Teen Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests Second Edition (Genreflecting Advisory Series) by Diana Tixier Herald

Herald, Diana Tixier. Teen Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests Second Edition (Genreflecting Advisory Series). Libraries Unlimited, 2003. 251 pages. Hardback $45.00. ISBN: 1563089963. Reference.

Teen Genreflecting is a resource designed for reader’s advisory with a teen population. Additionally, it could be used as a guide for collection development for a teen library. The author acknowledges this isn’t an all inclusive list though it does contain 2000 books within its pages. The author is a leader in the field having been a reader’s advisory librarian and currently serving on committees for ALA ‘s Young Adult Services Association (YALSA).

The first chapter presents details on serving the teen population including do’s and don’ts in reading advisory, publishing trends, generalizations of teens likes and a listing of awards used in teen fiction.

The next eleven chapters deal with a specific genre including issues, contemporary life, adventure, mystery/suspense, fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, historical novels, multicultural fiction, alternative formats and christian fiction. The author begins each chapter with a definition of the genre and discusses potential confusion or crossovers within the library world and describes the specific types or subgenres under this genre. For example, mystery/suspense splits into suspense, contemporary mystery, historical mystery and paranormal mystery. Annotated bibliographies are listed under each type along with age group, awards won, publication date and labeled Adult when appropriate. Bibliographies are not critical as reader’s advisory is about finding similar books to recommend not choose what is good literature or not.

The author includes an appendix full of resources to help connect teens with books, including websites, books, discussion groups, bibliographies, review journals and professional development resources. A second and third appendix list titles for epic fantasy and reluctant readers respectively. Finally, there are three indices for titles, authors and subjects.

An excellent resource for those advising teens or those wanting to read teen fiction. I didn’t use this resource when I chose my books for this contract. However, I wish I had!