By now you may or may not have seen a blog post at Meg Cabot’s blog about Barnes and Noble’s new rating system.
Go over there for the full post but the very basics of it is that Barnes and Noble, in conjunction with Common Sense Media designed a rating system so that books for tweens and teens could be more specific about what is in the book (kissing, dating, sex, drinking etc..) and give red, yellow or green lights so the book, based on age. It’s a little confusing so you may want to just read the post. Just be sure to come back.
Well I think it’s a bit ridiculous. I mean the idea is great, but I think the execution is poor. As Cabot explains, they’re basically saying a book we all probably read between 9-11 is supposed to be for 14 and up. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret is meant to be a tween book, not a teen book. It’s about periods and sexuality yes, but it’s about beginning those things, which you do between 9-11. By 14 most already have their period and know some basics about sex. A book where the main character is 17 and it talks about a bit more mature things, it recommended for 12 and up. That doesn’t make any sense to me.
I’ve actually been wondering if maybe libraries should split the Young Adult section into two groups: young teen (13-15) and older teens (16+) because there some books that are in the YA section that I think are a bit advanced for young teens and some YA books that are a bit immature for older teens.
So please share your thoughts. What do you think about the Barnes and Noble situation? What about separating the YA section of a library into two? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
*Barnes and Noble photo from Flickr User chriserickphotography
*Library photo from Flickr User Meaghan K
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