How can we get teenagers to read?

Presented by June Keuhnjhkeuhn@yahoo.com

This session will provide ideas on how to attract teen readers.

Online Teen Book Club Library book blogs Book talks/Book lists Teacher book clubs Social Networking for Professionals

Circulation statistics9/1/2005-8/31/2006Loans: 695Renewals: 120

9/1/2006-5/2/2007Loans: 873Renewals: 118

Usage

1309 students per week (about 200 students a day)

20 classes in per week

Trends in the Headlines

Teens buying books at fastest rate in decades New 'golden age of young adult literature' declared By CECELIA GOODNOW

Fantasy and graphic novels are especially hot, and adventure, romance, humor and gritty coming-of-age tales remain perennial favorites. In addition, racy series such as "The Gossip Girls" -- often likened to a teen "Sex and the City" -- have created a buzz.

Trends in the Headlines (cont.)

More notably, though, there's a new strain of sophistication and literary heft as publishers cater to the older end of the spectrum with books that straddle teen and adult markets.

…teen fiction now circulates at a higher rate than adult fiction.

Trends in Teen Fiction

More options, from racy chick lit to serious fiction

Thanks in part to new teen imprints such as Scholastic's PUSH, Simon & Schuster's Simon Pulse, Penguin's Razorbill Books and HarperCollins' HarperTEEN.

TrendsMore teen-adult crossover

titles

"Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation," by M.T. Anderson; "The Book Thief," by Aussie author Markus Zusak; and "Tamar," by Mal Peet.

Trends

A global scope

U.S. publishers are scooping up books from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, France and elsewhere, such as "Wildwood Dancing," by Australian fantasy writer Juliet Marilliet, and "The Killer's Tears," by Anne-Laure Bondoux, winner of the French Prix Sorcieres.

Trends

Established adult authors writing for teens

Among them are Joyce Carol Oates ("Big

Mouth & Ugly Girl"), Catherine Ryan Hyde ("Becoming Chloe") and Isabel Allende ("City of the Beasts”)

Trends

Innovative formats

One example is "Crank," by Ellen Hopkins, a free-verse narrative about a teen's addiction to crystal meth.

Trends

A lingering fascination with fantasy

Examples: "Eldest," by Christopher Paolini; "New Moon," by Stephanie Meyer; "Wintersmith," by Terry Pratchett; and "The Uglies Trilogy," by Scott Westerfield.

Trends

The rise of graphic novels With a huge teen fan base and newfound

literary respect, readers are snapping up such books as "American Born Chinese," by Gene Luan Yung, a National Book Award finalist and winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award It's the first graphic novel to win this ALA honor.

Trends

Longer books

Once held to 200 pages, young-adult novels grow hefty, as "Harry Potter" proves a good book can never be too long ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" runs 896 pages).

Online Teen Book Club

Online Teen Book Club

The club sends the first chapter or two of that week’s book to the student’s email account.

Easy to unsubscribe. No spam is sent.

Cost: $200.00 per year

Online Teen Book Club

This week's book: OPHELIA by Lisa Klein

• FROM THE BOOK JACKET: He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again. In this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting. Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems. When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia's happiness is shattered. Ultimately she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever...with one very dangerous secret. Lisa Klein's "Ophelia" tells the story of a young woman falling in love, searching for her place in the world, and finding the strength to survive. Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene. (Today's book starts after the "Dear Reader" column.)

Dear Reader,

Hello. I'm Julia, and I will be your Dear Reader writer for the week. I'm 15 and I live in western New York. I love to read, of course, play the piano and guitar, listen to music, surf the Internet, watch movies, and hang out with my friends. Reading the summary of this book immediately got me intrigued. It sounds really good so far. I like the whole Medieval, Renaissance setting too. But, I'm not really into Shakespeare yet, but I do like to read poetry. My favorite poet, by far, is Sylvia Plath. I love all of her work. So do any of you guys like to read poetry? What other kinds of literature do you like to read? Email me with your answer. Julia

