Teens

The posters have been unfurled and displayed on bedroom walls. The T-shirts have been proudly worn (several times). Texts and twitters have been flying through the air like a flock of dusky vampire bats (oops, More...

SLJ talks to Rick Riordan about his latest bestseller 'The Red Pyramid,' book one of the Kane Chronicles. More...

Readergirlz and GuysLitWire, two Web sites that encourage teen reading, are participating in this week's Operation Teen Book Drop, aimed at delivering 10,000 new books to native reservations and tribal lands around the country.The program, More...

Pencils, notebooks, and markers are fairly standard supplies that most schools ask for each fall. But a library card? In Illinois's School District U-46, elementary students need to check that off their list, too.'Schools are More...

John Green, E. Lockhart, and Jacqueline Woodson were just some of the more than 60 young adult authors who descended on New York City last week to take part in the second annual NYC Teen More...

What's the best way to jumpstart your teen program? That's easy, says Shari Haskins, teen services manager of Wyoming's Riverton Branch Library. Just find out what kids want. That's one of the practical insights that More...

So how was your Teen Tech Week? I trawled the Web to check on you, and I have good things to report in the Teen Tech Week round-up below. Still puzzling over my mystery author More...

Most teens know their way around a PC, laptop, or cell phone-but this digitally native generation still needs the occasional lesson on how to use technology safely so they can create and then share what More...

Also in this article:The apocalypse is comingChoosing the status quoChoosing powerThis Is Not Tom, reduxEarlier this year, several nerdfighters1 sent me a link to the Web site ThisIsNotTom.com, which features a picture of a man, More...

For a teen, getting a pamphlet on safe sex from an adult is an instant tune-out. But what about a text from a peer to come to a meeting on the subject?Teen2Teen members received25 hours More...

Illustration by Gary Hovland. What happens when you combine the thrill of theater with the magic of books? You get readers theater.Where do you turn to use literature in a lively way that enhances young More...

Fans of the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place television series may have noticed the cool Shakespeare posters hanging in the school hallways and classrooms. Those posters weren't just dreamed up by a Hollywood set More...

The 2009 Teens' Top Ten book picks were announced on October 16, and John Green's Paper Towns (Dutton) hit the number one spot. Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown More...

To find the most deserving poetry written by young people from 12 to 18, VOYA is asking librarians, teachers, and other professionals working with kids to act as sponsors in collecting and judging teen submissions. More...

'Which teen's cuisine reigns supreme?'; was the driving question behind last year's 'Books with Bite'; Teen Read Week at the Deerfield (IL) Public Library (DPL). To inspire and involve local teens, as well as showcase More...

The first-day-of-school 'All About Me'; assignment which asks kids to introduce themselves to their new teacher seems to be ingrained in elementary and middle school lesson plans. Help your classroom teachers switch it up this More...

Teens' Top Ten is a 'teen choice'; list that enables kids to nominate their favorite books of last year. Nominators are members of teen book groups in 15 school and public libraries around the country, More...

Sure, Teen Read Week (October 18–24) seems far away, but it's not! YALSA has lots of great ideas and materials available on its Web site, and registration is, of course, still open. Looking for a More...

Also in this article:Fab Fanfic SitesTalkin' the Talk Remember when Harry Potter invited Bella Swan to Hogwarts's big dance? And Ginny Weasley and Edward Cullen both went ballistic?Fans of the Harry Potter and Twilight sagas More...

On the fitness side of the health movement, kids can get excited about exercise by challenging them to make their own workout videos as part of a new campaign called empowerME. The contest encourages kids More...

With Pride Week fast approaching, it's time to think about how your library can support LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) youth. Research tells us that public libraries are often the first place that More...

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since SLJTeen was launched. Many thanks go to Adela Peskorz and her Teens Know Best (TKB) crew for contributing more than 80 book reviews. TKB More...

When teens enter the Atlantic City Free Public Library in New Jersey this September, they'll have a special place to call their own. Thanks to $40,000 from the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, the library More...

Sure, sex ed details have long been easy to find online. But now teens in North Carolina can get condom information and how exactly to avoid an STD or pregnancy all with one simple, and More...

This book is great! It's an easy read and you'll enjoy reading it. It relates to me because most of us who live in River Falls, WI, have cabins and visit them often, and the More...

Name-calling, bullying, and harassment of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) kids is a serious issue-and if your students want to express support for these victims, tell them about the annual National Day of Silence, More...

Bo, the six-month-old Portuguese water dog who officially joined the Obama household this week, is making lots of headlines-a reminder that White House canines, felines, equines, and, yes, even bovines all make big news.Bo, the More...

