Week 12 Prompt Response

Readers’ Advisory Matrix - Nonfiction

Title: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Author: Daniel James Brown

Publisher: Viking: New York, NY

Publication Date: 2013

Where is the book on the narrative continuum? □ Highly narrative (reads like fiction) □ A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose) □ Highly fact-based (has few or no narrative moments)

What is the subject of the book? The author follows the  journey of Joe Nantz and eight other members of the University of Washington rowing team who defeated the odds and represented their country at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

What type of book is it? A biography

Articulate appeal What is the pacing of the book?  Fast. Readers are quickly introduced to Joe before he starts his adventures with the university rowing team. Detailed but clear descriptions of rowing technique and shell construction slow the pace just enough for readers to more thoroughly enjoy the story line. Describe the characters of the book.  The book centers on one rower, Joe Nantz, who, abandoned by his family, struggles to build his self-esteem and make a life for himself. The other characters are profiled, but their personalities are largely developed through relationships with teammates and coaches. How does the story feel?  The story feels like an adventure. Joe’s difficult life compels readers to form an emotional attachment so that they want him and the team to succeed. Even though the ending may be known, the author manages to maintain a level of suspense with each setback and victory. What is the intent of the author?  Brown turns an historical event into a story of determination and optimism during the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The author’s intent is to teach the value of perseverance in overcoming what may seem insurmountable odds. What is the focus of the story?  The story focuses on Joe Nantz’s character development as he overcomes a miserable youth, grueling training, and distrust of others. He and his teammates learn to sacrifice for each other in order to become part of a perfectly synchronized team. Does the language matter?  Yes. Brown provides detailed descriptions of the sport and boat craftsmanship that introduce readers to the hard work and precision the sport requires. By the end of the book, the audience is familiar enough with the terminology and rigors of rowing to fully appreciate the exciting conclusion. Is the setting important and well-described?  Yes. Brown evokes the dreary often grim atmosphere in rural Washington State during the Great Depression. “To fail at this rowing business would mean, at best, returning to a small bleak town on the Olympic Peninsula with nothing ahead of him but the prospect of living alone in a cold, empty, half-built house surviving as best he could on odd jobs, foraging for food, and maybe, if he was very lucky, finding another highway construction job with the Civilian Conservation Corps. At worst it would mean joining a long line of broken men standing outside a soup kitchen like the one down on Yesler Way” (Brown 13). Are there details, and if so, of what?  The  details are in-depth descriptions of the training and equipment involved in competitive rowing. Are there sufficient charts and other graph materials? Are they useful and clear?  There are no graphs, but there are period photographs that deliver a sense of immediacy and understanding to Joe’s plight and the team’s uphill battle. Photographs of Joe as a child with his family and of the other characters, the university, and surrounding area contribute a backdrop for the story line. The pictures from the races and Olympics greatly enhance readers’ participation in the characters’ experiences. Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?  Yes, all three. Not only are there facts about the sport of rowing, but readers learn about the economic and political turmoil of the time by following Joe’s experiences.

Why would a reader enjoy this book? 1.   Highly narrative                       2.    Characters                      3.   Learning/Experiencing

References

Brown, D. J. (2013). The boys in the boat: Nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. New York, NY: Viking.

Wyatt, N. (2007). The readers’ advisory guide for nonfiction. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Fantasy Annotation

Week 11 Prompt Response

When I worked in my children’s school library, one of the kindergarten teachers would always remind the students to “hold your book like a treasure,” as they returned to their classroom. I understood what she meant because there were books that made me feel that way. Although the media are evolving, the basic appeal factors of the content remain the same. Individual preferences for certain media and genres continue to demonstrate the relevance of Ranganthan’s five laws.

Mediatore succinctly relates Saricks’ appeal factors to audiobooks. The narrator blends the four elements: pacing, characterization, story line, and frame together through their audible presentation of the book (Mediatore 318). The hands-free convenience of the format is a strong appeal factor. One of my coworkers is an avid audiobook user. She downloads audiobooks on her phone and listens to them when she prepares for programs. She has favorite narrators and will look for their names when choosing her next audiobook. My limited experience with audiobooks consists of listening to them when I am driving. I prefer to read (listen to) unabridged books, but am not familiar enough with narrators to have favorites. The reader’s presentation style, especially the sound of their voice, can either induce me to try the book, or convince me to replace it. I have noticed that track length affects my decision to listen to a book more than the number of pages affects my decision to read a book in print.  I feel as though I have less control over my reading when I listen to a book and can become impatient with the narrator’s pacing. When the reader and text (and music, if present) are well-matched, I can feel the same sense of engagement with an audiobook as I do with print.  One example is Stephen Fry’s reading of Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington.

