A fast-growing area in fiction for the young, genre blends allow for new possibilities and ideas, stimulating children's imaginations. This helpful guide orients readers' advisory staff, educators, and collection development librarians with a hand-picked selection of hybrid genres and novels published since 2000. It's no wonder that genre blends are some of most popular books for children and teens. When you mash up two different traditional genres, it's like doubling what makes each one pleasurable on its own. This guide, the first of its kind, will help public and school librarians, teachers, and collections staff identify genre blends for readers' advisory, curriculum development, or creating core collections. Profiling more than 200 titles, inside its pages you'll learn about six of the most in-demand genre blends for young readers, including Fantasy Mysteries, Magical Realism, Steampunk, and Verse Novels; be introduced to each genre blend's most compelling novels and contemporary authors; understand both book appeal factors (such as genre and theme) and reader-appeal factors, assisting you in matching readers with the perfect book; receive guidance on finding genre blends for children who are facing difficult circumstances, such as their parents' divorce, cliques in school, lack of popularity, poor body image, or self-blame; and find what you're looking for quickly and efficiently with the help of succinct annotations and a thorough index.

In this informative and entertaining book McArdle gets library staff up to speed on these engaging titles, showing how such crossover fiction appeals to fanbases of multiple genres.

Two of the most trusted reviewers in the field join with top authors, illustrators, and critics in a definitive guide to choosing books for children—and nurturing their love of reading. A FAMILY OF READERS is the definitive resource for parents interested in enriching the reading lives of their children. It’s divided into four sections: 1. Reading to Them: Choosing and sharing board books and picture books with babies and very young children. 2. Reading with Them: Launching the new reader with easy readers and chapter books. 3. Reading on Their Own: Exploring what children read—and how they read—by genre and gender. 4. Leaving Them Alone: Respecting the reading privacy of the young adult. Roger Sutton knows how and why children read. He must, as the editor in chief of THE HORN BOOK, which since 1924 has been America’s best source for reviews of books for young readers. But for many parents, selecting books for their children can make them feel lost. Now, in this essential resource, Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano, executive editor at the magazine, offer thoughtful essays that consider how books are read to (and then by) young people. They invite such leading authors and artists as Maurice Sendak, Katherine Paterson, Margaret Mahy, and Jon Scieszka, as well as a selection of top critics, to add their voices about the genres they know best. The result is an indispensable readers’ companion to everything from wordless board books to the most complex and daring young adult novels.

This guide identifies hundreds of books that can help children develop into engaged readers. Children's librarians, collection development specialists in public libraries, as well as K–8 school librarians and teachers will choose from the best in children's titles. This unique readers' advisory and collection development guide for librarians and others who work with children focuses on readers and their needs, rather than simply categorizing books by their characteristics and features as traditional literature guides do. Taking this unusual perspective brings forth powerful new tools and curricular ideas on how to promote the classics, and how to best engage with young readers and meet their personal and emotional needs to boost interest and engagement. The guide identifies seven reader-driven appeals, or themes, that are essential to successful readers' advisory: awakening new perspectives; providing models for identity; offering reassurance, comfort, strength, and confirmation of self-worth; connecting with others; giving courage to make a change; facilitating acceptance; and building a disinterested understanding of the world. By becoming aware of and tapping into these seven themes, librarians and other educators can help children more deeply connect with books, thereby increasing the odds of becoming lifelong readers. The detailed descriptions of each book provide plot summaries as well as notes on themes, subjects, reading interest levels, adaptations and alternative formats, translations, and read-alikes. This informative guide will also aid librarians in collection development and bibliotherapy services.

Both insightful and comprehensive, this matchless guidebook will help librarians become familiar with many different fiction genres, especially those they do not regularly read, and aid library staff in connecting readers to books they're sure to love.

Covering more than 500 titles, both classics and newer publications, this book describes what titles are about and why teens would want to read them. Nonfiction has been the workhorse of many young adult library collections—filling information and curricular needs—and it is also the preferred genre for many teen readers. But not all nonfiction is created equal. This guide identifies some of the best, most engaging, and authoritative nonfiction reads for teens and organizes them according to popular reading interests. With genres ranging from adventure and sports to memoirs, how-to guides and social justice, there is something for every reader here. Similar fiction titles are noted to help you make connections for readers, and "best bets" for each chapter are noted. Notations in annotations indicate award-winning titles, graphic nonfiction, and reading level. Keywords that appear in the annotations and in detailed indexes enhance access. Librarians who work with and purchase materials for teens, including YA librarians at public libraries, acquisitions and book/materials selectors at public libraries, and middle and high school librarians will find this book invaluable.

Teen Genreflecting serves as a guide to contemporary teen fiction, encompassing every genre and format, including graphic novels, scrapbook-formatted books, verse novels, historical fiction, speculative fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, and more. Teen literature is one of the most popular and quickly growing segments of the publishing world. Not only are teens continuing to read for pleasure, but many adults have discovered the joys of teen literature. As part of the Genreflecting Advisory Series, Teen Genreflecting provides librarians with a road map to the vibrant and diverse body of literature focusing on recent fiction for teens, organizing and describing some 1,300 titles, most published within the past ten years, along with perennial classics. The authors indicate where each title fits in the genre scheme; its subject matter, format, and general reading level; and any pertinent awards. They also provide advice on readers' advisory services to teens, descriptions of genres and subgenres, and lists of favorites for each genre. As with previous editions, this guide will prove invaluable to librarians building their teen collections and will help them assist teens in finding the books they love, no matter what genre.