February 16th, 2011
Readings for Week 3, February 9-16
- Read Chapter 2 & 3 Serving Young Teens and Tweens. You do not have to read the book suggestions and annotations carefully; it’s okay to skim them.
- Read Chapter 2 in Naked Reading
Reflections:
What are the titles that are popular with the tweens you see/work with?
Right now the Twilight series is very popular as well as the Narnia Chronicles. It seems that there interest are sparked by titles being made into movies; go figure. What I thought might be popular now is the upswing with graphic novels.
What are the activities, issues, etc. that are popular with tweens?
The most popular things that I have seen with tweens in my area are their cell phone. They read messages, text message, read blogs or any other type of social networking site. Their issues are about what is real and what is now; if it doesn’t affect them then they aren’t interested.
What titles do you see marketed in bookstores? online? have buzz?
This is a good question and while I was out of town I had the opportunity to browse two bookstores. Their marketing strategy is to display what titles are new and notable. For instance, there were displays of award winner books, books that are made into movies, newly recommended titles. In other words, things that are hot, new, fresh. I did notice that there were a lot of series books on display and also noticed that the tween section had the smallest selection of titles. There were a variety of graphic novels and a large selection of titles for girls. There were some titles for boys as well, but mostly were about being a hero and sports. The largest selection of titles had to do with fictional worlds.
Why do you think these items and activities are popular?
For the bookstores they do this for customers that are avid readers and know what is a hot item right now (probably from reviews).
Read Chapter 2 in Naked Reading
In Naked Reading, the introductory notes really hit a core about teens only reading when they need to. That what they do read usually is about something current like stars in television shows, or in movies.
Karrie's Corner 