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Literature Report
Sources
Used and Search Strategies
Many resources were used in the creation
of this Literature Blog. I will use citations relevant to one book for all the
types of websites I checked. Generally all 20 books in the blog were reviewed
on “The Big Four” NoveList, Fiction Connection, Good Reads and Amazon. From these
four sites, I was able to build a good picture of the story summary, the appeal
elements and genre and get a feel for why people liked or disliked the title
from these four websites.
NoveList and Fiction Connection were the
first port of call with an initial search strategy of “The hunger games.” NoveList then has options to tick for what
aspects you would like in the read-alikes, so in this case “dystopian” + “compelling”
+ “science fiction” were ticked.
In Fiction Connection once you had found
your initial title you then click the “find similar” box and then again specify
options “science fiction” + “post-apocalyptic society.”
Generally used the term “dystopia”, however
using “post-apocalyptic” interchangeably was helpful as the sites sometimes
labelled the same books differently. I grouped “science fiction” with “world-building”
as again one site might focus on one aspect or the other. My other searches
were:
“dystopia” + “female protagonist”,
“dystopia” + “courage “or “survival.”
I would usually tick “compelling” or “action”
or “fast paced” as on the whole I wanted to match the pace of The hunger games.
For the “classic” titles if I found
suitable titles in searches but they were several decades old then they were
grouped in the classics. Also if I found a book that was suitable but part of a
series I would check out the first book in the series to check it’s suitability
and review and annotate it, rather than the second or third book.
Overall both sites were very helpful
with plot summaries, a selection of professional reviews and lists of awards.
The star ratings on NoveList were a gauge of popularity and its direct link to Good
Reads was a good short cut, I also used it’s imprint details for the citation.
I was generally looking for popular titles, with awards and good reviews for
inclusion in my bibliography.
“The maze runner.” NoveList. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from
“The maze runner.” Fiction Connection. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://www.fictionconnection.com
Amazon and Good Reads were then used as
a source of reviews and other possible titles to check. I was also checking
these reviews for reasons the books may not make the cut such as objectionable
subject matter. Good Reads was often linked directly from NoveList or could
just type the title into search box as with Amazon.
“The maze runner.” goodreads.com
Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6186357-the-maze-runner
“The maze runner.” amazon.com
Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://www.amazon.com/The-Maze-Runner-Book-1/dp/0385737955
Good Reads also had two reading lists
which were helpful in sourcing titles to then check back in NoveList and
Fiction Connection, “YA Dystopia Novels” – a short 10 item list and “Best
dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction” which has 100 titles in order by the
thousands of people that voted for their favourite title.
“YA Dystopia Novels.” goodreads.com
Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2216.YA_Dystopia_Novels#6186357
Brimate. (user name) “Best dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction.”
June, 2008 goodreads.com Retrieved
May 28, 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/47.Best_Dystopian_and_Post_Apocalyptic_Fiction#6186357
Then I looked for extra information to
add to the picture. Most current titles have publisher and/author websites to
scan with further information about author and other titles in the series. These
links were generally placed at the bottom of the annotation for readers to
check if interested. Also checked youTube as publishers offer trailers for
current and future books, I added a few of these links in the annotations. Google
Images supplied images for book covers; however these come from different original
sources for each title. Examples:
Dashner, James. Jamesdashner.com.
Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://www.jamesdashner.com/books/maze-runner-series/
Waterstonescom. “The blood red road by Moira Young.” YouTube.com. Retrieved May 30, 2013 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rba2MgVtnRY
“The maze runner.” Google Images. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from www.google.com.au/search?q=google+images+the+maze+runner
Then checked libraries for a link to
help borrowers go directly to the Marrickville Library to reserve their copy,
if not held by Marrickville the next port of call was the NSW State Library for
what I termed an interlibrary loan. This was a simple search, type title into
the library catalogues, a few titles were not held by either of these two so I
had to go further afield checking for other library holdings via Trove.
Marrickville Council Library.
