interestingly enough, not all of the book trailer books made it into the top ten for the girls. Most of them did, but Variant by Robison Wells wasn't in their top ten. As for Bad Taste in Boys? See the comment I made in the guys section below. Applies here as well.

The top five picks for guys:
Divergent by Veronica Roth (book trailers)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (book trailer)
Shelter by Harlan Coban (book trailer)
Trapped by Marc Aronson
How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg

The bottom five picks for guys:
You Have Seven Messages by Stewart Lewis
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

It seems that boys never lose faith in non-fiction. The only two non-fiction titles were in the guys top five. My personal opinion is that when they get older, it becomes more difficult for guys to really find enjoyable non-fiction titles, which is why I always include 2-3 titles in the booktalk. Of the top ten titles for guys, all five booktrailers made it, which may show they boys tend to connect visuals to the choice of books. And the bottom picks? All girls books, with the exception of Freak Magnet, which is told in alternating guy and girl voices, where the main character is considered a "freak." The only caveat I would have is Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris, which was the very last book talked, and if we ran out of time, I had to give it a hasty talk and hope they kids could hear me as they exited en masse out of the lecture hall.

TOP 10 BOOKS FOR ALL STUDENTS (in order of popularity):
1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (book trailer)
2. Shelter by Harlan Coben (book trailer)
3. The Poisoned House by Michael Ford (book trailer)
4. Divergent by Veronica Roth (book trailer)
5. Trapped by Marc Aronson
6. How they Croaked by Georgia Bragg
7. Kick by Walter Dean Myers
8. You Have Seven Messages by Stewart Lewis
9. Compromised by Heidi Ayarba
10. Wither by Lauren de Stefano (book trailer)

Would you look at that? The top four picks had book trailers. Another point of interest was the top 10 was divided right down the middle for traditional booktalking and the use of book trailers. That's why I usually incorporate a 3:1 ratio of traditional to trailers.

So there's my little experiment using Google Forms and the cooperation of 391 students. I really liked this and could go on about different genres, how the books were talked (summary vs. audience participation), length of time for each book, order of book in the presentation et all, but this is just the general gist. Hope you enjoyed my rant : )

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Interesting stats on my booktalk last week...

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Okay, so I went with some information gathering technology during this booktalk to see what I could gather about the readers here on my campus. This was done in a day (booktalked two days with a colleague) and they were mostly freshmen and sophomores.

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How can librarians help students learn how to embrace beauty while recognizing negative aspects and bias in books?