Part of week 2’s prep was to visit a library or bookstore and “observe, ” so my weekly excursion to Chapters actually had a purpose beyond wandering around the store in a stupor caused by excessive book-lust.
I visited the Masonville Chapters last Saturday morning. The Young Adult section, which the store labels the ‘Teen’ section, is, sadly, quite disappointing. It consists of little more than a single row of shelving, with books on both sides, and three or four tables displaying the newer or more popular titles. Following the standard Chapters practice, some shelved books were faced out to display the covers, which were all quite horrible–a baffling trend I’ve been noticing more and more lately. Why are the majority of YA novel covers so poorly designed? So many seemed to be mere variations on a silhouette in front of a sunrise or a pretty girl’s face. (More on YA book covers here . And since I’m throwing out the links, check out my fav YA blog ever ever ever!)
Anyway. I just expected more, both in terms of volume and diversity, for such a dynamic and burgeoning genre.
So… although the store was surprisingly busy (for a Saturday morning), the young adult section was comparatively deserted. During my the fifteen minutes I spent in the section, I only saw three other people, all alone, all girls, all fourteen or fifteen years old.
Some observations about the materials: the tables, as I already mentioned, featured the newer and more popular titles, as well as series of books: the Hunger Games trilogy had its own table and was displayed on the wall behind the few pathetic, abused beanbag-poofy-chair-thingys. Harry Potter was everywhere. A few of the bigger trends were glaringly obvious: heaps of sci-fi and fantasy, ranging from dystopian and AU to vampire and fairy-centric urban fantasies, and quite a few historical novels. There seemed to be quite a few repeat titles that showed up on more than one table. Lastly, the ladies dominated the YA lit on display. Almost every novel seemed to be directly geared at a female audience.
Hmmm…interesting…
That’s all, folks!
The Reading Robyn 