Genre Or, “Can you help me find a book. Or, “Can you help me find a book. I don’t like to read!” I don’t like to read!”

Informational What does it mean? –Informational books are true and provide information on that subject. –Reference books are informational, but are not read in entirety. They are used to answer a question. (Dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas…)

Fiction What does it mean? A literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact, but has some elements similar to real life. There are several types of fiction: historical, realistic, science, romantical, western, mysteries,... Can you think of other types of fiction?

Humor What does it mean? A book written to entertain. It makes something laughable or amusing. It can be a book of jokes.

Poetry What does it mean? –A poem is a composition usually written in verse. Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise words choice, and metaphor; verseimagerymetaphor –Poems can be funny or serious.

Biography What does it mean? A book written about a person’s life. It has factual information.

Folklore What does it mean? –Literature which came to us from the oral tradition of times past when stories were told from adult to child. –The stories were often only for purposes of entertainment, but sometimes they were for purposes of instruction as well. Folklore [or traditional] literature includes: nursery rhymes, folklore, mythology, fairy tales, epics, proverbs, legends, fables

Fantasy What does Fantasy mean? A story that couldn’t possibly be true but has elements similar to real life. There is usually magic, wizards, dragons, unicorns, dwarves or other creatures. They are hero stories that have a central character that overcomes evil.

Our library has a huge collection of fantasy books.The authors include, Yolen, Yep, Barron, Alexander, Pullman, Jones, Nix, Colfer, Rowling, Cooper, McKinley, Jacques. Most Fantasy books are at 5 th grade or above reading level and many chapters. It takes a lot of pages to tell a “fantastic” story.

Mystery What does Mystery mean? The plots probably revolve around some crime--whether it be murder, theft, or kidnapping. Espionage and spy stories, thrillers and courtroom dramas are included because very likely a mystery, a puzzlement, or an inconsistency must be explained in order to successfully complete the serpentine plot.

There are many kinds of mysteries: Police/Detective, Thriller, Cozy Mysteries, Historical Mysteries, Romantic Suspense and Spy Novels. Some authors of mysteries in our library are: Duncan, Sobol, Dixon, Keene, Nixon, Stine, Bennett. For more authors use the Card Catalog.

Science Fiction What does Science Fiction mean? A story that couldn’t possibly be true but has elements similar to real life. These stories revolve around something developed by SCIENCE and almost always involve outer space or space travel or aliens.

To find more Science Fiction look in the Card Catalog

Historical Fiction What does Historical Fiction mean? A story that is set in a real time in history, possibly with real people as its characters. What makes it historical fiction is that the story itself did not happen exactly as written. It may include events that happened to several different people written so that it happened to the main character.

Western What does Western mean? The plots usually revolve around some event that happens in the West. Sometimes these stories are historical fiction involving characters that really existed. Usually these stories include cowboy heroes, settlers and taming the old west.

Most Western novels are long books at 5 th grade or higher reading level. Some shorter choices are Gary Paulsen books (Francis Tucket) that take place in the West. Hank the Cowdog books by Ericson are Western. Look in the CC for the subject Western.

Adventure What does Adventure mean? Books would be in this genre if the action of the story is the result of a deliberate decision to go off and do something. They might be real or they might be imaginary adventures. They might be included in the Sci-Fi or Fantasy category

There are many authors in this category. Some of the better known are Will Hobbs, Gary Paulsen, Ben Mikaelsen, Thomas Dygard, Allan Eckert, Jean George, Nancy Farmer

Romance What are Romance books? The plots revolve around love of some kind. The books that are appropriate for middle school readers are about teen or pre-teenage girls and boys that they like. Many books that both boys and girls like have romantic subplots.

Books by Meg Cabot Princess Diaries Jacquelin Woodson Lurleen McDaniels