Guest Post by Courtney Webb ~ Stiletto Storytime

                                   “Librarian Gone YA”




by Courtney Webb of  Stiletto Storytime


It happened slowly, you wouldn’t have noticed really if you weren’t paying careful attention. First one or two just to make sure that I had material for teen reader’s advisory when working the shared reference desk. Then those two sets of shelves just seemed to be where I just happened to be always going to browse, straighten and generally waste some time looking at new arrivals. Only one problem, I wasn’t the teen librarian and those weren’t my shelves.

I was a children’s librarian. It was my first year out of library school. My section was on the other side of the library encompassing one whole side of the regional branch. I loved it, loved keeping my section in order, creating displays and doing storytime. I loved leading children to books. But there was something about those two sets of shelves dedicated to teens that always drew me in. It was right when young adult literature really began to take off, as a genre in it’s own right.

In the past it had been the red headed stepchild of the publishing world. In fact other than Sweet Valley High and Fear Street. (I am cringing as I write this and show my age.) I remember reading very little teen literature when I was actually a teen. It seemed I skipped straight from middle grade to adult books. But now here I was a twenty five year old children’s librarian hooked on teen books like a drug. I went through the shelves like I was starving for words, reading four to five books a week. I followed Twilight and Gossip Girl from the first books before they were ”it”. I read all the Pretty Little Liars books in order right after publication before they were a show on ABC Family. I was entranced by Thirteen Reasons Why, Elsewhere and Breathe My Name. So many others I cannot imagine listing them all.

Back in January of 2008 I wrote in a blog post about YA Books and Their Adult Audiences: “I think the YA market is exploding with some great work…sometimes more inventive and original than many adult works I see coming through. I find myself being lured in with creative plots and unique characters. And they seem to be climbing the bestsellers list as well. Perhaps when author writes something for young adults there is more freedom…they do not have to worry about the criticism of adult audiences or limit their work by making it age appropriate for children or tweens.”

I see know more than ever how true that was. Young adult literature has taken over in the past few years with authors of other genres also getting into the action. Today YA is hotter than ever attracting more and more non-teen readers. But the real winners are the teens out there that have such a plethora of fantastic work to choose from. So what are you waiting for…. Go YA and grab a book and if you love it make sure you tell me about it so I can enjoy it too!


"Just like stilettos, reading never goes out of style."

~ Courtney Webb

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*Thank-You Courtney for the wonderful post. From Reading Teen