Joni Richards Bodart

I borrowed this book from the library. I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it. When I was in school, I tended to opt for longer books, because I could only get to the library occasionally and had a checkout limit, so I wanted the most reading material that I could get at a time. I thought I might have missed out on shorter books that could be considered classics. This book gave enough information about books that I would be able to know if I would want to read them, but it didn’t give the show more types of books I was hoping for. I was disappointed. show less

This collection of a hundred teen novels covering roughly the last decade of publishing for young adults is indicative of the seeming contest among young adult writers to become more and more realistic and controversial with no holds barred. Dysfunction is the key element in the plots here complete with the accompanying struggles and a dim prospect of a happy ending, but hopefully with a bit of maturity stirred in. The question here is, who likes to read about other’s misfortune? Does it show more make a teen more comfortable knowing that a fictional character is in the same mud puddle? If you have patrons demanding such literature, Bodardt picks the best of the lot and for each title gives a myriad of ideas for promotion, use, theme, subjects, plot, reviews and anything else imaginable that teen public librarians and teacher librarians might find useful. Sample titles include: Almost Home, Boy Meets Boy, Cut, Double Helix, Holdup, Luch, Sandpiper, Twisted, and Zigzag. Bodart makes various lists worth reading such as Risks and strengths of the title. For example, in Hurricane Song, risks include: gangs of bullies rob, rape, and kill; brutal descriptions of violent deaths. For strengths, she lists: realistic dialog, settings, and characters; characters change and gain insight; shows how quickly civilization can be stripped away. An example of a theme for this title is: What you love gives back everything you put into it, whether is football or music. Extracts from reviews are given for each title so the reader can know, in the selection process, whether the title fits the needs of the teens in a local community. So, as a selection tool and usage tool, this work is thorough and informing. And, if this genre of literature fits your collection, this is an excellent selection guide. show less

It's not bad; I was just hoping for better. This is more a review of hundreds of VA vampire, zombie and other monster tales, particularly those more recently written. The author says she focuses on those that are "more complex" (p.29); in other words, here are summaries of the best ones. The theme: "Every society creates the vampires it wants or sometimes deserves", but there is not much explication of the theme. It's an ok book,perhaps even a good book, if you are scouting for what to read show more next in the YA vampire world but the cover is simply false advertising. The initial history of vampire fiction was intriguing. Perhaps the inclusion of charts would have helped. There's a lot of data to read through. show less

Found while browsing the public library. Somewhat dated, but plenty of principles and ideas.