I’ve always liked to spend money. I thought an ideal job for me would be a personal shopper, directing people to items them need or want. When I do Reader’s Advisory I feel like a personal book shopper for my teens and their parents. Often, when patrons ask me for books, they don’t provide me with a lot to go on. Sometimes, the parent isn’t with their teen, and their only request was to bring them ‘something good’ from the library. Other times my reader has something in mind but they can’t describe it well, or at all; or they don’t know specific genre names. I don’t think I’ve had a teen ask me specifically for dystopian or steampunk. I queried the YalsaHub Bloggers, and they sent me sample RA scenarios. For this post, we’ll assume my hypothetical patrons are unable to provide more details.
Here are my suggestions for getting the right books into the hands of teen patrons, based on a variety of information they might provide. Read More →