Week 13 prompt- Yes, They DO Read that!

Pull up a chair, the owl is in.

This week's prompt is looking at genres libraries question purchasing for their patrons. Not the question of purchasing is not because they might carry controversial topics ( although some do) but rather a question of the audience's age level or background  ( as in " Should adults really  be reading books meant for teens? Answer: Well, if the patrons are asking about Young Adult, graphic novels or street lit, then a big YES!!)
 

One thing I notice right away in reading the literature (and browsing Novelist to get an idea of some these type of books) is that they are.... Fast-paced!!  (same with Christian and juvenile).Some people are reluctant readers, others do not have the time to sit and read a 900 page book. So, if looking for something that is a good, quick thrill, the solution is turn to
a. a sophisticated comic book
b. a teen coming of age story
c. a black urban street story

Now someone might say " Oh but you could suggest adventure, thriller, or a cozy mystery" but adventures and thrillers carry a lot of technical jargon ( and some adventures are big and epic if the book is the size of a dictionary) and mysteries are like a puzzle with characters and words, and some people may not want to sit and figure out who the killer is.

I'm not going to give a short response separately to each genre plus New Adult ( because I wrote my paper on it, ha ha).

Street Lit
I would really like to rename " Black Ghetto Drama Lit" because when I first saw this genre, I was thinking The Outsiders ( because of the gang element), Gossip Girl ( because it's set in a high urban setting and there is drug use, sex, and brand name dropping), and  Weetzie Bat, which is  this weird urban LA novel that deals with AIDS and homosexuality and features characters named Weetzie Bat, and My Secret Agent Lover Man, plus some supernatural creatures ( part of the Dangerous Angels series by Francesca L. Block.It's actually urban fantasy.) But after reading the article ( and Googling it) I saw it's books that are very similar to the black gospel stage plays but with a hip-hop element ( as in well dressed men, scantly clad women, big cars or big cats, the word "thugs" or the B word in the title. They also have something like "King Productions" listed which does not make sense because it's a book. I've never seen " James Patterson Presents" on any of his books.) Reading over the plots, I'm debating about maybe giving the YA street lit a try ( I know kids do ask a lot about the  Bluford High series), but I'm not really into that lifestyle. However, most African American lit is about the struggles of the past or women-focused ( with lots of male-bashing, like Waiting to Exhale) and there might be someone may not identify with those types of books. They may feel that the urban, hip hop lifestyle is more to their liking. So if they ask for street lit, we shouldn't judge, we should help  them out.

Young Adult
I mentioned in my annotation that I read YA when I was a teen, then got into adult because the YA reads were too cheesy. But then the Harry Potter craze started when I was in college, and have since gotten back to YA... and they are so much better. We've have midnight parties for major books when they come out, we've gotten more movies based off of teen books. Thanks to Twilight, we gotten this whole vampire/werewolf/ghost/zombie craze going on ( hoping next for unicorns). We gotten modern updates to familiar tales.  The covers are really, really cool and even authors like James Patterson, Ridley Pearson and Rick Riordan, who write adult books, are writing books for teens (and we even had authors that write for teens writing for adults, like Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Confidential). You also have to figure if the adults are screening the book before giving it to their teen, they might get hooked and want to read more ( I know my mom got into the Harry Potter after me, plus Lemony Snicket). So again, we shouldn't judge, if the adult reader wants YA, we should help them out. And if we don't order YA, the teens are stuck reading juvenile titles ( which are short but more of simple, cheesy read) or adult ( which they are not going to identify with because they haven't had the job or relationship experience yet.)

Graphic Novels
Not really a graphic novel fan, but again, I understand for folks that love comic books but don't want a long read, they are okay.  I have noticed in children's we do get graphic novels of classic lit and nonfiction ( like a graphic biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.) and there are a few cute ones, like Babymouse. Again,  if that's what the reader wants, we shouldn't judge, we should help them out.

New Adult
If you read my paper, you know that I am for this new genre and hopes it grows. Once teens leave high school (or college), they may not want to read Sweet Valley High or Harry Potter(and still too young for adult fiction), so there has to be something that tells them of the college/post college experience besides With Honors, Felicity or Girls. Some might call it "college porn" or "adult fiction with training wheels" but we shouldn't judge them if that is what they want.

So bottom line is... Don't judge, let the reader be happy with what they want.

Sorry it went on longer than it  should have. Hope that covers the post. Lots to do.