I just finished reading The Book Club Exploded from LJ’s July issue, and I must say, I’m becoming more and more enamored with the idea of doing a book discussion blog for teens.  The article mentions that book discussion blogs have had “mixed results” in general but seem to be more successful with teens.  I did a search for for teen book blogs on google just to see if I could find some examples.  I managed to locate three so far, but if anyone knows of more, please leave a link in the comments and once I have a good list I can add them to the teenlibwiki.

Seward Memorial Library
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library
Prairie du Sac Public Library

One of the biggest obstacles in discussion groups with teenagers is trying to get them to feel comfortable enough to speak up and express their thoughts. The anonymity of blogging, forums and chats could help with this type of anxiety.  I imagine both methods have their pros and cons and I think most librarians would a agree that offering both a standard book discussion group and a book discussion blog would be of great value to any teen department.  I just know that many librarians have voiced frustration with the traditional discussion group and in those cases, opting for a book blog might be a good way to gain more interest and reach their teen population.  The examples above reflect a variety of formats and uses for a book discussion blog.  The posts on the Seward Memorial Library blog seem to focus more on book summaries, whereas Prairie du Sac Public Library is much more interactive.  I think I would prefer Prairie du Sac’s method myself, which seems to resemble more of a discussion by using questions to entice readers to respond.

Journey Between Worlds
Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Format: Hardcover
Price: $17.99
ISBN: 0399245324

Journey Between Worlds soulfully explores cultural prejudices against the backdroup of a futuristic colonization of Mars and through the empathic turmoil of a recent HS graduate. Mirand forgos her earthbound relations in exchange for a temporary Mars life. She exhibits a stubborn dissidence towards Mars that fuels her misconceived views. However, new relationships influence her to reevaluate and understand herself, as well as, Mars from the natives’ perspective. Reflective and thought-provoking, this valiant character finds solace in self discovery. Other Sylvia titles have been recently reprinted.

Genre: Philosophy/Human_Relations/Gut_Love
Read-alikes: For serious content, suggest other Engdahl titles. Due to deep character development recommend this to older teens and young college students who have read and loved authors like Gail Carson Levine and Tamora Pierce.
Web Goodies: HEY, Sylvia has a MYSPACE ACCOUNT! Her website can be found here. Also check out her SpaceSubsite to further enhance your space age mythological experience.

Commentary: JBW was my introduction to Engdahl’s writing, which means I haven’t read the more popular title Enchantress from the Stars (Newberry Honor book). From the getgo it’s immediately apparent that this Journey will indeed be otherworldly. I’m thinking, that because JBW was written in the 70’s, the dominating writing style of the time, for the YA field, was more intense and philosophical than my modern palate has been accoustomed to. I mean to say that the previous generations had another method of portraying their missions. For example, Melinda is highly mature and intuitive:

Nobody knows this better than parents, and parents don’t want to think of their kids as adults. This is less because they distrust you than because they distrust themselves; its a matter not of your age, but of theirs. They hate to believe that they are old enough to have grown children. So if you love your folks, why make it tough for them? - pg 3

I don’t read this as being stated in the vernacular, but as being directed towards an older teen or adult audience. The story, throughout, contains other loaded ideas and is dense in character development. At times, these power ideas reduce the backdrop of Mars to slightly significant, causing the novel to lose most of its science fiction cred. Which is only a problem if you have a reader wanting a strong science fiction read. But Melinda’s insightfulness will certainly win the hearts of those wanting a coming-of-age story with substance.

Participating: Got any ideas for read-alikes that contain valiant characters or other similar reads? Please leave a comment.