Week 7: Teens! Teens! Teens!

Assignment 2:

The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature

I wouldn’t say this article is too insightful, except for the buying stats; as the author herself acknowledged, adults reading teen lit isn’t a new trend, just a surprise to adults who do not read in this area. I wasn’t surprised to see I fit right into the age demographic for adults most likely to read teen books, especially for the “nostalgia” factor mentioned. One of my favorite things is to reread teen books I read as a teenager to see how my perspective has changed from oh-so-many-years ago. I also enjoy realistic fiction teen titles of today. With the exception of Harry Potter and a few stand-alone titles like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and a few authors like Lois Duncan, who sometimes incorporates magic or the supernatural into her books, I have not jumped into the fantasy realm, and really, really am not a dystopian reader, so I familiarize myself with a lot of fantasy/dystopian series from afar. For me, it will continue to be the themes of friendship, romance, mystery, family dynamics and social issues that attract me to teen titles.

YA Comes of Age

The article is almost two years old, so I did take it with a grain of salt, but it seems like their prophecies have been realized, like a still-growing dystopian market. This is interesting to me – that tough times have led the teen population and others to reading unhappy books (where it seems like adults tend to read more fun escapist books in these uncertain times, like cozy mysteries, romance, etc.). I’ve actually read several theories about this – helicopter parenting, feeling like they’re not able to make decisions for or do anything for themselves, strong teen characters in dystopian lit – so the speculation that this population has always known war is an interesting thought. It is also encouraging to see how much people want to read, and don’t feel confined to one age category for their books – whether it’s e-books, hard cover or paperbacks, people still love a good story.

 

I commented on Jaime B.’s and Maureen R.’s posts.

 

Assignment 3:

John Green Books

Funny!  You can tell he’s a Gen-Xer with the smart, sarcastic/dry humor. Felt a little pre-midlife crisis-ish when I realized he’s a year younger than me. He (or his publicist) is obviously doing a lot of the writing, with contributions from his brother Hank and others in their inner circle (videos). Intended for fans of his books, as well as anyone who appreciates off-beat, smart-alecky takes on daily living and various topics. Judging from the number of posts, especially in the book sections, I would say it’s successful. And although the site is wacky, it still maintains an organized air of professionalism.

 

Squeetus

Mostly I was just curious about the title. It’s a well-organized site, full of information, a little self-centered. I get that being a mom plus writer equals chaos, but this is mentioned again and again and again – certainly understandable but a little self-congratulatory too. And her “ridiculously long bio” (her words) – whew! Good information about her books and happenings. Hale is definitely doing the writing – funny in parts, but a little more slick-funny, not John Green-funny. Audience is definitely people like her – working and stay-at-home moms both eating up her posts about how difficult mommyland can be, and responding in kind. Also lots of fans, commenting how much they love her books. I can see how it is also inspirational for aspiring writers – lots of the “don’t give up, I was rejected 100 times before I was published” type of pep talk.

 

Assignment 4:

Harlequin Teen

Wow – so many titles and series to go through – I’m seeing lots of flouncy dresses (historical – imagined or real), supernatural, fantasy, and science fiction (steampunk seems to be here to stay for awhile). All covers and descriptions look very similar to what’s on our shelves now, with the exception of maybe steamier, hardcore (Katie McGarry) and more on the sci-fi side, as opposed to just paranormal or fantasy.

 

Teens at Random

The site itself has more of a “teen feel” – a big new releases trailer front and center, news ticker rolling with the latest book world developments, featured authors, fun site design overall. Less tedious than Harlequin – definitely made me want to hang out here and look around. Trends: sci-fi, dystopian, horror, and substantial books geared to girls (two of their newsletters are Sister Ink: Fun Fiction for the Thinking Girl, and Sisterhood). Maybe there will soon be a resurgence in realistic fiction, as several people have predicted?