RoseMary Honnold, young adult services coordinator at Coshocton Public Library in Ohio, was tapped as editor-in-chief of VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) magazine. Readers can expect to see changes at the bimonthly publication. Honnold, who More...

Teens are feeling the impact of the economic crisis in a big way. Some 53 percent say they're choosing activities that cost less money, 50 percent say they talk about the economy with their friends, More...

Author Coe Booth (Kendra Push 2008) recently celebrated her birthdaywith some teens, librarians, and a dozen of her fellow YA writers at the unveiling of the New York Public Library's (NYPL)annual selection of titles for More...

You excel at creating teen troublemakers-Troy Billings in Fat Kid Rules the World, Iggy Corso in Saint Iggy, and now Liam Geller, a kindhearted, drop-dead gorgeous guy who's a first-class screwup. Growing up, you were More...

Here's something for all of you who work in schools to think about. Educators often debate how to teach kids: progressives want them to 'learn by doing,'; while traditionalists focus on skills. But if you More...

Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hobermanand 29 other poets will unveil one of their previously unpublished poems each day in April in celebration of National Poetry Month.The project, 30 Poets/30 Days, is the brainchild of More...

The teens at Louisiana's Bolton High Schoolhad no clue about the treasure trove housed in their library-and it wasn't just the books. It turns out that the two paintings of oak and pine trees, which More...

Did you know that the institution we now call 'prom'; began in the late 19th century? Prom is actually the shortened form of promenade, which was basically a parade of guests held at the start More...

Students at Yulee High School and Yulee Middle School in Florida can form a Gay-Straight Alliance, despite the fact that their school board denied permission to start a club that promotes gay tolerance, a U.S. More...

Call it the green Facebook. There's a new social networking site where environmentally minded teens looking for a place to chat, share ideas, and learn about careers and university programs can now visit.Sponsored by the More...

Students walking around school with Budweiser or Heineken emblazoned on T-shirts, hats, or other items of clothing may be cause for concern. Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School have found that they're 1.5 times more likely More...

Photo by Tsar Fedorsky/Getty Images for Reed Business. Marcelo is a bright 17-year-old who works with therapy horses, is wild about religion, and stumbles humorously into his first romantic relationship. You once lived at a More...

Even as President Obama's first major initiative, his stimulus plan, fights its way through Congress, I can see at least three ways in which his administration will influence how we teach history in our schools. More...

Nothing I say can comes close to the post-screening dissections of the tween devotees of Stephanie Meyer's horror/romance Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005). (If you thought Harry Potter fanboys were critical, think again.) After the many More...

Today's kids are less likely than their parents to graduate high school, and most states aren't doing much to hold schools accountable for this trend, says a new study from the Education Trust, a nonprofit More...

Sarasi Jayaratne isn't your average 18-year-old. When a tsunami struck Sri Lanka in 2004, she began collecting books to create classroom libraries in her parents' native country. Four years later, Jayaratne's efforts have turned into More...

Multimedia loomed large during Teen Tech Week (TTW), the March 2–8 event sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).With a theme of 'Tune In @ Your Library,'; this year's celebration, the second of More...

'I'm pretty independent, and I like to take risks. Some may see me as rebellious and defiant, but all I want is more experience and adventure in my life. If this doesn't scare you, maybe More...

Drinking the wheel? Texting on the road? Wisconsin teens are thinking harder about these dangerous driving practices since gaining a financial incentive: $10,000 in prize money for the best three public service announcements made-and judged More...

If you work with a group of politically savvy middle and high school students, C-SPAN wants to know what's on their minds.C-SPAN, the cable channel that offers nonstop coverage of government proceedings, is asking students More...

For those librarians planning lessons for Constitution Day this September 17, check out a new Web site courtesy of ABC-CLIO and the National Archives that offers lots of information on the U.S. Constitution and the More...

If you're planning a lesson on race relations, you may want to consider this: RaceBridges.net, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote racial harmony in schools, is offering a set of four lesson plans to More...

A South Carolina library system has closed down its summer programs for young adults after receiving threats and allegations that it was trying to promote "witchcraft" and "drug use."The Pickens County Library System's half-hour summer More...

The next time you see a student bullying another kid, you may want to consider this: aggressive behavior by school children is likely to have multiple causes, one of which may be an undiagnosed sleep-related More...

More teenagers are dropping out of high school than what’s being reported at the state and federal level, says a new report by the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Excellent Education.“Understanding High School Graduation Rates” says More...

From Christina Aguilera dressed as a schoolgirl to Bratz dolls wearing fishnet stockings, the media is "sexualizing" young girls to the point that they're developing eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression, says a new study. More...

See also: ALA Book Picks 2007The members of YALSA’s Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee are Diane Emge Colson, chair, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL; Alison Hendon, administrative assistant, Brooklyn Public Library, NY; Meghan More...

