Tween Adventure

As I began The Big Splash I found myself feeling relieved that it wasn't yet another fantasy adventure. When I was a tween I was completely obsessed with the Redwall books by Brian Jacques and I felt like I'd never have enough until I got a little older and VERY suddenly lost interest. After reading all the other books for this course I am actually growing tired of my own favorite genre. I wonder what the tweens are thinking when they read book after book with a similar formula. Many of them devour books like candy (and without a job and an adult life they have the time) so they must run into the same patterns that we see as librarians and lovers of children's literature. Do they see them too? Do they reach a point in their development as I did where they lose interest and move on to more sophisticated books? It think after my Redwall craze ended I read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's an adult title but it is still fantasy. I remember feeling proud for reading something so epic and long and afterwards stuck to adult titles throughout high school. I often see those adolescent rabid readers eager to move on to what they perceive as "more adult" books and often different genres. I think it's a great period to watch out for because it could present us with an opportunity as professionals to do some really great reader's advisory. All it takes is one good recommendation to set them on a completely new path in their literary development.