Retrieved May 28, 2013 from http://swftnsw.sdp.sirsidynix.net.au/client/mvls
New South Wales State Library.
Retrieved May 29, 2013 from http://library.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/
“Legend by Marie Lu.” Warringah Council Library. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from
http://encore.wls.nsw.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1240412__Slegend__P0%2C1__Orightresult__X5;jsessionid=CC52D0F09634BFA2F7DA74AB76A44C44?lang=eng&suite=cobalt
I added a link to a fun infographic
about types of dystopian literature to the blog. Also created my own reading
list PDF in a mind map format by using free mindmap software.
Brown, Patrick. “The dystopian timeline to the Hunger Games (Infographic).” Goodreads.com. Retrieved
May 28, 2013 from http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/351-the-dystopian-timeline-to-the-hunger-games-infographic
Edraw Mindmap. Retrieved June 2, 2013 from http://www.edrawsoft.com/freemind.php
Usefulness of the bibliography:
The Hunger Games has been a
bestselling trilogy read by many young adults (as well as adults), the first
book in the series has been made into a feature film. The release date for the
second film is set for November 2013.
As the trilogy has been so popular
and is also current as fans wait for the release of further films, this may be
a good time to encourage teen readers to look for titles that tick similar
boxes in terms of appeal. Some of the appeal elements of The Hunger Games
include a dystopian setting, written in a fast paced style and compelling, includes
action, interpersonal relationships, female protagonist and
survival themes.
The blog profiles 20 titles that all fit
the YA dystopia genre and are then grouped into four sub-groups, so that
elements that may have appealed to readers are highlighted:
· * Female protagonist
· * World building and science fiction
· * Courage and survival
· * Classic, this was a grouping of titles that may have met other criteria
but were more than twenty years old
The blog was an excellent way to
present the titles as it was very easy to add links to library catalogues and
author websites, as well as images of the books that looked professional. Having
separate pages meant I was able to group the titles (in the categories above) and
have links from their citations to the annotation, this helped the blog look
simple and uncluttered. With the citations I included a quotation that was to
act as a bit of a teaser. Having to set up the title page and header twice was
at first heart- breaking but with Deanna’s help I much preferred my second
version of the header. The graphics were appropriate I think (look out for that
brick!).
I found it hard to narrow down the
choices as there were certainly many titles to trawl through, some of the titles
I rejected:
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies, New York : Simon Pulse, 2011.
This is an extremely popular title, nominated for
many awards and ticks all the right boxes for youth fiction, dystopia, female
protagonist and lots of action. I found the whole premise of the book engaging -
that on your sixteenth birthday everyone was lined up for plastic surgery and
made to look like the idealised form of beauty and that there were a group of
rebels that helped people escape and that our protagonist becomes one of them.
However on trawling through many reader reviews, I didn’t want to recommend it
because our protagonist, Tally is also a chronic liar and I wouldn’t want to
hold her up as a heroine in the same vein as Katniss. Also while Westerfeld has
thought of a great premise he really doesn’t do much with it, I felt it was
really shallow and our characters didn’t really wrestle with theme of idealised
beauty against our mental, spiritual and social strengths. In one of the later
books in the series, reviews mentioned that Tally begins cutting and again
doesn’t use it as a way of dissuading readers from the practise but simply
talks about how to do it and why Tally felt she had to do this. As a growing
problem with teen girls in an anxiety ridden culture I think the author is
being irresponsible in this area. I had to reject this one.
Huxley,
Aldous. Brave New World, Harmondsworth, UK : Penguin Books, 1955.
Of course this title is on every dystopian book list,
it is really one of the icons of the genre. It is a classic and engaging work
and is on reading lists for upper high school readers, so while I was tempted
to include it, the nature of the sexual content and the morbid ending I felt
were just a bit too much for this young adult audience seeing that there are many
pre and early teen fans of The hunger
games. If I had specified young adult as 15 years and over I would have
included it.
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