Kids will be kids, but the mean ones will have to face the consequences: In the wake of student-generated fake and defamatory profiles of educators on MySpace and other social networking sites, some school districts More...

Teens at the Incline Village Library in Nevada spent an afternoon making jewelry out of hemp. At the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, kids choreographed their own hip-hop dance routines. And in New Mexico, More...

Americans are very concerned about teenagers and feel that libraries should keep young people safe by providing productive activities for them.In fact, 74 percent of Americans say providing services for teens should be a high More...

If you know any teens looking for great reads, you're in luck. The New York Public Library recently released the latest edition of Books for the Teen Age, which offers 1,100 titles selected by a More...

Just like Bridget Jones, but younger, these titles are funny, smart, and not too heavy. Let us know your suggestions for more read-alikes like this.BRIAN, Kate. The V Club. S & S. 2004. RTE $14.95. More...

In an effort to stem the tide of teen pregnancies, libraries are encouraged to promote National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Day on May 3. As part of the event, teens from ages 13 and More...

If you’re under 18 and want to apply for a library card in two Indiana towns, you’re going to need your parents’ permission. Board members of the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library recently voted in favor of More...

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is launching an online course dubbed, "New Technologies & New Literacies for Teens." Designed to arm librarians with the knowledge and tools they need to serve today's tech-savvy More...

Which musician would teens elect as President? Some Massachusetts teens have cast their vote for Grammy-award winning rapper, Kanye West on the Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Library System's innovative new teen site, Myowncafe.org.Bringing the library to More...

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) unveiled a new Web site for the eighth annual Teen Read Week six months before the event, which is slated to take place October 16–22 (Sunday to Saturday) More...

We recently hosted a successful teen author visit at my library. We did our due diligence; informed everyone on staff (even the custodians); and promoted the hell out of it on our Web site and More...

The Muscogee County school board in Georgia has approved new Bible courses as electives for 11th and 12th graders, making it one of a handful of the state's 180 school districts that have agreed to More...

Also in this article:Learning Goes OnlineConnecting GloballyA Design StudioPat Kyle, librarian at the Washington International School (WIS), was presented with a rare opportunity. A private PreK–12 institution in northwest Washington, DC, WIS had committed to More...

Students from Far Rockaway High School are just back from spring break, and media specialist Geri Ellner is busy getting ready for her first class. She’s already pulled out a copy of Anthony Browne’s award-winning More...

If you ask teens why they rarely visit libraries, they’ll likely say something about the mean librarians or slow computers. But the issue of late fines almost always comes up. That’s why I wasn’t surprised More...

Here’s some good news for parents and educators: although a majority of teens use social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, 66 percent say that their profiles aren’t visible to all Internet users, according More...

The next time you hear about one of your students getting arrested, knocked up, or caught taking drugs, don’t just chalk it up to stupid teen behavior. Contrary to popular belief, most adolescents make unwise More...

Teen services is the illegitimate child of public libraries– it constantly struggles to get more funds and staff. Those born between 1982 and 2000—the millennials—certainly have the attention of marketing firms and big businesses. The More...

Also in this article:Broaden your inputLayout 101Finding that ambiguous teen styleFurniture: beyond study hallMore than the four wallsKeep Up with the TimesSimply IrresistibleTake the Teen Space ChallengeImagine if teens suddenly found the library warm and More...

As an undergraduate, I lived in Sweden for a year. Since I was studying education, I spent most of my time in a very practical environment—the local public school’s classrooms. There was just one problem: More...

Also in this article:Anita’s Desert Island PicksMove over, Holden Caulfield. There’s a new breed of teen heroes in town. In fact, there’s been such a shift in young adults’ reading tastes that all of us More...

Also in this article:Can you hear me now?Getting started“Testing, Testing”In the fall of 2004, Matthew Bischoff was an early adopter of a new Web technology called podcasting. Armed with only an Internet-wired computer, some free More...

When it comes to library service for teens, the most important words you may hear are “Get out of the library!” For successful teen librarians, outreach is the best and most efficient way to connect More...

Recently, I overheard two teens debating whether to enter a bookstore. They ultimately decided against it because they thought the staff was too old. That exchange got me thinking—do teens make the same judgment about More...

The media center at Colerain High School in Cincinnati, OH, hosts a poetry contest every April, and this year I was fortunate enough to be a judge. On the day of the event, I arrived More...

Also in this article:More Shock, Less Shlock Reach Out and Scare Someone Thrills and Chills Young adults have an insatiable thirst for blood, violence, and the supernatural. They love to be scared, and if something More...

