Tuesday, May 7, 2013

WHAT DO MIDDLE SCHOOLERS REALLY WANT TO READ? An Interview with Librarian Extraordinaire, Karen Yingling--by Michael Gettel-Gilamrtin



Karen Yingling in time travel mode
In the blogging world, you come across scads of interesting people whom you would never know about if it weren't for the web. (Yay, internets!) One of these brilliant types is Karen Yingling, who may well be the most well-read person I know. I "met" Karen through the Cybils awards, where she and I were on the MG 1st round panel in 2011. In 2012, we both got promoted, with Karen being the MG panel coordinator, and I a round two judge. Karen writes a fantastic blog, Ms. Yingling Reads, which along with her straight-shooting reviews has bunches of links to blogs which encourage boys in particular to read. I decided it would be a grand idea to get to know Karen a bit better, to share her expertise with Project Mayhem readers, and to find out just what those actual middle schoolers are reading. Here are the fruits of my research:



1. What is the name of your school, and what is your position?

Blendon Middle School, Westerville, Ohio. Librarian.


(MGG: I looked up a map of Ohio, and found Westerville just a wee bit north of Columbus.)


2. How long have you worked there?

Ten years. Before that, I was a Latin teacher.


3. What has changed since you started your career?

I no longer have an entire wall of reference books! It's down to six shelves, although we get a ridiculous amount of use out of the print encyclopedias the public library donates to us.


4. How many kids come through your library on a weekly basis?

I see almost every student in the school at least once a week. We have 750 students. I check out about 1250 books per week.


5. What is flying off your shelves? Are your students interested in YA novels?

Notebook novels are always very popular, as are romance books for the girls. Anything with action is good-- Horowitz's Stormbreaker is always out. New Rick Riordan books are much in demand, but most of my students have read what is out already. I can never have enough football and basketball books. There are a few of my 8th graders who like YA, mostly the girls who like paranormal romance. We're very fortunate that the public library will deliver books right to our school. I'll buy some YA if it's appropriate, but YA tends to be slower paced and too introspective for my students. Again, action is key. If "nothing happens" the book is doomed.


6. What are the students not interested in?

Maybe 20% of my students like fantasy books, and yet over half of the MG books I see are fantasy! Sure, the readers who read fantasy read a lot of it, but if I had to say one thing to aspiring writers, it would be "Don't write a fantasy book!!!!!" There is almost nothing for middle grades on wrestling or skateboarding, and lots of requests. There are, however, a thousand books about children being hurtled into a fantasy dimension and having to save the world. It's been done. The best thing I've read lately was Alexander Vance's The Heartbreak Messenger. Romance AND dog poop. It was brilliant.


7. What would you like to see more of in middle grade?

More sports of all kinds, and more funny, realistic books for boys. I'd love to see a series for boys like Betsy Byar's Bingo Brown  series.  Mysteries that are a little edgier than "who is stealing the neighborhood dogs" but not gory.

8. Have e-readers made any inroads into students' reading?

A few students have e readers, but not many. Again, our public library is a tremendous resource, so students can check out e books from there. I don't plan on purchasing any digital titles any time soon. Too many platforms, too hard to use, and my students have enough trouble picking out titles to read when the actual books are in front of them!


9. What is the best way to encourage students this age to read?

Students need books flung at them constantly. Lots of book talks, lots of cover displays, lots of opportunities to visit the library and talk to a librarian. At least 50 students a day come in to the library with a hang dog look saying "I need a book". They have no idea what they want to read, so there is a lot of discussion. Do you want something happy? Sad? Modern? Historical? Once the student gets the right book, a lot more reading occurs!


10. Apart from the voluminous reading you do, what other interests/hobbies do you have?

I coach cross country, so I try to keep up with my own running. Sometimes I'll take a break from reading and quilt, but not very often. This summer there may be less reading and a bit of writing, but what librarian doesn't secretly think she could write a novel?

Karen, thanks so much for stopping by. Your book reviews are always interesting, and I like how you always point out what you consider to be a book's strengths and weaknesses. I hope you have a summer with some writing. Go you!!

36 comments:

  1. This is a great post. It's not easy to figure out what most kids are looking for, and this is so helpful :)

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  2. Thanks for the kind words, Michael!

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  3. Fascinating about the percentage of fantasy readers. I had no idea. Thanks Ms. Tingling and Michael. And I just want to second what Michael saudi about your book reviews. Yours is my go-to site if I want to find out about a book I haven't read or if I'm trying to get a sense if it's a book that really would appeal to kids.

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  4. Great interview! I especially appreciated the insights about what kids are looking for. I find a lot of fantasy when I visit my local library too, and it always makes me wonder if that's what many kids want to read...but maybe not.

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  5. Ms. Yingling is a huge asset to the blogosphere! And this is a very enlightening post. I had no idea MG was so lacking in certain areas. Too bad I've been outlining a MG Fantasy. :(

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  6. Great interview. I loved hearing what Karen and kids are looking for. Sad to hear there's too much fantasy since that's what I've just written. But I still think there's a place for it.

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  7. I like Karen's no-nonsense advice and how well she knows her students. Extraordinary librarian for sure!

