1. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Monster by Walter Dean Myers Buy the Printz winners and the honor books

2. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Trueman, Terry. Stuck in Neutral. Consider all of the books which are selected for Best Books and Quick Picks; buy those which make both of these lists

3. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl. Peer Pressure. Consider all the books reviewed in VOYA which receive 4 or 5 in either popularity or quality; buy those which are perfect tens.

4. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here. Buy any book which is listed as the year’s best teen seller on Amazon

5. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Flinn, Alex. Breathing Underwater. Buy any book which is listed as the year’s best by Amazon’s editors and follow teen reviews lists and picks

6. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. Consider any book listed in the various VOYA “best lists” and the other YALSA lists like the Alex Awards or popular paperbacks; buy those by authors or subjects with a strong track record.

7. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Look at circulation reports: buy another copy of anything that is getting heavy, heavy use and look at lost books reports: buy and replace core titles often.

8. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass. Look at YALSA-BK, follow the discussions of titles, and learn which YALSA-BK reviewers seem to know their stuff and follow their lead.

9. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Ryan, Sara. Empress of the World. Look closely at the monthly catalogs of vendors such as Book Wholesalers to find the paperback reprint edition of titles which are, as of this writing, only available in hardback

10. www.connectingya.com Maintaining a core collection Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey. Ask teens over and over and over again: is that what you want? Survey, open up your web page to teen reviews, do book discussion groups, conduct exit interviews, conduct an annual favorite book poll, and listen. Ask the question: what are your teens reading and buy the answer.

11. www.connectingya.com For more information: Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A How-To-Do-It Manual, Third Edition By Patrick Jones, Michele Gorman, and Tricia Suellentrop Neal-Schuman, July 2004 1-55570-508-1. 8 1/2 x 11. 438 pp.

12. www.connectingya.com For your consideration- Things Change (Walker and Company, April 2004)

13. www.connectingya.com Walker Books for Young Readers http://www.walkeryoungreaders.com/ nailed by Patrick Jones (April 2006)

14. www.connectingya.com QUESTIONS OR VISITS TO YOUR SCHOOL / ASSOCIATION ya_core@yahoo.com Patrick Jones