A Reading Rants Roadshow!
05.07
Hey! Are you interested in having a Reading Rants presentation at your library, school, staff training day, or conference? Do you have an LCD projector, a screen, and some excited YA services peeps? Then we’re in business! Here’s what’s available:
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*”My 10 Top YA Titles of the Year (so far!)” I provide very detailed summaries that include the kind of information teachers and librarians need when making buying decisions and recommending books to teens (similar to the material you would find in my book, Reading Rants: a guide to books that ROCK, Neal-Schuman, 2007). I try to highlight titles that I think may be future award winners, titles I have received in galley that may not yet have been published, or quirky works that may be off the beaten path. Want something for younger/older teens? I can also summarize/booktalk my Top Ten ‘Tween Titles or Top Ten ALEX Award Winners (Adult books with Young Adult appeal).
*My Top Ten Tips for Working with Teens. This is part of an email lecture I provided for Linda Braun’s Library Materials for Young Adults class at the University of Maine at Augusta. Ten sure fire ways to connect with teens and maximize your face to face encounters with them. More for beginning YA folks–you hardened veterans know all this stuff already.
*YA Programming that Works. I provide outlines of YA programs I have done in the school and public library that work in virtually any library setting. This includes handouts with pointers on how to start an “Open Mic Nite”, a Teen Advisory Board, Teen Reader’s Theatre, or a Story Sharers group.
*Booktalking tips and suggestions. While I’m no Joni Bodart or Patrick Jones, (and may I say that I worship at their altars of YA librarianship slavishly), I can share some of the techniques that have worked for me and give several of my never say die, always leave’em hangin’ booktalks.
*How to Talk to Parents about YA fiction. Why do teens want to read those “bleak” YA books about sex, drugs, murder or (GASP!) rock-n-roll? How do you explain to an angry parent who knows little about field of YA literature why 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp is in the teen section? I will provide you with quick soundbytes you can use in the heat of the moment to help explain to parents or other library patrons why teens prefer “junk” to “classics,” why its’ okay for their teen to be reading the same book over and over, and why there is nothing wrong with their teen being obsessed with horror or serial killer books!
*Graphic Novels for Teens and ‘Tweens: Collection Development and Historical Overview, provided by my good friend and librarian colleague Jesse Karp. You may recognize his name from Booklist, where he is a regular reviewer of graphic novels for youth. Jesse has been a repeat guest lecturer in my YA summer literature course at Queens College, so you can take it from me that he knows his stuff! Jesse is available for full day workshops with me, or half day workshops on his own. His presentation includes any of the following elements: a historical overview of the development of the graphic novel, the form itself and how it transmits ideas, graphic novels every library should own, great graphic novels for teens, or great graphic novels for kids or ‘tweens.
You can mix and match the above elements into an overall presentation that meets your group’s needs. Contact me at swampophelia27@yahoo.com to discuss dates and fees. Please be aware that my fee will always also include transportation and accommodations if necessary.