Cahill shares several appeal factors specific to audiobooks that encourage literacy development. This format can motivate reading, develop children’s vocabulary and language, and promote comprehension (Cahill 26). Educators reluctant to read multicultural materials themselves can incorporate multicultural audiobooks into their lesson plans (Cahill 26). Audiobooks are uniquely effective for learning other languages; the reader’s pronunciation and inflection are essential parts of foreign language fluency.

Ebooks are also convenient tools for reading. The ability to adjust font size and type, brightness, and other features makes reading accessible to people with print disabilities. Anyone can tailor those features to optimize their personal reading experience. Ebook readers are less cumbersome than carrying several books when traveling. Over spring break I downloaded a couple of ebooks on my phone and was able to carry and read them easily everywhere we went. I prefer to read print materials, so the ebooks are a good option to holding the actual book.

At work many children and their caregivers will ask for audiobooks on CD, but I still receive more requests for print materials than other formats. Our librarians make regular school visits to show students how to access our ebook collection, online homework tools, and to build awareness of those resources.

I rarely have patrons ask for specific ebooks, possibly because they prefer to use the library’s online services. Most ebook questions involve how to read or download the ebook on various electronic devices. Troubleshooting requests occur fairly often, too. The extra steps needed to read or listen to audiobooks and ebooks may be a deterrent for some readers. When I offer an ebook version or to look up a title on Libby/Overdrive or Hoopla, most patrons say that it is not necessary, they will do that when they get home. The patrons are more willing to accept my offer to put the physical item on hold.

In spite of the expense of ebooks (print and audio versions), it is incumbent on libraries to offer a wide range of formats to meet their patrons needs and preferences. In 2017, Overdrive adopted Vinjamuri’s suggestion of negotiating a cost per circulation (Vinjamuri). Maybe that is a sign of better publisher/library relations.  Mediatore offers a valuable RA tip for evaluating an audiobook (or other formats):  “Is the book a good listen, or a better read?” (Mediatore 322)

References

Cahill, M., & Moore, J. (2017). A sound history. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 22–29. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier

Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with your ears: Readers' advisory and audio books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 318-23. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database

Vinjamuri, D. (2012). The wrong war over ebooks: Publishers vs. libraries. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/

Book Club Visit: A public library book club which meets the last Monday of each month

February 25, 2019:  The librarian in charge of the program escorted me upstairs. From her description of the program, it generally followed the LitLovers’ suggestions on the I Love Libraries site:

Ground Rules:

·         Members who haven’t read the book. (LitLovers)

The moderator asked if anyone had not finished the book. A couple of members had not, and two of us had read the book months ago.

·         Disagreements about the book. (LitLovers)

 The moderator welcomed and listened to everyone’s comments without judgement.

·         Dominating personalities. (LitLovers)

One man was vocal about his dislike of the book and tended to ramble. However he allowed other members to take their turns without interruption.

Book Selection Process and Meeting Format

·         Don't read favorites. Do mix genres. Don't choose for the whole year.  (LitLovers)

            The book club digressed from LitLovers’ guide in this section. Although they choose books from different genres that are not members’ favorites, every November the group makes selections for the following year. That session begins ½ hour earlier to allow for the selection process and the book discussion. The meeting did not include a social time or discussion of administration issues. The 90 minute discussion focused on the chosen book. The member who has chosen that month’s book leads the discussion.

Experience

            The discussion group consisted of ten people, including me. Each person attending that night were regular participants. All but one man from Rwanda and me were senior citizens from the local community. There were three men and seven women. The club met upstairs in a boardroom. We sat around an oval table and each of us had a place card with our name on it. On my visit, the selected book was the young adult dystopian novel, Scythe, by Neal Shusterman.

             Book Summary  (Source: Carmel Clay Public Library online catalog)

Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life--and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe--a role that neither wants. These teens must master the "art" of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own (CCPL).

            The woman who led the discussion was a retired middle school English literature teacher. Her experience managing teens proved useful during the lively meeting. She started by asking if anyone had strong feelings about the book, its topic, or characters. Next she turned to the person to her right and asked them to share their thoughts. The other participants responded in succession. When the conversation came to one of the men, he condemned the book as blasphemous and an affront to the Bible.  Everyone listened politely and voiced their opinions calmly. I did however notice some disapproving and exasperated facial expressions among the members. One woman rolled her eyes when he said the book was “pure evil.”

