Video Gamers and Reading

David found a useful article that came out of the 2010 ALSC Institute:

Redefining Story
Jennifer M. Brown

Is there a difference between playing a video game and reading a story? Both have characters and a plot, and involve picking up visual and textual clues in order to move forward. Does it matter if one is on a screen and the other is on the page? Are gamers also readers? These questions formed the crux of the discussion at a panel called "Transforming Gamers into Readers" at the 2010 ALSC (Association of Library Service to Children) Institute held September 23-24 in Atlanta, Ga...

Includes suggestions for getting gamers reading, including book recommendations, magazines and podcasts.

The Future of Publishing

From DK, how the next generation feels about publishing:



Which, if you know, is a take on this:



But obviously, they have the same core message.

Free Scavenger Hunt Reading Program

Author and library lover Kay Cassidy has come up with a fun reading promotion your library can take part in. It is called The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest. 150 YA authors have created trivia questions to go with their books. Teens read the related book, turn in the their answers, and if they get at least 8/10, they are entered in the monthly drawing for a $50 giftcard to the bookstore of their choice.

The list of YA books you can choose from to feature are here.

Looks like a fun and easy way to promote books that might otherwise be sitting neglected on the shelf!

A Teacher on Assigned Reading: "We're Teaching Books That Don't Stack Up"

Ok, I'll be honest, this article is directed toward teachers, and is written by a high school English teacher, but as it deals with how teens feel about the literature they are assigned in school. I think it's worth a read.

'"Butchering." That's what one of my former students, a young man who loves creative writing but rarely gets to do any at school, called English class. He was referring to the endless picking apart of linguistic details that loses teens in a haze of "So what?" The reading quizzes that turn, say, "Hamlet" into a Q&A on facts, symbols and themes. The thesis-driven essay assignments that require students to write about a novel they can't muster any passion for ("The Scarlet Letter" is high on teens' list of most dreaded). I'll never forget what one parent, bemoaning his daughter's aversion to great books after she took AP English Literature, wrote to me: "What I've seen teachers do is take living, breathing works of art and transform them into dessicated lab specimens fit for dissection."'

Strange, that's exactly how *I* felt in high school...

what is "reading" in the digital age

Penni forwarded me this great article from the New York Times.

Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?

As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books.

But others say the Internet has created a new kind of reading, one that schools and society should not discount. The Web inspires a teenager like Nadia, who might otherwise spend most of her leisure time watching television, to read and write.

Seems to cover both sides of the argument fairly thoroughly.

Thoughts?

31 Flavorite Authors

Readergirlz and YALSA are featuring a different teen author chat each day this month in celebration of Teen Read Week/Month! Consider adding their downloadable poster to your Teen Read Month display.

King on Rowling

Here is a quite excellent article by Stephen King on the magic of J.K. Rowling's books

The Last Word On Harry Potter

Warning: spoilers abound.