"What Should I Read Next?" San Jose Public Library

http://sjlibrary.org/gateways/teens/index.htm
Summary: When you click on the “Teen” icon on the San Jose Public Library web page what do you find? On the “teen web page” there are nine different pages you can link to, roughly divided into three categories: “What Should I Read Next?,” “I Want Quality Web Sites Not More Junk!” and “How do Teens Express themselves?” Here I will discuss what’s under the first category—“What Should I Read Next?”

Under this category are reading lists by genre, books of the month, and “wild reviews” (reviews by readers). What these three sections have in common and what they offer to readers are brief synopses of different titles. Particularly useful are the reading lists by genre. There are 24 different categories: Across the States, Adventure Stories, Autobiographies & Memoirs, California Young Reader Medal, Coping with Life (nonfiction), Fantasy, Ghosts & Horror, Graphic Novels, Heating Up History, Keeping You at the Edge of Your Seat, Latino Fiction, Literary Classics, Losing Someone, Love and Other Four Letter Words, Mystery, Native American Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Say it With Laughter, Sci-Fi Classics, Sci-Fi for Teens, Series, Survival, Vampires, and 7th & 8th Grade Reading Picks.

There are about 20+ titles in each category with a brief synopsis of each title. Clicking on a title brings you to the library catalog entry for that book.

The book of the month and the “Wild Reviews” are useful, I think, only in as much as they too offer synopses of books for readers. The book of the month is just a selection for each month, not a discussion group. Under Wild Reviews, readers can read other teen’s reviews and write their own if they please.

Critical Evaluation: This section of the teen website provides an excellent self-service reader’s advisory. The number of categories listed and the titles under each category make it very extensive. The Book of the Month club selections offer even more detailed synopses of the chosen books. Readers can review books for past months and past years, going back to 2005. Reading reviews from other teens can help teens decide which books are the most popular, although the number of reviews are limited.

Reader's Annotation: Finished your book? Look here to help you find your next one.

About the author: N/A

Curriculum ties: Could be used in conjunction with English classes.

Booktalking Ideas: Look for books under just about any category you can think of.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 10-19.

Challenge Issues: N/A

Why Chosen: I thought this was a very good reader's advisory site for teens.