Lisa McMann is an author who didn't necessarily write her books with the reluctant reader in mind, so it's just coincidence that the diary format breaks the story up into smaller, easily digestible chunks of text. As with the proetry form of Jaime Adoff, this style can make reading less daunting for those who fear the traditional dense format.
Carl Deuker writes sports fiction. Now, even though these stories are in the traditional dense format, the subject matter is geared toward young athletes. Sometimes, the problem with reluctant readers has more to do with subject matter than anything else. Haven't you ever found books that you haven't wanted to read? I know I have, and these books can make for some decent out-of-school reading.
Jaime Adoff writes his story in the prose-poem style, which I like to call "proetry". Sentences are broken up on the page like poems with headings. The headings and what comes after flow together creating a seamless story that can be read in small chucks. These smaller bites can make reading easier and much less daunting. A novel format which I hope catches on!
Check out his guest blog or view his website. Tell him Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem YA sent you!
02/22/2010 - Rachel Vincent
We're always looking for authors who would love to be featured as part of our weekly YA Author Spotlight and have their books promoted here.
Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem's weekly YA Author Spotlight program isn't just about encouraging adults and teens to read your books, but it's about helping parents learn about what books are out there for their kids to read and hopefully help parents find books they can enjoy and discuss with their kids. We are also working on being a helpful resource. As we find regular books and authors who are promoted or have received acknowledgment for helping certain types of readers, we promote that too!
If you're an author with a specific audience, we want to know about it and help you promote it!
The "Reluctant Reader" section stemmed from a desire to help promote authors who go out of their way to cater to these kids of readers because I think it's great! My nephew is a reluctant reader, and we're still trying to find ways to encourage him to read, so this section is dedicated to him and all teens who struggle with reading or haven't discovered the joys of books yet because they haven't been shown how fun it can be!
To guest blog with us and/or have your book reviewed here, please contact: carriehgill@yahoo.com and be sure to put "Guest Blogger" or "Book Review" in the subject heading so I know you're not spam!
Thanks!
Carrie
