Week 7 assignments

Assignment 1: What to Read Next flowchart
That was great.  A very handy and well composed tool.  It was so easy to scan and understand.  I realized right away that it's the natural disaster type book that appeals to me most.  I'm going to read one of those once I plow my way though the lengthy historical fiction title I'm reading now.  I wasn't crazy about the "Have you been living under a rock?" heading for the first group of titles. It started the whole thing off with a "we're cooler than you" tone - at least to me - that didn't really describe why those titles were grouped together.  I'm assuming that those titles are popular favorites but since I have been living under a rock as far as these books are concerned I can't be sure.  All of the other headings were chummy and easy to understand. 

Assignment 2: Read two short articles and comment
I randomly selected the second and third link in the list.  Both "Who's Buying Teen Books?" from the Christian Science Monitor and "The Next Big Thing" from YALSA focused on the trend where adults are buying and reading teen literature.  That trend didn't take me by surprise since I read a lot of YA material when I was working in a branch.  Most YA titles have all the fluff removed.  They're written well but sparely so plot per page ratio is high and keeps you interested. I think it's also easy for older adults to identify with the characters in YA fiction.  They've been through that stage of life and know what it's like.  Easier, at least, than it is for younger readers to identify with older characters.

I commented on the Week 7 posts by Michael S. and Mercedes M.

Assignment 3: Teen Lit Blogs/Websites

Teenreads - This is a family run enterprise that does a good job of presenting interesting, engaging items for teens to read. There doesn't seem to be anything too edgy here.  I found the content organization to be easy to follow.  There are reviews, blog posts, reviewer profiles, etc.- all presented in an accessible layout. For the avid teen reader, this site would be a comfortable and useful spot to visit.  There's enough new content to keep readers coming back and the Coming Soon section gives readers a chance to see in advance what is in store from popular authors.

Squeetus Blog - This is the blog of the popular and successful author Shannon Hale.  I can see where this blog would be popular for (what I am assuming is) its intended audience - the female teen reader.  The writing style is quick and conversational.  I think that avid fans would enjoy the opportunity to read the author's comments and insights. It's a rare opportunity to get such a perspective on a writer's work.  I admit that this site didn't grab me but I'm hardly in the target demographic.

Assignment 4: Publisher imprint websites

Teens at Random - I had to pick this site just for the name.  It was probably a no-brainer for Random House to pick this title but I thought it was engaging.  I got a very strong sales feeling from this site. There were brief annotations with plenty of opportunities to  purchase items, suggest titles to friends and sign up for newsletters.  It was clear from this that Christopher Paolini is a headliner author for this publisher.  I didn't note any surprising trends here.  Fantasy and vampires are still popular but that doesn't come as news.

Harper Teen - This site had a glossier feel.  The site seemed geared to the reader of Seventeen magazine.  I don't know if it's always that way. I only began dropping by recently.  All of the cover art featured young women and most of the titles were written by female authors.  Because of that, the site home page has a consistent style. Digging deeper, I saw selections that might appeal to other audience segments. Supernatural titles in series seem to get the most promotion, along with the Pretty Little Liars series.  As with the Random House site, there were plenty of opportunities to buy things.  Harper had a much more visible push to engage teens through social networks.  Those icons were big and obvious.