VOYA

=VOYA=

-This was probably my favorite magazine that I read. It contained Young Adult book suggestions, a book award section, a section listing hot websites, and a section on good magazines for libraries and told why you should or shouldn't buy them and if they came in print, web or both. It also had a section that listed book reviews according to their genre. My favorite article was titled, //Go Where the Teens Are//. This article told about different social networking sites that libraries can get involved in. Some examples were Myspace, Facebook, Livejournal, Skype, Flicker, Delicious, Runescape, Secondlife, Imeem, and Photobucket. The article described these social networking sites and gave examples of what you could do with them. I think having a social networking site for the library can be a very good thing to get students interested and more involved. As long as you can protect the site and monitor it I think it will be successful. BT

In this February 2009 issue of VOYA, we had "Reaching Teens from the Other Side of the Shelf," an article on librarians turned novelists. Then there was "Teens Count: Librarians, Publishers, and Booksellers Know Their Market", in which it was pointed out that, "The total package -- cover and copy -- clearly makes a difference to teens." The article discusses ways that bookstores and libraries can cater to such a marketing-savvy segment of the population. The article ends, "What makes it all work boils down to getting the right book right hands at the right time. That has the capability of changing lives." This is a huge part of what we do as librarians. It's a not so gentle reminder that we must take the time to get to know our clientele so that we can meet their needs in the blink of an eye. Let them know that their reading pleasure is important to us. It's a great way for us to encourage even the most reluctant readers. There was an article on teen responses to book talk styles, and one very interesting article on "Using Technology to Market Teen Library Programs and Services" pointing out how some popular authors, such as Coe Booth and Sarah Dessen Tweet. The other really big nugget in this issue was "Teen Rooms in Worthington Libraries", which had some really nice pictures of some teen spaces in two of the Worthington Library's facilities. There was lots of talk about furnishings, such as booths and comfy chairs, and location, noting that the teen space in the Northwest Library Branch is as far away from the kiddie area as is physically possible. As teen librarian Ann Pechacek states, "Now we can close the doors after school and the teens can be teens." Sounds simplistic but so vital for a great teen space, as teens really want a space they can call their own and don't really have to share. One of the spaces cleverly uses a garage door with glass panels to separate the space from a study room that allows for a reunification of the space when a larger space is desired. The issue then wrapped up with pages and pages of reviews, which are always a plus, especially with VOYAs specific rating system which includes scores for both quality and popularlity factor. I really liked this publication and if young adults become my population, you can be sure I will not only subscribe to VOYA but actually read it. --erin

Volume 32 of VOYA, which came out in August 2009, focuses specifically on mentoring. I had never read this magazine before but now that I have I feel like it was just the push I needed to help me decide which age group I wanted to work with the most once I graduate. I really feel strongly about reaching out and inspiring students to develop a love of reading and writing and this magazine seemed to focus on just that. In the article entitled “If You Give a Kid a Ride: Stock Cars, Novels, and Mentoring,” author Will Weaver shares his story of how he was able to connect to kids who for them, school is “not the center of the universe, often it’s more like Pluto.” Weaver is a self proclaimed “boy novel writer” and in order to do research for his latest novel “Saturday Night Dirt” he enrolled in a year long auto mechanic course at a technical college in Minnesota to get a feel for his audience. In the process, he began mentoring his instructor’s son who was struggling in school. Eventually, he developed the idea to create “Team Weaver,” a stock car racing / mentoring team that inspires students to do well in school through the guidance and support of the whole team. In another article entitled “The Unicorn in the Window: Mentoring the Young Writer” Kathe Koja, author of several books including “Headlong,” talks about the importance of inspiring young writers. To her, students who truly care about writing should be seen as colleagues. Just because she has more experience in the field doesn’t mean that she is somehow better than they are. Other notable articles in this issue included pod-casting with teens and how important it is to utilize applications like Myspace, You tube, and blogs to keep your library from falling under the radar.There was also an article on making connections between audio-books and one learning environment that really goes above and beyond to connect with young adults. Overall, I really enjoyed this magazine and if I were to work in a middle or high school environment I know without doubt that VOYA would be one of my absolute best friends. I really liked the reviews in this magazine as well, and found some really interesting titles that I look forward to checking out. -Christie

