Week 7: Assignments 3 & 4--Blogs/Websites; Teen Imprints

Week 7: Assignment 3 Blogs/Websites

Stacked is written by a couple librarians who appear to be passionate about books. If you can't find enough reviews on their blog--they direct you to  Goodreads where you read even more of their reviews. This site appealed to me because it was a little calmer to the eye than some of the sites--making it a little easier for me to decide what I wanted to look at the particular time I opened the site. I found it interesting that they list reviews whether they are good or bad and that they listed specific genres that should not be submitted to them (e.g. paranormal romance, morality tales, religious fiction). What attracted me most were their various book lists. I liked their groupings under such headings as Interests Matter, Life Events Matter, and People Matter. Perhaps the lists I'd use most here at PI are the one for Sports and Athletes and Guy Reads. Guy Reads: Resource101 looks very useful and informative.

 

Forever Young Adult is exactly what it advertises-- "more A than Y". It's packed full of quirky, lively and sometimes irreverent information. One of its features , HotsyTotsy, is labeled as a "weekly dish of internet distractions" and gossip. FYA  has book reviews and lots and lots of info on TV and movies. I thought it interesting that it not only offers book club suggestions it lists actual book clubs all over the country. If one isn't listed near you, it'll hold your info on file and contact you when they get 2 more people from the same area. The Required Reading list states that "You're life will be meaningless if you have not read these superstars of literature". Oy! One more bit of stress!! For me personally, I found the site a little too frenetic--there was just toooo much to look at one time. I think FYA is a great site for that "New Adult" group!

 

Week 7: Assignment 4 Teen Imprint Websites

First I went to Harlequin Teen but it was pretty much what I expected--a cleaned up version of the various faces of Harlequin Romance,  so I moved on. Harper Teen was set up nicely for  teens with a rolling screen to attract their attention without making them bored, great graphics, freebies, polls and quizzes, "channels" for different genres, new releases, book reviews and author interviews.

With electronics being thoroughly embedded in the age group I feel the Harper Teen Impulse is a brilliant offering. It is an online source for the latest novellas and short stories for the e-reader.

 

I found  Teens/Penguin Young Readers to be very informative. It, too, is an attractive site but it's a little cleaner, less busy, than some of the other sites. For teens it's got minisites for the various genres, new releases, and reviews as well as the all important info for downloads, apps and social network hookups. They also offer trailers to peak the reader's interest.

 

I feel that the Penguin site is the site for professionals. If I were a teacher or homeschooling parent I would be zeroing in on the Teacher & Librarian section. It offers teacher guides and activity kits as well as core curriculum lesson plans. What a gift to the classroom!!! The winners of the various literary awards and honors are listed, too.

 

Both sites show that there's still plenty of interest in the paranormal and dystopia. Coming of Age is big--and often mashed up adventure, history, romance, etc. Whatever the genre, there's a voracious audience just waiting for what's coming next!!