I'm sure every teacher librarian hand-sells books, fiction in particular. Try this? Or this? I loved this one....the people who loved that one also liked this...
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It's fun, and keeps you on your toes and aware of your stock, but it's also sometimes an interesting challenge. I just keep up with the vampire-romance crowd (voracious they are, too!) but one boy's keeping me on my toes for sure. Earlier this year, he asked me for fiction war stories. I suggested, among other things, the Moran series by Wendy Catran.
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He worked his way through them, liking them, and came back for another recommendation. Took a few goes, and then he went away happy with Temeraire.
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And worked his way through that series too. Like me, he's keenly waiting for the next one (sometime next year). Meanwhile, what else can I suggest? I suggest a few, and he goes away happy with some steampunk (I'm widening his horizons a tad, I know...): Worldshaker.
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OK. That took him hardly any time at all, and he's back for another one (since this is a stand-alone, not part of a series). What about the brand spankin' new Scott Westerfeld steampunk, Leviathan?
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Took him less than a week - he really liked it. Also a stand-alone (I don't know if a series is planned). He came back on Monday this week, and muttered in the bashful way of a quiet lovely boy something about how he may as well ask me for another book, because I seem to be able to find things he likes. The pressure... I was going to try Muchamore's Cherub series, but The Recruit (first book in the series) is on loan. I show him several other possibilities, but he isn't keen on any of them. I ask my work experience student for his ideas (he's a reader) - he thinks the Muchamore series would be good, but what about Ranger's Apprentice? It's nearly bell time, and I have three students wanting to ask me things. I hand the WExp student the first RA book, tell him to hand-sell it to our customer, and leave them to it while I attend to the others. Our borrower is persuaded (yay for the WExp student!) and so has started (I hope) on another enjoyable series.
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I'm really appreciative that he trusts my suggestions (well, some of them!) but the pressure... if he's reading a book a week or so, that's over thirty books a year, and if like some, his focus/interests happen to be narrow, it's surely a challenge! Each time he's come, it's usually taken half a dozen books before he's found one he wants to borrow (the others he quietly returns to wherever I got them - he usually only goes by what I say, the cover and the blurb, and if they don't catch him, he isn't caught. What I say helps, but isn't enough - the book has to appeal).
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So if you have any ideas I can suggest to him when he comes by again, do leave a comment!
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I don't remember all of the hand-selling I do so clearly (the brain can only hold so much) but thought this was a progression I'd like to document here, to show the pattern of reading of just one of our many readers, and the impact hand-selling can have. It's lovely to be trusted - a reputation for good book suggestions is another tool in the teacher librarian's arsenal to keep our students happy with their library's service, and to keep them happily reading. It also helps our library remain effective in encouraging them to learn. All good!
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Cheers
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Ruth
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ADDED LATER: lots of great comments, thank you. Including a couple from My Humble Work Experience Student...!
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