Reflection on Radio Silence Review

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.

References

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/

Radio Silence Review

Review of Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (2016)

Rating: 5 stars

You probably think that Aled Last and I are going to fall in love or something. Since he is a boy and I am a girl. I just wanted to say – We don’t. That’s all. - Frances Janiver

“And I’m platonically in love with you.”

“That was literally the boy-girl version of ‘no homo’, but I appreciate the sentiment.”- Aled Last & Frances Janiver

Where to start with Radio Silence? I loved this book more than expected, I chose to read it because while it had an interesting premise anyway it won the 2017 Inky award (young adults voting for their best books of the year, as chosen by young adults). But I didn’t expect to love it. I really enjoyed the plot, the characters, the setting and the style. The presentation is brilliant. Social networking plays a major role and the displays of the varying sns for the different platforms and keeping form of the native feel. Even the YouTube posts feel right. The YouTube posts also become one of the most valuable writing assets, adding a perspective that was otherwise inaccessible. The writing style is a bit unusual compared to my usual. It gives what you need as you need whole maintain an air of mystery. It strikes me as an elegant woman.

Radio Silence follows Frances and her friends as they go through that pivotal final year of high school/ first year of university. Frances is a clever and bookish student who has dreamt of going to Cambridge since childhood, to the world her life is defined by her academic accomplishments. She has a secret geek/fandom/artsy side that she doesn’t allow the world to see for fear. Aled is smart, academic, shy and secretive. The runner of soon to be hit podcast Universe City. There is more to his life and Universe City than meets the eye. He is a brilliantly multifaceted character who changes a lot through the book. The book follows them and others as they come to terms with who they are and what they want while completing with ghosts of the past, pressure from others and their own self-doubt.

There is an astounding amount of diversity in this book. From ethnic and cultural (the protagonist is British-Ethiopian, one of her friends is Indian, another Korean) to sexual (bisexual, gay, lesbian, demisexual) to socioeconomic (none are homeless but there is a range of situations). *spoiler* One of the core plot points is familial abuse, not the physical form but more psychological. It is brave writing. *spoiler* When discussing sexuality Radio Silence is modern, like it doesn’t think much of the topic, it just another part of the characters self. In some way it treats Frances’ geekgirl side with more reverence than her bisexuality. The sexual revel of Frances is smart. Simple. To the point. No flowery moment. And it's not the root moment it is just her explaining something else that happened. The sexuality of others is not quite as insignificant but for plot reasons it can’t be and demi’s often don’t understand themselves what is going on. One of the characters within the fictional universe of Universe City is agender and which prompts some important discussion about gender too.

This is a book that I would recommend to library staff working with young adults, young adults themselves and anyone in a fandom. Because for those in a fandom there is some very relatable moments in here. For some young adults this could be a mirror a way for someone who can’t usually find themselves in a book to see a bit of themselves in Frances. For the outgoing types it is a window to another world, running parallel to theirs. If it looks even remotely appealing to you try it, it is a stunning book.

My reading experience in a gif:

Crossposted from Goodreads

References

Cover for 9780007559244. (n.d.). HarperCollinsPublishersAustralia. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780007559244/x293.jpg

McPherson, C. (2018, March 10). Catherine McP's review of Radio Silence. Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2320554591

Mochimochiland. (n.d.). Stop motion love. Giphy. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/love-heart-valentine-3oriO6qJiXajN0TyDu/links

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

Sexuality and Gender, a video

Diversity 101 for the 21^st century is gender and sexuality differences. They are subtler than the physical and more complicated. So much more complicated. Libraries can be a safe place for gender and sexual diverse youth, the least library staff can do is be aware of some of the different types of gender and sexual diversity. Enter Hank Green to talk about the differences and more importantly the spectrum in the simplest way possible all at his usual breakneck but still understandable speed (vlogbrothers, 2012)

If you want more information there are many websites, many videos, many books aimed at different levels academically and understanding wise. As library staff you meet and interact with people of all kinds some looking for information regarding sensitive topics, their privacy is our concern.

For a far from academic but for a very useful glossary of LGBTQ definitions try Sam Killermann’s blog post. It is updated as new terms come into use, it isn’t comprehensive but it is a good starting point if you hear a word and are unsure of what it means.

There are more than to genders and more than two sexes. Important to remember on this issue is basic compassion, humanity and privacy, everybody is human, and we are all individual, different. As cliché as it is, treat people as you want to be treated and everything should be okay.

References

Killermann, S. (2017, August 12). Comprehensive list of LGBTQ+ vocabulary definitions. itspronouncedmetrosexual. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2013/01/a-comprehensive-list-of-lgbtq-term-definitions/

vlogbrothers. (2012, October 12). Human sexuality is compilcated... [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXAoG8vAyzI