I was able to track down the webinar by Michael Cart and listen to it since it was archived. I found it at the following address: http://infopeople.org/training/teen-literature-update-2011/webinar-0
Michael Cart starts his webinar by taking viewers on a tour through the decades of YA Literature, pointing out popular titles such as S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, and other titles that have stood the test of time. He discussed current trends, which include what he calls Speculative Fiction and include Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror. He also sees that there are more Romance titles, more Series, and more Retail Titles. Cart points out that current trends also include very long YA books-and he feels that books are way longer than they need to be. He claims Harry Potter is the cause of this, along with Twilight. He also calls these books “unedited.” ? He also uses the term “product” when referring to books-saying that books are being written so that they can be turned into films.
So far, this webinar seems to have a negative vibe as if Cart isn’t happy with current YA trends. He also discusses what he calls “Genre Bending and Blending” with a sort of obvious disdain for the topic. Cart describes finding an entire section in Barnes and Nobel that was called Paranormal Romance-blending zombies and romance, vampires and romance, werewolves and romance, etc. I ask ~what’s wrong with that? Cart also negatively discusses book awards & prizes, stating that there are too many, which causes publishers to publish more books in order to make money.
On a more positive note, Cart discusses in length the various awards and what books can receive them. He also explores many books that he promotes as YA realistic fiction. It is worth listening to just for this section-Cart does a great job of reviewing these books and sparking interest. I know that I would like to read some of the titles that he mentioned that I haven’t gotten to yet.
Now at the end (within the last 8 minutes or so), Cart finally gets to the topic that piqued my interest at the start, which asks the question: Is Reading Online Reading? Reading, but a different form of reading is what some say. Others say this type of reading could impact the development of the mind? According to Cart, we will have to watch the evolution of this topic.
That is basically all that is said about reading. Ok, big disappointment in that sense, but otherwise worth watching for the book reviews. :) Take a listen if you want to learn about some new YA titles.
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