Week 9

Assignment 1

I've watched a few book trailers over the past year, so this concept is not new to me. I was actually influenced by one book trailer to read the book (which is surprising as both the articles mention that few people actually pick up the book after seeing the trailer). When I saw the book trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, with its Harry Potter-esque feel to it, enchanting music, and above-average acting, I couldn't wait to pick up the book. The book proved just as exciting as its book trailer promised. Unfortunately, this was the first book trailer I had ever seen and, with its superb quality, it set my expectations high for subsequent book trailers. Alas, many of the book trailers I have since seen have paled in comparison.

One of the book trailers that I watched on Youtube was for The One and Only Ivan, which I recently listened to on Book on CD. It had interesting animations and quotes from the book along with the author's illustrations. I think it would have compelled me to read it if I had not yet already read it.



I also watched the trailer for Wonder (another book I have recently read). I don't think this trailer succeeded since it did not capture the true horror that August's unique face brings to onlookers. Instead, all the children in the trailer were simply staring at August with deadpan expressions on their faces. However, I did enjoy how the trailer actually included a passage from the book through voice-over (and, fittingly, a young boy narrated it).

I also decided to watch a book trailer of a book that I had not yet read, just to see if it would compel me to read it. So, I chose Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. This was a delightfully corny trailer that made me think I was watching a mix between Downton Abbey and a bad SyFy network tv show. I believe it captured the essence of the book perfectly, but it did not really make me want to read it, perhaps simply because it only focused on one scene. I think I'd maybe feel compelled to peruse the book to see how it was written but would not actually check it out.

Assignment 2

For me, I think the book trailers that succeed are the ones that make it seem as if you are watching a movie trailer. They draw you in and make you wish that the book were actually being made into a movie. I can understand that some readers might have a problem with having a specific image in their mind of the actors and the setting (and then having this image ruined by the book trailer), but this usually does not bother me as long as the chosen actors play their role well and are true to the character. I honestly do not think I would have the patience to watch a video of the author standing in front of the camera with a black backdrop behind them while they read from their book or discuss it for a great length of time.

I believe these book trailers will be great tools for children who come into the branch to get their summer reading books. Many of them have a list of books they can choose from and are only given one or two sentences about the book. If I were to show them the book trailer, then this might help them to gain a better idea of the book's subject and might make them excited to tackle their assigned summer reading.

Assignment 3

I learned a tremendous amount about readers' advisory from this training. I now have a wealth of resources at my fingertips, which makes readers' advisory much less daunting. In addition, because of this training, I have now become a daily follower of sites such as Early Word and Forever Young Adult.

I feel that the only way this training could be improved was if it included a section on children's readers' advisory. Children can either be the easiest or the toughest crowd to suggest books to. Sometimes all it takes is pulling any first chapter book on fairies/monsters/horses/etc... off the shelf, and the child is already jumping with joy. Other times, I have suggested numerous titles to children and they've taken one look at the cover and handed it back over with a "No, I don't want this" and no further explanation as to why or what they would like. Therefore, in the future, a week focusing on children's readers' advisory would be very welcome!

Week 8

Assignment 3

The four genres I decided to choose were memoir (Dewey number- Bio), history (Dewey number- 900-999), medical (Dewey number- 610-619), and contemporary social issues (Dewey number- 300-399). Out of these categories, I chose the following four books to recommend to customers:

Memoir

The Glass Castle (Bio Walls)

History

Leap Into Darkness: Seven Years on the Run in Wartime Europe (940.5318 B) 

 

Medical

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (616.027 S)

 

Contemporary Social Issues

Behind the Beautiful Forevers (305.569 B) 



Assignment 4

Leap Into Darkness: Seven Years on the Run in Wartime Europe by Leo Bretholtz is about teenage Bretholtz's multiple escapes from the Nazis during the Holocaust. This book has a fast-paced plot and is suspenseful despite already knowing that the author survives. I classified this book as history, since Bretholtz includes numerous facts about WWII throughout his book and BCPL's call number for it is 940.5318 B. However, I would also classify it under other narrative non-fiction genres, including memoir, adventure, travel (Bretholtz recounts his travels through Germany, Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland), overcoming adversity, and disaster/survival. Therefore, this one title can appeal to many different readers. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. A final appeal factor of this book lies in its author, who currently lives in Baltimore, MD, and travels around to high schools in the area speaking to students (I got to meet him during one of my college classes). He is truly a humble, loving man, which is conveyed in his writing, despite all the horrors that have happened to him.