Email me at: Teen@emailbookclub.com

• PROLOGUE St. Emilion, France November 1601 "My lady: "I pray this letter finds you in a place of safety. I write in brief, for few words are best when they can bring only pain. "The royal court of Denmark is in ruins. The final fruits of evil have spilled their deadly seeds. At last, King Claudius is dead, justly served his own poison. Hamlet slew him with a sword envenomed by the king himself. Queen Gertrude lies cold, poisoned by a cup the king intended for Hamlet. It was the sight of his dying mother that spurred Hamlet's revenge at last. "But the greatest grief is this: Your brother, Laertes, and Prince Hamlet have slain each other with poisoned swords. I have failed in the task you set me. Now Fortinbras of Norway rules in our conquered land. "Forgive Hamlet, I beg you. With his dying words he charged me to clear his wounded name. Believe me, before the lust for revenge seized his mind, he loved you deeply. "Also forgive, but do not forget, Your faithful friend and seeker, Horatio" The letter leaves me stunned, dazed with fresh pain so that I cannot even rise from my bed. I dream of Elsinore Castle, a vast stone labyrinth. At its center, the great banquet hall, warmed by leaping fires, where courtiers passed like lifeblood through a heart, where King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude reigned, the mind and soul that held the whole body together. Now all fire and all flesh are but cold ashes. I dream of my beloved, the witty, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, before he was taken from me by madness and death. In my mind's eye the green orchards of Elsinore appear, ripe with sweet pears and apples that bent the branches and offered themselves to our hands. The garden where we first kissed, fragrant then with sharp rosemary and soothing lavender, now lies blasted and all withered. Through my dream gurgles the fateful brook where I swam as a child and where the willow boughs skimmed the water's surface. There I met my watery end and began life anew. I see myself and Hamlet on the mist-shrouded battlements, where an unseen ghost witnessed our embracing, then turned Hamlet's mind from love to vengeance. I see the fearsome face of Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, who murdered his father and married his mother, my dear queen Gertrude, whom he poisoned. Alas, my Hamlet is dead! And with him all of Elsinore ruined, like Eden after man's fall. I, Ophelia, played a part in this tragedy. I served the queen. I sought to steer the prince's course. I discovered dangerous secrets and fell afoul of the tyrant Claudius. But how did it come to this end, the death of all my world? Guilt consumes me, that I should live while all are lost. That I could not divert the fated course. I cannot rest while this history remains untold. There is no peace for me while this pain presses upon my soul. Though I have lived only sixteen years, I have known a lifetime of sorrow. Like the pale moon, I wane, weary of seeing the world's grief, and I wax again, burdened with life. But like the sun, I will dispel the darkness about me and cast a light upon the truth. So I take up my pen and write. Here is my story. PART ONE Elsinore, Denmark 1585-1601 CHAPTER ONE I have always been a motherless girl. The lady Frowendel died giving birth to me, depriving also my brother, Laertes, and my father, Polonius, of her care. I had not so much as a scrap of lace or a remembered scent of her. Nothing. Yet by the miniature framed portrait my father carried, I saw that I was the living image of my mother. I was often sad, thinking I had caused her to die and therefore my father could not love me. I tried not to vex or trouble him further, but he never gave me the attention I desired. Nor did he dote on Laertes, his only son. He cast his gaze everywhere but on our faces, for he was ambitious to be the king's most valued and secret informant. We lived in the village of Elsinore in a fine house, timber-framed with mullioned windows. Laertes and I played in the garden my mother had kept, the beds growing wild after her death. I often hid among tall rosemary bushes, and all day I would carry the pungent scent about me. On hot days we swam in Elsinore's river where it meandered through a nearby wood, and we captured frogs and salamanders on its grassy banks. When we were hungry we stole apples and plums from the marketplace and darted away like rabbits when the vendors shouted after us. At night we slept in a loft beneath the eaves, where on cold nights the smoke from the kitchen fires rose and hovered beneath the rafters, warming us. On the first floor of our house was a shop where ladies and gentlemen of the court sent their servants to buy feathers, ribbons, and lace. My father disdained shopkeepers as unworthy and low, but he consorted with them and curried favor with the customers, hoping to overhear court gossip. Then, wearing a doublet and hose in high fashion, he would hasten down the broad way to join the throng of men seeking positions in King Hamlet's court. Sometimes we would not see him for days and we worried that he had abandoned us, but he always returned. Then he would carry on excitedly about some opportunity certain to befall him, or he would be silent and moody. Laertes and I would peek through the broken panel of his chamber door and see him bent over a small pile of money and papers, shaking his head. We were certain that we would be ruined, and we wondered, lying awake in our loft, what would happen to us. Would we become like the orphan child we often saw in the village streets, begging for bread and eating scraps of meat like a wild animal? (continued on Tuesday)

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Blogs

Library Book Blogs Check your district policy Talk to your principal & director of

technology Choose a site that allows you to edit

or delete the comments Cost: Free (or there are ones you can

subscribe to)

Blogging sites Blogger http://www.blogger.com Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com/ Class Blogmeister

http://classblogmeister.com/

Legal issueshttp://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-students.php

Corning’s Book blog

http://cppreads.blogspot.com/

Blogs for Librarians to Read

The blogs on this list are by/for librarians, not the teen readers themselves.

http://aliceyucht.pbwiki.com/YouthServicesBlogList

Book talks/Book lists

Teen issues Books about other teens with similar

problems Book reviews by teens/for teens Independent reading projects

BooksFriesen, Gayle. The Isabel Factor.

Toronto ; Tonowanda, NY : Kids Can Press, 2005.

When her best friend Zoe breaks her arm during a dare, Anna finds herself braving summer camp, and being a counselor-in-training on her own. Being in Zoe's shadow had been comfortable, but now Anna's out in the open, and facing some harsh truths.

Na, An. Joyce. Wait for Me. NY: Putnam, 2006.    

As her senior year in high school approaches, Mina yearns to find her own path in life but working at the family business, taking care of her little sister, and dealing with her mother's impossible expectations are as stifling as the southern California heat, until she falls in love with a man who offers a way out.

Goobie, Beth. The Lottery.NY: Orca Book Publishers, 2002.

Saskatoon Collegiate is secretly controlled by the Shadow Council, a group of perverse students who annually conduct a lottery to find a victim on whom to carry out their cruel pranks. 15-year-old Sally Hanson is this year’s “lottery winner”, but she is also struggling with her own personal and family problems. A dark and powerful psychological thriller.

Book Views

I am interested in hearing your opinions on the books you have read. When you finish a book you have read if you would like to recommend it to a friend or warn someone to stay clear of it, please take a form and fill it out for the bulletin board. You don’t need to put your name on it, only the title, author, how many stars you would give it, and the best part of the book (please don’t give away the ending though..)

Book Views Title__________________

Author________________ Stars Favorite Part

Book Views Form

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