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  8. Ms. Yingling's blog is a daily stop for me for its strengths/weaknesses and straight forward reviews. She defiantly knows her middle schoolers. Great interview.

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  9. Thanks to Matthew MacNish for sending me over here.

    This post was wonderful! I'm just venturing into the realm of middle grade writing but I've been enjoying middle grade books now for a couple of years. I find myself going to that section more and more often when I visit a bookstore or library.

    Karen, what a wonderful post! I would have loved to have had you for a librarian when I was in middle school! Keep shoving books at those kids :)

    Great blog. I'll be back!
    Cheers,
    Jen

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  10. Great interview. Ms. Yingling went out of her way to send me some book lists at the beginning of the school year for my first foray into teaching elementary school after years of high school. She has an extraordinary knowledge base.
    I loved hearing that she would like to see more realistic stories.
    Thanks Michael and Karen.

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  11. It is great to hear different perspectives. Kids everywhere seem to read the same things... but not always! Kids want good books. They want something fun and exciting! I was told early on that I needed 'magic wands and flying brooms' instead of science in the Young Inventors Guild books. Not true! Basically, the wisest thing to remember is that, for any kid, if it's the right book, reading will happen and it will make more reading happen, too!THANKS, Michael and Karen!

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  12. This is really interesting - thanks for providing your great perspective!

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  13. I feel the same way about fantasy (with no malice or ill will directed toward fantasy lovers or writers!). My ten and twelve-year-old boys just don't like it. It makes finding titles for them more challenging because of the huge number of MG titles dedicated to fantasy.

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  14. Great interview! Thanks.

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  15. Great interview. It's always interesting to hear what other librarians have to say about kids and their reading habits.

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  16. Great interview--I always love to hear what actually works for MG kids. I'm slightly biased and love action books myself :-)

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  17. Westerville, Ohio? That's practically in my back yard! Okay, so it's really a little northeast of here, but it's close enough. Anyway, great interview It was interesting to read what kids are looking for.

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  18. I'll tell Karen what I tell our librarians at school: You have the most important job in the world!!!! Thank you for putting books into kids' hands.

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  19. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Now if only we could get publishers to understand the desire for more sports stories and fewer fantasies! In particular, I've heard "girl sports stories don't sell."

    Any thoughts on historical fiction, one of my loves? Caroline Starr Rose has sold a couple of American-based middle grade historical fiction novels recently (probably because she's fabulous). I prefer more ancient cultures, and haven't found much publisher interest since I sold my first novel, The Well of Sacrifice, many years ago. Yet my sense is that teachers and kids love, for example, ancient Egypt.

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  20. What a fantastic interview! Thank you Karen and Michael and Project Mayhem :)

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  21. Karen's blog is so helpful. Enjoyed this interview, both of you. So glad to hear your library still gets a lot of use out of print encyclopedias, Karen. I'm happy that it's not all digital... yet.

    And yay for edgy mysteries. I think that's what I've written! :)

    Must say I'm intrigued by The Heartbreak Messenger. Romance and dog poop in the same novel?? Ha!

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  22. Fascinating about the fantasy! Very encouraging for those of us who don't write it! :)

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  23. Fascinating about the fantasy! Very encouraging for those of us who don't write it! :)

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  24. Thank you for a very informative interview.
    I've always wondered how it was like to be a school librarian and I love how she gets to see what the kids are into on a daily basis.

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  25. Wow, what a fantastic interview and I loved this:

    "We're very fortunate that the public library will deliver books right to our school."

    That is downright awesome.

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  26. Thanks to all who commented today, and of course to Karen Yingling, who gave so freely of her time. I am preparing for my bi-weekly critique group (hence lots of reading), and therefore haven't been able to reply to you individually, which I usually strive to do. Perhaps tomorrow, after all the critique fun is done!

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  27. I appreciate hearing from librarians about what the kids want to read, and Karen Yingling gave us a wonderful overview. It's so easy to be swayed by what's filling the prominent display tables at big book stores.

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  28. Great interview! I had no idea wrestling and skateboarding stories were in such demand. I wonder if a wrestling fantasy story would fly...

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  29. Wow, I never thought YA as slow paced. Great interview. I'm still in shock at how many books she checks out each week and that YA paranormals are still popular. The way agents act, you'd think they had diminished in popularity.

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  30. I loved this interview.
    Who knew romance went with dog poop.
    Ms. Y. sounds really smart.

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  31. I write middle grade action-adventures & mysteries especially for boys. Girls like reading them, too. This is interesting and helpful information.
    Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Max-Elliot-Anderson/e/B002BLP3EE

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  32. I love this! I'm actually finishing up a mystery so good news for me. I know a girl in my neighborhood who uses me as her 'library' keeps asking for horror-- she's reading the old school Goosebumps!

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  33. Great insight!!! Thank you for sharing!!

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  34. Always useful to hear the skinny from someone with her ear to the ground.

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  35. I have a 12 year old boy who loves writing historical fiction--and yet, loves reading fantasy--of the epic kind. ie Tolkien, and The Alchemyst Series. Great interview!

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!