I Didn't Know the New James Patterson was a YA Novel! A Crash Course in YA Literature for Adult Services Librarians Carlie Webber, BCCLS Ilene Lefkowitz, Denville Free Public Library

Where did all this YA come from, anyway? Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much...

Ways to learn about YA lit: Standard Professional Journals… VOYA (voya.com)voya.com School Library Journal (schoollibraryjournal.com)schoollibraryjournal.com Kirkus (kirkusreviews.com)kirkusreviews.com Publishers Weekly (

Young Adult literature websites and blogs Readingrants.org Slayground.net Teenreads.com theYAYAYAs YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) YPulse.com A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy BCCLS Teens

No time to read through those journals or sites? Set up an RSS reader Bloglines (bloglines.com)bloglines.com Google Reader (google.com/reader)google.com/reader Blogbridge (blogbridge.com)blogbridge.com Suprglu (suprglu.com)suprglu.com Simply Headlines (simplyheadlines.com)simplyheadlines.com PageFlakes (pageflakes.com)pageflakes.com Netvibes (netvives.com)netvives.com For more information on setting up RSS feeds go here: (

The gateway authors: Adult authors who also write great YA Sherman Alexie Charles de Lint Carl Hiaasen Alice Hoffman Gwyneth Jones ( writes YA as Ann Halam ) Jacquelyn Mitchard Joyce Carol Oates Rick Riordan Benjamin Alire Saenz

Gateway Authors

Authors who write YA that looks adult Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak; Catalyst) M.T. Anderson (Feed; The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation) Holly Black (Tithe; Valiant) Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty; Rebel Angels) Garret Freymann-Weyr (Stay with Me, My Heartbeat) John Green (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines) Margo Lanagan (Black Juice; White Time) Walter Dean Myers (Monster; Sunrise over Fallujah) Scott Westerfeld (Uglies; Pretties; Specials; Extras) Markus Zusak (I am the Messenger; The Book Thief)

Authors who write YA that looks adult

Authors who write YA that looks like adult

Going the other way: Adult books/authors with YA appeal The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Anything by Neil Gaiman, Christopher Moore, Jodi Picoult, Alexander McCall Smith, or Mercedes Lackey Know about the Alex Awards! Ten adult books with high YA appeal are honored annually by YALSA.Alex Awards

Going the Other Way

Middle School fiction to recommend Titles: Tangerine by Edward Bloor Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes Hoot by Carl Hiaasen Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle Holes by Louis Sachar Authors: Christopher Paul Curtis (Bud Not Buddy; Bucking the Sarge) Nancy Farmer (The House of the Scorpion; The Sea of Trolls) Anthony Horowitz (Stormbreaker; Point Blank) Gary D. Schmidt (The Wednesday Wars; Trouble) Neal Shusterman (The Schwa was Here; Everlost)

Middle School Titles

Picture this! (Graphic novels to know) The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg most series by CLAMP Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Bone by Jeff Smith Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya Blankets by Craig Thompson Runaways by Brian K. Vaughn American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

So now comes the big question: How do I get these books into the hands of adult readers?

How to Hints/Suggestions Book Displays Display YA titles alongside adult titles Do YA displays for adults Booklists Incorporate YA titles into your booklists Readers' Advisory Booktalks Handselling, or, Let me get a book for you. Read-a-Like/Shelf Sitter cards Collection Development Purchase duplicate copies - shelve in Adult Fiction

Selling Points for YA Books Quick reads Smart characters Fun to read Series books are very hot right now, so there's lots to read Universal themes that appeal to everyone regardless of age High-quality writing.

REMEMBER Young Adult literature is not all Eragon and Gossip Girl… …any more than adult literature is all Danielle Steel and John Grisham.