Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Finding books for younger teens - How do Parents find age appropriate novels


I write Teen and Young Adult novels. That poses an interesting problem. At what age do kids have carte blanche access to the traditional (funny—traditional— in a new world of eBooks) methods of getting the word out about books for teens and YA. Obviously, the upper end of that age range is not an issue. Older teenagers can and will download books all day long. 


The real question is how do you access the younger audience? Who are the gatekeepers for the 12, 13, 14 year-olds out there? Maybe I’m the one out of touch, and if so, please let me know because I sure do want to reach the kids that should be reading my books. 

With this in mind, I looked into what was available out in the cyber world. There’s no better place to start than a fantastic site that reviewed THE CARD, way back in the beginning.


The mission at BookDads.com is to highlight books, which show fatherhood in a positive light. Some of the content they bring to you includes:
* Author spotlights and interviews
* Advice and resources for dads to help promote reading to their children
* Parenting resources for dads
* Book reviews


The premiere site for parents of twins. A great resource for just about everything associated with having twins. Articles, giveaways and an unbelievable support group of other parents with twins. One of the most active portions of their site is the forum, which contains a constant and ever-changing discussion of all things twins.


The nation’s leading independent nonprofit advocating for kids. This site is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing trustworthy information and education. They review all things media—books, movies, video games and more. The also offer resources for understanding your children and what they are going through at all ages. An excellent and vital resource to understanding your kid and what the media world means to him.


This number one global community of reviewers connects Moms and Dads who enjoy reviewing cool products. The site is chock full of reviews on books, gifts, merchandise, food and tons of giveaways.

These are just a few of the tip sites that help busy parents understand what’s appropriate for their children. Our kids are growing at light speed and it is very difficult to know about every new fad, gadget, or social media site that hits the mainstream every day. 

With a little help from these folks, you should have an easier time finding age appropriate material to help stimulate your child’s love for reading, writing and learning.

If you know of other sites that you would like to mention, please leave them in the comments section for others to see.

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