Description of the activity undertaken
This is a reflection on my reading and review of 2017 Silver Inky award winner Radio Silence (Oseman, 2016; Radio silence, n.d.). To write the review I maintained my usual review style, posting the review on both social networking site Goodreads (McPherson, 2018) and a blog created for this unit.
What did you learn?
After writing the review I assessed the content and style, concluding that for the library context this written style is unsuitable. It is too long, too casual and doesn’t provide enough detail about the plot and characters to allow others to make an informed decision as to the suitability of a book (Writing a fiction or non-fiction review, n.d.). It may be better suited to another format, for example, a book chat podcast such as The Librarian Is In (New York Public Library, n.d.).
How was the activity relevant to your professional practice working with children and/or young adults?
Success with young adult patrons is knowing what is being written for them and reading a sample (Engaging teens with reading, n.d.). By reading and reviewing Radio Silence I started that journey, and in reviewing my experience I gave myself a prompt for a later time as to what I enjoyed and why. If reviews are kept on hand in a professional setting they may allow for a staff to make recommendations to young adults based on relevant enjoyment of titles (Hastings, 2013).
What gaps in your knowledge were revealed and how might you fill those gaps?
The gaps I noted are in my ignorance of the quality of young adult literature and the breadth it has come to possess. The simple solution to this read more from the genre. In investigating what to read, more young adult literary awards were located as was a searchable database of award winners and listed books. YALSA BookFinder (YALSA, n.d.) is a database of American Library Association award winners but it is certainly a place to start.
Discussion of Young People’s Book Awards in relation to your chosen activity.
I read and reviewed one book, but this activity is bigger than one book. Reading award winner Radio Silence (Oseman, 2016) reiterated the power young people’s book awards have over both the youth of the time and the historical record. It is important to note at this point that the Inky Awards (the Inkys) are notable for being by and for young people. That Radio Silence was the winner in a field (Inky, 2017) with so much diversity (including immigration concerns and living with prosopagnosia) indicates that diversity is something that this current generation of young people is interested in. That interest remains on the historical record with the Inkys maintaining a list of previous winners and listed books(The Inky Awards, n.d.), over time it is possible to see what was important to each generation of young people.
Young people’s book awards show more than what was important to a generation they have the power to promote positivity, to educate on topical issues and to show diversity. The 2018 longlist (Inky, 2018) is as powerful as the list from 2017 dealing with topics ranging from living with cancer to racial tension to cyberbullying. Literary awards are used by some libraries as selection development tools (Alabaster, 2010), these are the books that will be made available to young adults in years to come. That the Inkys are by popular vote gives an indication of what is popular and what acquisitions might increase circulation.
Alabaster, C. (2010). Developing an outstanding core collection: A guide for libraries [ALA editions]. Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Engaging teens with reading. (n.d.). In National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/strategies-to-engage-students-as-readers/engaging-teens-with-reading
Hastings, R. (2013). Blogging for readers. In C. Harmon & M. Messina (Eds.), Using social media in libraries: Best practices. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/
Inky. (2017, August 15). 2017 Inky Awards shortlist announcement. Inside A Dog. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://insideadog.com.au/blog/2017-inky-awards-shortlist-announcement
Inky. (2018, March 1). 2018 Inky Awards longlist announced. Inside A Dog. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://insideadog.com.au/blog/2018-inky-awards-longlist-announced
The Inky Awards. (n.d.). In Inside A Dog. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from https://insideadog.com.au/inky-awards
McPherson, C. (2018, March 10). Catherine McP's review of Radio Silence. Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2320554591
New York Public Library. (n.d.). The librarian is in. [Soundcloud playlist]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/nypl/sets/the-librarian-is-in
Oseman, A. (2016). Radio silence [Kindle]. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com.au/Radio-Silence-Alice-Oseman-ebook/dp/B00UCLD1K8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1520998117&sr=1-1&keywords=radio+silence
Radio silence. (n.d.). In Inside A Dog. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from https://insideadog.com.au/books/radio-silence
Writing a fiction or non-fiction review. (n.d.). In Oxforddictionaries.com. from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/writing-a-fiction-or-non-fiction-review
YALSA. (n.d.). home. In YALSA Book Finder. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from http://booklists.yalsa.net/
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