Meloni, C. (2011). Tween girls want chick lit, too! Library Media Connection, 29(6). Retrieved from Library Lit and Inf Full Text database
Reflections
Oh to be young again. The puttering of your heart when you see your first crush, the snickers with girlfriends as they walk by and the fateful brokenness when first loves end. This is a great article and it talks about the undeniable change of girls when they grow into adolescence. They begin to store their American Girl dolls and Junie B. Jones books in their closets and become more interested in books and entertainment that reflect their own budding interest. In recent years, chick lit has been popular in teen literature and it was only a matter of time when authors and publishers saw a need for books geared towards tweens. Tweens go through an enormous amount of changes. Their bodies are changing, their friends are changing, and their fashion and musical taste follows what it popular in entertainment. If tweens are here to stay, libraries need to start purchasing books and materials that allow tweens to grow and develop.
Judy Blume was and still is a great example of an author who really knows children and teens. She writes for this age group and doesn't sugarcoat emotions or experiences. When tweens feel like they can't divulge what is going on in their bodies and minds, books are a safe haven of exploration. By offering tweens book lists that interest them, we, as librarians, are doing our job. I remember I tween girl asking me for books on starting her period. When I took her to the non fiction area she was more grossed out than anything. She said it was embarrassing to read all of the scientific details of mensuration that she didn't want to be seen with any of them while at school. I then suggested she check out some Judy Blume books that I knew talked about this subject and she begrudgingly did, and she came back a week later and thanked me for them, and asked if she could please have some more. Score!
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