Week 2: Appeal Factors

*The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie*
Learn about the struggles of growing up on a native american reservation in the 21st century through the lens of Junior, a goofy yet motivated 14 year-old boy residing on the Spokane Indian Reservation. This medium-paced young adult novel is surprisingly funny considering the tough issues- such as the alcoholism of his elders, poverty, and death- that Junior grapples with at home on the reservation. Junior's life on the reservation- where there is little hope for a bright a future and even fewer resources- is juxtaposed with his life at the high school he recently transferred to outside of the reservation in a middle-class and predominately white community where he has found success socially, academically, and athletically. 



*Sold by Patricia McCormick*
This novel, written in prose, begins with 13 year-old Lakshmi's simple life living in a hut in a small Nepalese mountain village with her mother, step-father, and new baby sibling. Lakshmi's life suddenly changes when her family's poverty deepens and she is sent to work in a far away place. When this "work" turns out to be nothing more than sex slavery, Lakshmi's courageous side shines as she refuses to accept the same fate as the older girls in the brothel. Well-researched and rich in detail, this novel exposes readers to the experiences of the world's many victims of human trafficking. 


*Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin* It is common knowledge how this story ends in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but thanks Sheinkin's impeccable research and the resulting rich detail, readers still get to enjoy a suspenseful and thrilling story that intertwines the actions of the military, spies, politicians, and scientists of multiple nations. Readers will develop a more intimate understanding of the events and efforts that lead up to the creation of the atomic bomb as well as the aftermath of its use.

Week 1, Assignment #4

From the Recommended Links- Books list, I am choosing Early Word since it is the one resource I wasn't familiar with. I also feel that Early Word will feature a diverse array of books compared to NPR, Salon, or Daily Beast. I had the feeling that those publications might only feature books that would appeal to their readers

From the Recommended Links- Genre list, I am choosing StreetFiction.Org. I selected this resource because Urban fiction is one of the most popular genres in my branch's community.

Week 1, Assignment #3

I reviewed the Golden Rules for Readers Advisory. Rule #6, Don't Pigeonhole the Books, stood out to me. The author, Cindy Orr, writes, "if you don't read in a particular genre, all the books in that genre may seem the same. But to genre fans, there are infinite nuances." This is something I am guilty of. I read a lot of books outside of my preferred genres for Genre Bootcamp and I actually really enjoyed it. This article was a good reminder that I need to continue this practice even when I am not required to for formal professional development opportunities.


I also like Rule #2 "Write, Write, Write." The author suggests keeping a log of all of the books you have read along with notes about possible audiences, readalikes, and appeal factors. I like this idea and will consider implementing it. My boyfriend and I actually keep a log of the movies we watch and I have referenced it to make movie suggestions for friends. I can't believe I never thought about doing the same thing for books!

Week 1, Assignment #2

I took the "blank covers" quiz. I am glad I am participating in Be More Bookish because I had no idea there were so many sub-genres! Here are a few sub-genres that I found especially interesting: Small Town Romance; Literary Realistic Fiction; Cozy Mystery; Hard/Soft Science Fiction; and lastly, Urban Fantasy.

Judging Books by Their Covers (Week 1, Assignment 1)

I took two Sporcle quizzes to test my knowledge of book covers.

The first was general fiction/non-fiction popular titles. I scored 75%, correctly naming 18 out of 24 book covers.

The second Sporcle quiz was popular children's titles. I did a bit worse on this one, scoring just 60%, correctly naming only 12 out of 20.

Welcome!

Hello! My name is Kelsey. I am a librarian at the Woodlawn Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library in Maryland.