Thrilling Young Adults: How to Keep the Attention of Today's Teens

Amy Alessio, Margaret Haddix, Patric Jones and Deborah Noyes Wayshak spoke about writing attention grabbing books for teens. Teens can be a very selective audience and make writing a challenge. But it seems that most authors write for themselves or teens that they know to find out what they want to read.

Some authors like Margaret Haddix and Deborah Noyes Wayshak write what they would have wanted to read when they were teens. Looking back to what you read or wanted to read but never found is good way to get in touch with your audience. Haddix also has the advantage of teenage children in her home, even if they aren't as amorous of her work as other teens.

Librarians can use this tool as well. The best books are ones that can span generations. Think about the books that you loved to read when you were a teenager. What was it that drew you to them? Was it the plot, the characters, the action? Think about new ways to spin the story and sell it to a new generation of teens.

Patrick Jones writes his books in a different way, with teen reviewers. To make sure that his books are going to speak to teens, Jones actually gives galleys of books to select teens to review and give him editorial comments. He expects a lot out of his reviewers and gets a lot of loyalty in return. Many libraries use a similar Teen Advisory Board to help with collection development, teen space design and program ideas. Jones has just taken this idea one step further and applied to the books themselves. This is what gives his books such accessibility to teens today.

Amy Alessio facilitated the discussion and talked about the impact of thrilling books in her library, the Schaumburg Township District Library in Illinois, where she also uses teens to help her. Getting the attention of teens is not an easy task for writers or librarians. It requires being current and relevant to their lives. Libraries, and books have to be dynamic to hold their attention and keep them coming back again and again. Sometimes, it is about finding the perfect book or author or finding that place in the library where they feel they can belong.