A guide for young adult librarians and teachers provides profiles of fifty titles, offering information on themes, genres, characters, and discussion questions.

Vibrant, dynamic teen book clubs—the kind teens eagerly anticipate and attend session after session—are teen-centered. With innovative, pragmatic ideas that will attract and retain teen readers, this guide provides everything you need to run a successful, teen-centered book club. Covering every step, from planning and promoting to how to prompt discussion and keep it civilized, this is a one-stop source for the teen book club leader. Dozens of reproducibles for teens include book lists, ground rules, and book-based activities. The book even has directions for evaluating your club and lists of resources for more information. Whether you're starting a teen book club, trying to revive a flagging program, or wish to build on past success, if you're involved in a teen book club, this guide is a must. What's the difference between a teen book club and an adult one? Too often, the answer is Not much. Like so many programs for teens, traditional book clubs tend to be scaled-down versions of adult clubs. If book selection, taboo topics, and logistical details are the most important things that set your teen book club apart from an adult one, you could be missing a huge opportunity. Vibrant, dynamic teen book clubs—the kind teens eagerly anticipate and attend session after session—are teen-centered. They're not merely by, for and about teens, but are grounded in the admittedly radical idea that the club is not primarily about library programming or even about books (!) but is all about teens—their interests and needs, their social habits and styles, their initiative. Books are the medium and the club is the method to achieve the ultimate goal of developing teen readers and leaders. Furthermore, the teen-centered book club has huge potential to further a whole range of library goals, from bringing more teen patrons through the door, to building community-wide awareness and support for the library itself. What sets this book apart from the typical book club guide is that it is the only guide that addresses the unique constraints of public and school libraries—budgeting, impact on the facility and the collection, and potential attempts at censorship, to name just a few. It's also the only guide that takes a teen-centered approach, putting front-and-center the idea that, as with so many other things, book clubs for teens are not merely scaled-back versions of adult clubs. Whether you are starting a club, attempting to revive a flagging program, or building on past success, this manual offers you innovative, pragmatic ideas that will attract and retain teen readers. Grades 6-12. Teen Book Clubs offers a fresh new approach for today's teen readers and clear instructions, along with tips and ideas, for building teen-centered book clubs. In 12 brief chapters the book covers: the teen-centered book club: what it is and what it takes to make it work putting it together: planning and putting the plan in action going public: recruiting, boosting visibility, garnering support 15 cunningly creative types of teen book clubs using book club to develop teen leaders scads of book lists, reproducibles, and sample discussion prompters tweaking, troubleshooting, and tips for keeping it civilized evaluations beyond measure resources for more information. Filled with practical checklists, figures, worksheets, and reproducibles, this is the guide that all teen book club leaders should have.

The first complete guide-for use by adults and children-to creating fun and educational book clubs for kids. As authors of The Book Club Cookbook, the classic guide to integrating great food and food-related discussion into book club gatherings, Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp hear a common refrain from parents, librarians, teachers, community leaders and kids themselves: "How about writing a book for kids' book clubs?" Indeed, in recent years youth organizations, parents, libraries, schools, and our local, state, and federal governments have launched thousands of book clubs for children as a way to counter falling literacy rates and foster a love of reading. Based on surveys representing five hundred youth book clubs across the country and interviews with parents, kids, educators, and librarians, The Kids' Book Club Book features: _- the top fifty favorite book club reads for children ages eight to eighteen; _- ideas and advice on forming great kids' book clubs-and tips for kids who want to start their own book clubs; _- recipes, activities, and insights from such bestselling children's book authors as Christopher Paolini, Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli, Nancy Farmer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Andrew Clements, Laurie Halse Anderson, Norton Juster, and many others. From recipes for the Dump Punch and egg salad sandwiches included in Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie to instructionson how to make soap carvings like the ones left in the knot-hole of a tree in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, this book provides a bounty of ideas for making every kids' book club a success.

Sample mission statements, applications, membership cards, parent permission forms, publicity flyers, and newsletters can be borrowed or adapted." "Library directors, school administrators, library educators, and librarians who work directly with teens in school and public libraries will be unable to resist such compelling testaments to the value of library teen advisory groups."--BOOK JACKET.

