Ahhhh! The Chick Lit debacle~

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!

This years Judy Blume

CORBETT, S. (2011). Lauren myracle: 'this generation's judy blume.'.Publishers Weekly, 258(8), 31.

Reflections

When I was a tween I lived on Judy Blume. She taught me crucial aspects of changing bodies, first crushes, and the drama of middle school which is something that my parents didn't even know where to begin to talk about with me. She was a safe haven, a friend. It wasn't until I grew up and started working in a public library that I realized that she was one of the most challenged authors of all time. Like I have said before, most of the "risque" content went right over my head and my tween brain only absorbed what I understood. I understood that friendships sometimes sour, that the pitter patter of my heart every time I saw my 6th grade crush was normal, and that my boob size, unfortunately, would not increase with silly rhymes. 

This article suggests that Lauren Myracle, author of the popular books, TTYL, Shine, and G8R, is this generations Judy Blume. Bravo to her! Of course, this brought out the nut jobs who send her disheartening emails, and threats of the gates of hell, but Lauren explains that it only takes that one email from a tween or teen to share their gratefulness for her and her writing to get her back on her feet. I am a believer that authors who stand up to critics and back their works 100 percent, are the true award winners. Authors should not write for money, they should write for their readers, and not hold back. 

Kids Reading Twilight..

Russell, N. (2010). Kids are reading...junk. The American Spectator. 

Reflections

The author wrote this article after the Association of American Publishers announced that Children's and Young Adult fiction sales had increased nearly 14% from the following year. At first glance, the numbers are awesome, but then she begins to break down the *enter gasp here* that children are reading (this is her words, not mine) TRASH!! Too bad that she thinks that Hunger Games, the Twilight series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are just that, trash. On a more hilarious note, she also suggested that instead of reading Hunger Games, ADULTS should choose to "let" their child read Animal Farm or 1984!!!! She can't be serious!!!! It was even worse when she suggested kids read Wuthering Heights instead of the lovesick romance of Bella and Edward. Who is this woman?!?! 

Sure I get it (at least I think that I do). Some tweens are reading books that well, they may not just understand mentally, but if it gets them interested in reading, why discourage it? It is up to the parent to monitor what their children are reading. I have a few tween boys and girls that come in and want to read Ellen Hopkins books or Chris Crutcher books and although it is not my duty to tell them what to read, I do let them know other books in our area that are like these books and give them a little disclaimer about the content that they will be reading about in these books. Most of the times kids just want to jump on the bandwagon of what is cool, my daughter is 7 and she begged me to read Twilight. I allowed it, and pretty much most of the content went over her head and she had nightmares for a week. She doesn't want to read the other books nor see the movies and unless she read them for herself she would have found some other way to read it. As a child, I was allowed to read whatever I wanted. I read the Flowers in the Attic series when I was 7 and the sex scene and incest topics went right over my head. Now some may argue what is the point of reading a book if you don't understand the content, and my answer is always, why not? I related to other parts of the books and to this day they are my guilty pleasure. We as librarians have to remember not to cross the censorship line and tell tweens that they shouldn't be reading Crutcher or Hopkins and in all reality, it is up to their parents and caregivers.

Purchasing graphic novels for tweens...

Moon, B. (2008). [The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens]. School Library Journal, 54(8), 156. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database

Reflections

Ahhhhh the graphic novel. Both a librarians best friend and worst enemy. I remember when the first graphic novels for kids started coming out and what an uproar erupted on the listserves. Kids reading comics?!?! What is going to happen to books?!?! This is a library, not a comic book store!! These were splashed across the emails daily. I remember having to beg my supervisor to try a few, you know a few Spider-Man, Archie and Friends, and even some Wonder Woman comics for the girls. She agreed, and now three years later, our shelves are packed and ever so popular! Side note: she does still refuse to let me purchase any graphic novels that are based off of classic literature or any non-fiction graphic novels. 

This particular book has been a great resource to have because it contains a vast amount of information about the history of graphic novels, how to choose age appropriate graphic novels and an annotates list of great graphic novels that should be purchased for kids. The section that I think is the most useful is the section where the author gives great ideas on tying graphic novels in with programming...what tween wouldn't love a program based off of a superhero or fantasy graphic novel?
I have also noticed that parents have let down their guard a bit when it comes to graphic novels. Before, they didn't think reading comic books at the library was appropriate and many were nervous about the content. When they became more popular, and they saw teachers assigning them in class, their view changed. I used to have a boy patron who hated to read. I mean he would sit at the desk and mop while his siblings selected their books. I asked his mother if it was ok to show him to our graphic novel section and even though she was a bit hesitant she obliged. I handed him the Bone series by Jeff Smith and he begrudgingly took it. When they came back the next week he rushed straight over to the section and his mother thanked me for changing his life. Yes, I was in tears later that night. :) This is why...I am a librarian. 

Serving Young Tweens and Teens Book...

Smith, Mikki. (2009). Serving young tweens and teens. Education Library, 32(2). Retrived from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.44.

Reflections

This book saved my tween loving life! This was one of my first tween book purchasing for my reference collection and it has increased my personal and professional growth when working with tweens. I was so excited that this was one of the required readings in my 264-10 course at San Jose State University. Each chapter of this book addresses different aspects of serving this age group and touched on specialized subjects like censorship, media, reference service, and space concerns. This was most useful when my library decided to split up our programs by specialized ages and during a time where tweens was just a silly word. Again, it is crucial to look for help when working with different groups and this book, along with listserves and partnerships with other libraries, has helped me provide better services and understand this special age group. It is my goal to get out of the whole "middle child" stigma this group has, and it is about time that others see the importance of doing so. 

Another great section of this book is a great annotated list of fiction and non-fiction books that or organized by special subjects such as graphic novels, novels in verse, and social development. I have added to this list over the years and I use it as a reference tool when tweens want something to read, but have no idea what. 

Give boys some credit......

Florida Library Youth Program. (2008). http://flyp.library.florida.gov. Retrieved from http://flyp.library.florida.gov/node/358.

Reflection

Oh boys and programming...how I love, yet am freaked out by you all at the same time! I have always hated the whole "we need to work harder at getting boys into the library" convo tag. To me this demeans boys and they already don't get enough credit as it is. In fact, at my library boys are the ones that come to all of my programming, it is the girls that I have to work harder at getting to attend. This website does give great ideas though and I do believe that boys like to: blow things up (who doesn't), play, and win. But to say that girls don't, is dead wrong. I had a girl who loved creating odd but awesome sculptures in my art program for tweens...only to throw them on the floor to create her idea of "art". Who was I to argue. :)

I also want to mention that I hate the fact that people are constantly complaining that there are not enough books forboys and if there are, their characters are wimpy fart blowing booger picking jerks. Seriously? What about strong male characters like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, what about Laurence Yeps strong and determined male characters or even the super sleuth Encyclopedia Brown? Boys have characters that appeal to them, some may like the gross behaivor in the Captain Underpants series but some may like books about history or solving mysteries. It seems like we are constantly downplaying boys and building a ceiling over their heads with our constant bickering over whether or not we are serving them properly. Leave them alone, they don't need our constant pushing, like girls, they will find something worth reading. Give them some credit.