Should we post titles of adult books on the teen site?
Before you say "heaven forbid" or whatever term readily comes to mind, let me be more specific. Here we have tons of teens playing the X-box game Halo. There are actually BOOKS (official novels) associated with the game. The game is rated "M" for mature audiences which is aged 17+. The books (Fall of Reach and The Flood) are in adult sci fi.
What's your opinion? Inquiring minds want to know.........
4 comments:
Who would make the decision what is an appropriate adult book to post the title of and what isn't? The other day we received a graphic novel ordered as young adult and Mary Dexter browsed through it and discovered it was an actual "porno"graphic novel.
I would just think it would be a fine line to decide what to post and what not to post. (in the case of materials that are questionable).
Is the question a concern about posting something that may not be appropriate for a teen? Or simply should we post books that are geared toward teen but in our catalog as adult knowing that it would be an appropriate book for a teen?
Cynthia, my feeling is they'll find those books on their own anyway without you feeling compromised about listing them.
Our only defense in response to irate parents is that the material was in the adult section. If we intentionally promote those books to teens, we're on the offense.
Besides, when teens are hunting that material down it sharpens their searching skills!
From my experience, Teen books are called such because they usually have teens as the major characters - not because the book is appropriate for all teens. There are plenty of books about sex, drugs & rock & roll that are in the teen section.
Listing "Teen" books implies that teens only want to read about teens, and although that's true for many, many others enjoy sci-fi, thrillers, mysteries, westers, historical fiction, classics, etc. with adults as the major character making the book "adult."
Like any other list, librarians need to make sure that the items suggested are appropriate for the list - so I feel that adult books belong there as much as a teen books, and would be a helpful resource for teens (and their parents) who want to move beyond the YA novel.
I agree with Andrew. I've read several YA books recently that are far more graphic than most of the adult fiction I've read in years. If we are recommending titles to teens, I think the content of the story and the message of the author should be more important than the classification of 'YA'.
I seem to recall when I was a teen I was required/encouraged to read many books that are now classified as 'adult', such as Catcher in the rye, To kill mockingbird, Old man and the sea, etc. Perhaps those titles don't have the "Wow" factor to get teens reading like some YA books that are published these days, but I don't think we should shy away from recommending adult titles if we know they have some value to the teens.
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