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a compelling story about an African-American woman whose contribution to science changed the medical world as we know it today. Scientists, after taking some cancerous tumor cells from her in 1951 without her or her family knowing, learn that her cells (HeLa cells) are the only ones that can be reproduced millions of times without dying (they are essentially "immortal"). She died soon after scientists discovered this, but her cells have lived on to help in the creation of the polio vaccination and to aid in AIDS, cancer, and gene mapping research (they have even been to space!). What is appealing about this book is that it does not focus solely on the scientific aspect of Henrietta's story, but also includes the impact that these cells have had on her family, who did not learn about these cells until recently and have thus not benefited from any of the profits made by those who have been selling her cell line over the years (this is particularly heart-wrenching when you find out that most of her family members were so poor that they could not even afford health insurance). This book would be appealing to people who like an intriguing read where they can become wrapped up in a story of family while also learning about science. Fortunately, the scientific concepts are described in layman's terms to be understood by everyone. Like Leap into Darkness, this book would be appealing to BCPLers because of its focus on the Baltimore area (specifically Johns Hopkins Hospital). Many of the Lacks's family members travel around the area to participate in talks about the book (I have been fortunate enough to meet Lacks's son, nephew, and granddaughters).



Week 7

Assignment 2

I read all of the articles listed (except the last one- the link was not working), but I specifically want to mention points made in three of the articles.

"New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre?"

I had already heard of the "new adult" genre in grad school. It's been creating a lot of buzz among students who are getting their certificates in teaching and are planning on working in school libraries. I thought one interesting point raised by the article was that the age of characters in new adult literature is not as important as the theme, voice, and style are. Unfortunately, the article doesn't mention what the typical theme, voice, and style are in these books, which would have been useful information. The article does mentions some interesting facts about the term "new adult." I agree with Kenny Brechner's viewpoint on it- that the term does not have much appeal or pizzazz. I actually think that this term is confusing, for if we were to label a shelf as "new adult," I believe that most patrons would perceive this shelf as containing simply books that were new for adults. Seeing as many bookselles are not yet aware of this term (as pointed out by the article), it is unlikely that patrons are aware of it.

"The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature"

Concerning this article, I simply wanted to mention how much I enjoyed the ten reasons the author listed for why adults are reading teen literature. I had noticed that popular adult authors like Patterson and Picoult were writing teen literature, but it had never crossed my mind that this could be one of the reasons why adults were venturing into this genre.

"YA Comes of Age"

I thought this article made a fascinating point about the Hunger Games covers being appealing to all ages and genders. When I was a teenager, I remember that I wouldn't pick up a book if I disliked its cover. Although this does not happen to me now, I have a feeling that many readers still judge a book by its cover. Thus, the attractive covers on these teen books must definitely be reeling in adults.

Assignment 3

Forever Young Adult

I really enjoyed the posts on this website- lighthearted, personal, and highly entertaining (e.g. hilarious commentary on the mini-series North & South). I also think it has a great design that is feminine, yet not too "preteeny" girly looking. This post (http://foreveryoungadult.com/2013/06/04/stay-sweet-fya/) actually mentions who the intended audience is (female adults interested in reading a YA blog). I'd say that this website is quite successful. Each post gets at a few comments on it and their facebook page has over 5,800 likes. This blog is definitely for adults though. For instance, a blog post on Rick Riordin's Lightening Thief movie is accompanied by a drinking game - http://foreveryoungadult.com/2013/05/31/book-vs.-movie-the-lightning-thief/. There are numerous authors for this blog (all listed here- http://foreveryoungadult.com/cast-of-characters). All seem to be young women (except one male contributor). Each blog post is followed by a short biography of the author (of the biographies that I have read so far, they seem to be quite hilarious!).

Cassandra Clare's Tumblr

I've never actually used tumblr before, so this was a new experience for me. Once I got used to the format of the website, I was able to determine that Cassandra Clare is the one who posts, her intended audience are fans of her books, and her tumblr seems to be quite popular (each of her posts have been reblogged or liked thousands of times).

Assignment 4

Harper Teen

Harper Teen's website has two nice lists of the top 10 most popular books and top 10 most popular authors. I was surprised to see how many times the Pretty Little Liars books appeared in the top 10 books list (four times). This shows that one of the current trends in teen literature are books that have been made into tv shows. Harper Teen's homepage actually features a link to information about the Carrie Diaries book/tv show. Dystopian teen fiction is also still popular, as two of Veronica Roth's books appear on the list of top 10 books and she is the #5 author on the top 10 authors list. The #1 author, Michael Grant, also writes dsytopian/supernatural teen fiction.

Teens@Random

The other site I explored was Teens@Random. Listed under its new releases are three science fiction titles (dystopian and fantasy/magic), two books classified as romance (one historical, another modern), and four books dealing with social situations (such as family). It's good to see that there is a range of different types of books being published. I particularly enjoyed how this website breaks down its releases into different genres, including books specifically for girls and those specifically for guys.