How do you create a successful book club for teens? Ask them what they like, let them choose their own titles, and put them in charge of the program. That was our formula for success More...

If you’ve spent time in a grocery or retail store, you’ve probably seen a two-year-old stomp his little feet, scream at the top of his lungs, and lash out at whomever dares to stop his More...

Females graduate high school at a substantially higher rate than males, but the gender gap is twice as large for blacks and Hispanics, according to a new report by the conservative Manhattan Institute. “It’s a More...

We plan the programs, buy the books, and direct the services. But isn’t it time to give teens more power and control over their library experience? “For teens, by teens, with teens” has been young More...

The word “riot” conjures images of rebellion and can inspire fear. Ironically, the word “teenager” invokes similar images for some adults. In the late 1980s, Sonic Youth debuted Teen Age Riot—a song that was heralded More...

Also in this article:About the photographsBuilding a Gay-Themed CollectionRecommended ResourcesErica Barton* has liked girls since kindergarten, but it took her eight years to tell the world that she was gay—and coming out in a small More...

Nearly 16 percent of teens don’t visit their public or school libraries, according to a recent joint study by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and SmartGirl.org, a Web site that surveys teens. And More...

Like many gay men and women growing up in the 1970s, I was starved for information about people like myself. By the time I was a teenager, I was eager to find out if I More...

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) in New York City is offering high-risk teens a new reason to check out their local branches. Launched in the Brownsville, Flatbush, and DeKalb branches last fall, “Teen Edge” hopes More...

Also in this article:They are totally wiredGot broadband?IM is a necessityMake it easy to socializeNothing beats face-to-faceMyth breakersCheck Out These LinksWe all want to turn teens into regular library users, and a new report by More...

Trustees of the Guilderland (NY) Public Library have defeated a proposal to stick warning labels on young adult books with sexually explicit content.The June 9 vote came at the end of a three-hour meeting attended More...

Also in this article:Vital ResourcesLike its politicians and wars," the late English essayist J. B. Priestly once lamented, "society has the teenagers it deserves." A recent discussion on the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) More...

If you think most teens are Web wizards, think again. Teenagers are easily bored and frustrated by the Web, and less successful with their online searches than adults, according to a recent study by the More...

Also in this article:To Learn More...When one of our high school teachers approached me three years ago looking for ways to get her low-achieving students excited about books, I suggested she try reading aloud to More...

Communities should take a closer look at the role that public libraries play in fostering the life skills of teenagers. That's the suggestion of a recent study by the Chapin Hall Center for Children at More...

Also in this article:Teen Brain Resources Most adults are challenged when it comes to understanding teens' motives. "What were they thinking of?" is an all-too-common response. Without a doubt, no developmental period in our lives More...

Not many kids expect to find Jerry Spinelli, Alice Walker, or Chris Crutcher waiting to talk to them about their works. But that's exactly what teens in the Free Library of Philadelphia's star-powered reading program More...

Also in this article:LGBT Titles By Authors MentionedWhen we talk about the books in a library, we call them a collection. But to a young reader—especially a teen reader—it's really more of a representation. Teens More...

Also in this article:Three Worthwhile Reads"My guess is not much" wasn't the response I was hoping for when I asked Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Philadelphia's Temple University and an expert on adolescence, to More...

Today's teens face an endless barrage of media – television, movies, radio, the Internet, magazines, and electronic games, not to mention those advertising slogans that shout out at them from billboards, bumper stickers, and even More...

School's just let out, and Jared's* on the move. Decked out in an oversized basketball jersey and baggy jeans, the 15-year-old is ready for some action. Shortly after, he and his friends push through the More...

The role of any library is to make its community better," says librarian and author Patrick Jones in our cover story about working with unruly teens (see "Here Comes Trouble," pp. 32–35). "So the role More...

As a librarian who purchases and recommends books for teens, I am asked what makes an adult book appeal to YA readers? Where do the teens find them? I find it ironic that as an More...

If you're interested in creating a community-wide reading program with a limited number of books, try duplicating our Read It Forward program, which encourages teens to read. The concept is simple: choose one book of More...

For a high school student named Ike, being gay means "you're always wearing a mask. You can't let your family, even your friends, see the real you." Ike, who attempted suicide, isn't suffering alone. According More...

Most librarians have experienced it: a nervous teen approaches the circulation desk with a book in hand. "This is for my friend," she mumbles before stuffing it into her backpack. More than likely it's a More...

The good news is that many public libraries are now overflowing with teens. The bad news is that most teens still don't visit libraries, and that's a shame. Teens would use libraries if they clearly More...

While attending the 2002 Arizona Book Festival, we couldn't help but notice how many books there were for adults and children, but how few there were for teens. Obviously, we were very concerned that the More...

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