A Core Collection for Young Adults

Teens @ the Library Series

by Patrick Jones, Patricia Taylor, Kirsten Edwards

Demographic projections show that the teenage population in the U.S. will reach an all-time high during this decade. Edited by Joel Shoemaker, a former President of the Young Adult Services Association (YALSA), this groundbreaking series is designed to ensure that public and school librarians have the tools they need to develop and adapt their collections, services, and programs to meet the diverse--and ever-changing--needs of young adults. For more than a decade, librarians have been following the recommendations of Patrick Jones, author of "Connecting Young Adults and libraries, to build collections for teens in school and public libraries. Now Jones teams up with English teacher Patricia Taylor and young adult librarian/speculative fiction expert Kirsten Edwards to deliver the definitive core collection. Focusing on titles YA teens would be most likely to own or check out frequently, these experts have selected and annotated over 1,000 titles, including adult and young adult fiction and nonfiction; biographies and personal narratives; graphic novels and illustrated works; underground classics; humor; science fiction/fantasy; Web sites; databases, and other electronic formats. Brief annotations provide insight and identify the primary audience for each book. Core collection entries include call numbers, full bibliographic information, and grade/audience level. Special features include handpicked favorites of YA librarians and authors, an extensive list of young adult "best" lists, and author and title indexes. An accompanying title-checker disk allows librarians to quickly compare catalog holdings to the core collection recommended by these experts.

405 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2003

About the author

Patrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.

Reviews

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been helpful in trying to fill in holes in DCPL collections, after YA wasn't bought as its own collection for years.