If you are a new young adult librarian or an experienced librarian with little time to plan and execute programs for teens, this book is for you! For each month in the calendar year, two or three programs popular with teens are presented with instructions, sample flyers, letters, and checklists. From simple programs such as a candy raffle to more complex programs such as a mystery night, librarians can keep their teen calendar full of activities with a minimum of effort. Programs that tie into both school events and national events for teens are included as well as those that can be presented at an individual library. Suggestions for programs range from a poetry contest to a summer job program. Instructions for ongoing procedures for soliciting teens' opinions are provided: a monthly question board, candy raffle, starting and running a Teen Advisory Board and so on. Basic skills for all YA librarians are emphasized in each of the programs; these skills include booktalking, working with the schools, and marketing your programs within the library and to the community. By creating variations in each of the programs, young adult librarians will have a wealth of ideas in this book to keep their YA program calendar filled for years to come.

Oprah. The Today Show. Live! With Regis and Kelly. Their book clubs attract millions - and send hordes of readers to the library. Your library may not be able to hold millions, but there's no reason your discussion group can't be every bit as popular and appreciated as those on TV. This unique manual shows you step-by-step how to build, improve, and maintain successful, engaging book discussion groups. Chapters answer the fundamental questions: How do you build membership? Choose the right titles? Schedule and arrange meetings? Develop questions? Get free or discounted books? Provide an inviting atmosphere and setting? Planning, publicity, facilitating discussions, programming techniques, and assessment are discussed in detail. Essential advice on programming includes 15 ready-to-use discussion guides; One Book-One City program ideas; on line forums; title selection; and more. Any library starting or running book discussion groups will want this practical guide by their side.

Organized into eighteen thematic chapters, offers more than nineteen hundred annotated listings of recommended titles for young adults.

With so much competing for the time of today's students, youth services librarians have an especially challenging job. How can they reach their target audience? One of the surest ways is the promotion--through the local school system--of a series of class visits to the public library. But where to begin? Choosing a grade level, contacting school officials and teachers, and planning age-appropriate programs are among the many steps that librarians must take--but may feel unprepared for. Encouraging the collaboration of professionals in public libraries and local schools, this comprehensive guide presents a detailed framework for a versatile program of class visits. Written by two public librarians with firsthand experience, it describes, in a step-by-step format, how to accomplish a structured series of class visits. The book addresses procedures, planning and implementation, and offers suggestions for both elementary and secondary school visits. Informational packets and other print materials are provided for each level. Possible challenges are discussed, with thoughts on their impact on the overall program and ways to find workable solutions. The appendices contains easily adaptable templates including sample schedules, letters to teachers and evaluation forms.

The digital divide is a disturbing reality, and teens in our society increasingly fall into distinct categories of technology haves and have-nots, whether or not computers are available to them in the schools. This trend undermines the futures of our youth and jeopardizes the vitality of our society. Today's librarians are in a unique position to help bridge the gap. This guide helps librarians to identify tech-nots—technologically disadvantaged teens—in a community or school and to reach out and build information literacy in underserved teen populations. Farmer goes beyond recommending computers for every teen, and demonstrates how to overcome teen misperceptions and disinterest in computers. After examining the problem and the populations most affected, the author discusses how to build awareness and motivation, train staff, create space and time, build the collection, develop partnerships with other agencies and organizations, offer services, and overcome barriers with specific populations. Citing benchmark programs and services from around the country, Farmer offers a wealth of exciting new ways for libraries to connect with at-risk teens today. Grades 6-12.

Learn about the world of today's teens and how to communicate with this very important segment of your library's audience. Gather ideas for enlisting help from teachers and school librarians in planning programming to bring teens to the library. Examples of real life reference interviews follow a list of tools to have at the teen reference desk. The essential elements of building teen collection and reader's advisory services are presented with ideas for creating a teen friendly library. Information will be useful to librarians in smaller libraries and persons assigned to teen services as a part of their other duties.