Talking to Teens About Books & Issues Fiction for Teens Eden Grey Teen Librarian - KCPL

Goals of the Reference Interview 1.Find out what they like. 2.Match their likes to the books your library has. 3.Find those books. 4.Get those books into the hands of the teen. 5.Have the teen take at least 2 books home. 6.Develop a connection with the teen and/or their guardian.

Talking to Teens About Books ★ Be enthusiastic & passionate! ★ Don’t judge. ★ Practice, practice, practice. ★ Know your stuff: ○ Read as much YA as possible. ○ Be familiar with your collection

Talking to Parents/Guardians About Teen Books ★ Talk directly to the teen whenever possible. ★ Hand the books directly to the teen. ★ E ven while talking to the parent/guardian, maintain contact with the teen. ★ However, do not exclude the parent/guardian from the conversation: ○ Ask about reading restrictions ■ Sex, drugs, violence, length, etc

Dos & Don'ts for Teen RA ★ DO give them 3-5 books ○ Then check in later to see if they liked any of them. ★ DO make it clear they can ask you to find different books ★ DON’T spend all your time on the catalog computer. ★ DON’T let them leave without giving them at least 1 books! ★ DO make assumptions about who they are in order to figure out their interests.

Keeping Up to Date

Read/Review as Much as Possible

Issues Fiction for Teens "To avoid any component of the human experience in literature which examines essential adolescent reality is to shortchange readers and weaken oneself as a writer." -Andrew Smith goo.gl/f25dG9 goo.gl/f25dG9 1. Recognize the issues the teen is facing. 2. Do not judge. 3. Validate their experiences with a book. 4. Provide them an escape from their issues. 5. Improve confidence & self-esteem. 6. Teen will take away possibilities & hope.

Andrew Smith

Carrie Mesrobian

Ned Vizzini “Its so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That's above and beyond everything else, and it's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing, like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don't come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people's words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed- ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet.” --Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Ellen Hopkins

Katie McGarry

Paige Rawl “Maybe being broken helps you become a better person.” - Paige Rawl, Positive: A Memoir

David Levithan

Stephen Chbosky

Carrie Arcos “The truth is, everyone lies. Every single person.” -Carrie Arcos, Out of Reach

Stephanie Kuehn

Amy Reed

Neal Shusterman “Dead kids get put on pedestals. Mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug.” --Neal Shusterman, Challenger Deep