            Probably the most interesting comments about the book came from the man from Rwanda. He talked about the author’s choice of the word “culling” to describe the act of killing as a means of population control. The scythes perform a duty analogous to one in Rwanda, he said, where culling is done to conserve African elephants and other animals. The man said that elephants can be very destructive; they threaten their own ecosystems when they uproot trees and trample plants in forests as they eat and roam. He also referred to the genocide in Rwanda as a form of culling. His reflections sparked questions about whether immortality in the scythe’s world is better than life in the age of mortality:

When there is no disease and income is guaranteed, is the motivation to improve taken away?
And if so, what is the value of life?

There still seems to be a built-in inequality because the scythes have power other people do not.
Is Shusterman creating a nihilistic society?

             When the discussion ended, the moderator placed handouts about the Scythe story arc on the table in case anyone was interested in reading the series. I was surprised that she had not passed out the materials at the beginning of our conversation. When everyone had left, the librarian and the retired teacher explained that the man who was so opposed to the book responded that way to any books they read. The women said that he only reads nonfiction, and he frequently references the 1950s TV show, Leave It to Beaver, as the standard of content appropriate for children and teens.

Evaluation

This was the first library book club I have attended. I enjoyed the experience, even though the one man seemed determined to make the conversation a platform for his religious beliefs. The moderator and other members managed to keep the discussion’s focus on the book. Each participant contributed interesting observations and stimulated conversation. Overall I found the experience enjoyable and would like to attend another meeting with the group in the future.

References

CCPL (Carmel Clay Public Library). (2019). Scythe: Summary. Carmel Clay Public Library. Retrieved from https://www.carmel.lib.in.us/

Starting a Book Club. http://www.ilovelibraries.org/booklovers/bookclub/bookclub

Shusterman, N. (2016). Scythe. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

YA and Adult Nonfiction Graphic Novels

I have seen the size of children's graphic novel collections grow in the eight years I have worked in public libraries. Both fiction and nonfiction graphics have become increasingly popular with boys and girls. I was curious if young adults and adults have also responded well to graphic nonfiction.

When I looked at my library's Young Adult and Adult graphic novel collections, I found that nonfiction graphic novels represented small parts of the Adult and Young Adult graphic novel collections. Nonfiction graphics accounted for approximately 6% of the adult graphics collection, and 9% of the young adult graphics collection. A surprising finding was that biographies, and autobiographies/ memoirs accounted for about 69% of the adult nonfiction graphics collection and about 33% of the young adult nonfiction graphics. After visiting the ALA, and NoveList websites, I learned that these types of graphic novels have received critical acclaim. Some notable titles are:

1) The March trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell. The series is John Lewis’ memoir of the civil rights movement in the United States. March 3, the third book in the trilogy, won several awards, including the 2016 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the 2017 Printz Award, and the 2017 Sibert Medal.

2) Maus (1980) by Art Spiegelman. The two volume memoir is about the authors’ parents and their experiences as Holocaust survivors in WWII. The book is drawn from conversations Spiegelman had with his father in the 1970’s. Maus won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize after the second volume was published.

3) Hey Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction (2018) by Jarrett Krosoczka. This coming of age memoir was a National Book Award Finalist.

This paper began with my curiosity about nonfiction graphic novels for adults and young adults. My research into the topic led me in an unexpected direction. I gained a greater insight into the value of diverse media choices. The graphic format covers the range of genres and is particularly suited to personal stories such as memoirs. Librarians are in a position to keep up with emerging media and their potential for effective fiction and nonfiction narratives.

References

ALA (American Library Association) (February 11, 2018). ALA member news: 2018 Notable books list: Year’s best in fiction, nonfiction and poetry announced. ALA. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/02/2018-notable-books-list-year-s-best-fiction-nonfiction-and-poetry-announced


Krosoczka, J. (2018). Hey Kiddo. New York, NY: Graphix.

Lewis, J. & Aydin, A. (2016). March 3. St.Louis, MO: Turtleback.

Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus I: A survivor’s tale: My father bleeds history. St. Louis, MO: Turtleback.

NoveList. (2019). Graphic novel genre: Adult and teen, nonfiction. NoveList Plus.

Retrieved from https://www.carmel.lib.in.us/

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association). (February 16, 2015). Genre guide: Graphic memoirs. The Hub. Retrieved from 

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2015/02/16/genre-guide-graphic-memoirs/