The issue of Voice of Youth Advocates that I read was Volume 32 Number 2 June 2009. This issue featured many books for Young Adults. I was amazed at the amount of book reviews in the issue. There were book reviews for fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, series nonfiction and professional books. I was amazed at the amount of book reviews in this journal. As I have been writing these journal summaries I have not come across a journal with so many reviews in it. This is a journal I will highly consider subscribing to in order to assist me with making great selections to add to my collection. The articles in this journal were also heavy with book suggestions and information about the books. I appreciate the article “Awesome Adventure” by Kat Kan. This article featured five different graphic novels that were themed with Adventure. These titles included “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology”, “Anne Steelyard and The Garden of Emptiness”, “Love and Capes, Volume 1: Do You Want to Know a Secret?”, “Astounding Space Thrills: Argosy Smith and the Codex Reckoning” and “FX”. I also enjoyed the article “A Carnegie Library for Twenty-First Century Teens” by Angela Fiero and Johannah Genett. This article features revisions done to a library to encourage teens to use the library more. The “Teen Center” was developed in the library through many revisions. The colors selected for the room included maroon, mustard and sage as well as green and red. White boards were placed on the walls and light fixtures were also added to give the room some character. Computer stations were also added to allow for homework completion and internet use. There are also multiple technology resources for teens to use in the library (digital camera, Microsoft photo editor, WII and playstation 2). The article states that after the renovations were completed teen use of the library increased from 170 to over 400 users. There are also teen activities that are completed in the library. These include an advisory group, leadership camp and different workshops. My favorite comment from the article is “It is also a closed space, allowing the teens to get a little rowdy without disturbing other customers”. What a great idea! Far too often teens and even younger students are discouraged from using the library because they are too loud. Libraries are a place of learning and learning occurs by doing. The idea of an intellectual gymnasium truly is present in this libraries case! -Jessie

I read the April 2010 issue of Voice of Youth Advocates and I really enjoyed the journal. I find I know very little about older students and this journal really helped me to learn a little more about the things they like and how to reach them through the media center. The issue I had focused a lot on poetry and different poetry contest which I found very interesting to read about. I liked how the journal was set up in different sections so if you were pulling it out to quickly look at something it would be easy to locate what you needed. I also thought the sections were very interesting because they were things that would really interest teens and they gave me a look at what teens like. There was a section on teen movies, video games, audiobooks, graphic novels, and some other topics. I found all of them to be very informational and many of them made me what to see the movies or read the books to find out more about them. I liked the journal because it seemed very easy to read and it was a light read but i still walked away with a great deal of information that I did not have before reading. I really enjoyed the book reviews as well and I love how most of these journal have them. I find the reviews to be very helpful, especially for grade levels I am not familiar with. The article I enjoyed the most was about adiobooks and how they can take a book that might not come to life as easily and make it more real to students. I found this to be an interesting take on the use of an audiobook and something I had not thought about before. The article also showed books that would be great as audiobooks because they come to life more when listened to. ~Kaelin

I read the February 2010 issue of VOYA. This issue focused a lot on teens and technology, including articles such as “Teen Tech Takeover” and “Gaming Unplugged”. The thing I liked most about VOYA was its focus on reading. Besides the pages of book reviews, this issue included several articles about the best new fiction, series, and books for guys. I loved reading about all of the great books. This journal would be an invaluable resource to a middle or high school media specialist who wants to make great book recommendations but doesn’t have time to read everything. The reviews and recommendations are very descriptive and informative. I also loved how this journal was written with public librarians in mind along with school librarians. It included a great article about how to create a teen department at a public library, as well as other information that is relevant in both public and school libraries. One article I specifically enjoyed was called “Five Easy Steps to Making a Great Book Trailer That Your Students—and Even Technophobes (Like Me)—Can Master”. This article described how to create a movie trailer for a book that can be used in place of a booktalk. The author provided some great tips, such as tell a story or try a voiceover. This particular article interests me because it offers a great alternative to a booktalk that seems like it could really pique students’ interest in new books. It also could be used as an assignment for students, which would be a fun replacement for a book report. -Michelle L.



I read the December 2009 issue of VOYA. Along with SLJ, I found this one the easiest to read and enjoy. This was another one that was hard to put down until I had finished it. The article that stood out to me the most was the article titled "Bullied to Death." This was an interview with two authors who have recently released books about characters who committed suicide after being bullied (Jay Asher's //Thirteen Reasons Why// and Julie Anne Peters's //By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead//). I feel that this interview is important because bullying has always been and will always be an issue for young adults, and authors who are bold enough to write about this topic and face scrutiny should be heard. Especially with the advancement of technology, I think this problem will keep growing (students can't escape bullying by going home anymore: with text messages, facebook, and email, the bullying follows them everywhere they go), and I feel it is essential to have books like this which can be read by students in crisis and maybe make them feel like they're not alone. Beyond this article, I liked how the articles throughout give book suggestions and resources. The reviews are very helpful, especially for someone who isn't very hip to young adult literature, so I think this, too, will be a great resource, especially if I end up working in a middle school or high school. This would definitely help me stay on top of what's new in young adult literature and the reviews and interviews would help me decide what's appropriate for my collection. - Elyce