Enhancing Your Readers' Advisory Skills and RA from YSS Members

At January's YSS Retreat, the YSS members and board members who attended brought a book (or several books, after all we are librarians!) they've loved to booktalk. Here is a shortlist of those titles for you to read or recommend and a brief note on appeal or themes:

Booktalks

Diary of a Tokyo Teen - graphic memoir

Roseblood - new take on the Phantom of the Opera

Wolf by Wolf - alternative history of WWII in which Hitler won the war, there is a sequel

Sophie's Squash Goes to School - diverse

Frontline - another alternative history

The Best Man by Richard Peck - depictions of masculinity and male role models

Ghost by Jason Reynolds - themes of family violence and anger management but trauma is not the only thing about the character that we know

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Winter Woes - out of print, but it is a great Storytime readaloud by Marty Kelley

Delia Dirke - graphic novel series

Need - YA thriller, set in WI, examines the dark side of social media

Learning to Swear in America - YA

Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes - novel in verse

We Were Liars - readalike The Accident Season

Radiant Choice: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat - award winner

I Kill Giants - graphic novel, pairs with A Monster Calls

Lilliput - a good readaloud for middle schoolers

Walking in a Winter Wonderland - picture book

Brushing up on Readers' Advisory skills can help with booktalking or connecting the right person with the right book. NoveList is a handy resource and the folks there have put together a list of links and some guides to genres and appeal terms updated for 2017. You can view those HERE.

Booktalks are a great icebreaker or professional development activity at your system Youth Services Meetings, too, and a fun way to learn about some new titles.