Readers Advisory Tips and Training from Novelist
Leah Langby
September 22, 2017
Keeping Up With Kids

Thanks to Maureen Welch for passing on these tips from the NoveList newsletter!  They are specific to helping kids and teens find books using NoveList. 

 
 
Did you know?
Appeals terms describe the mood or feel of books (think: funny, sad, inspiring), and they are a great tool for talking about books. Kids instinctively understand the terms and they provide a common framework for talking about what each reader enjoys. Learn more about appeal.
5-minute learning activity
Help that teen who enjoyed the movie Wonder Woman find books with strong female characters. Type AP strong female characters into the NoveList search bar, then limit your results by audience to teens. This search strategy has step-by-step instructions for finding books in other ways, too.
Power play
Combine the search for AP strong female characters with Lexile levels and/or Accelerated Reader Interest Levels to get books at just the right reading level. In NoveList, this is possible by using the limiters found on the left side of the page. Watch this 2-minute tutorial on searching by reading levels.

 

 
If you have more time
Here’s a fun activity to do with a group. First, hand out copies of The Secret Language of Books. Then, use the appeal mixer in NoveList to build a reading list for each of these fictional readers:
·         A third-grader who loves thrilling, true-life adventure stories
·         A teen who prefers stories a little on the snarky side
·         A listener who loves audiobooks with different voices and/or accents
·         A kid looking for books with characters from multiple racial and cultural backgrounds
Use this appeal scavenger hunt for more ideas.
Bonus
A special tip for those libraries that have NoveList Select in their catalog: As kids search in your library’s catalog, show them how to click on the appeal term links they’re interested in to find more books. 

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