Hanging on my every word

Hanging on my every word, originally uploaded by kiltedlibrarian.

Jeanne asked me stand in for her at today’s I-Orientation for new employees, and I think it went really well. Or at least no worse than one of my usual talks because the audience was really hanging on my every word–especially the guy in the blue shirt.

Teen Urban Fiction

Urban fiction is a style of literature that depicts drugs, violence and sexual promiscuity in black and Latino neighborhoods.  Many of the books show the extravagant lifestyles of drug dealers.  On Monday, the Boston Globe looked at Teens reading Urban fiction and adults who are concerned about the influence of this genre on their lives (The Real World).  (via EarlyWord)

Last month, Boston Citypaper questioned whether Young Adult Fiction really presents the voices of young, urban, and black readers (The Invisibles).  These young people suffer from what amounts to literary invisibility — they cannot see themselves in the books that are printed.

Why are these…books so popular?  For one, they examine racism, poverty, violence and love from the eyes of teens, as many teens experience it.  but the reading habits, tastes and moods of teens are as complex as those of adults — they read to learn, to feel less alone and to be entertained.  Some read to see their worlds reflected, others to be transported from the safety of their own. (from Book Group Buzz blog entry: Real World, Teen Fiction)

We don’t have many requests for this genre in our system, but we do own some titles, such as Skin I’m in by Sharon Flake and several titles from the Bluford series by various authors.

by Lorraine

Michael Crichton dies

at the young age of 66, Michael Crichton lost his battle with cancer yesterday.  well known for his thrillers heavy with science, Crichton was no stranger to the New York Times best seller list, not to mention the millions who tuned into “ER” every week and flocked to see “Jurassic Park.”

there is an ‘untitled crichton novel #4′ in CARL from Harpercollins with an expected pub date of December 2008 (Harpercollins hasn’t updated their site yet).  numerous attempts to visit Michael Crichton’s web site resulted in a page load error.

posting by marin