Getting Past the “non” in

Nonfiction

Who Am I?

• Author• Editor/Publisher• Professor• Nonfiction fan

Who Are You?

• Public• School• Elementary• Middle• HS

What Is the Pleasure?

Most Often

How Does Story Fit With

What Do You Look Forward to in Reading?

• Character• Story• Plot• *********

• Do you want to know what is coming or to be surprised?

Are There Other Pleasures In

• Reading?

• To put this another way, what are the

Passions

•

For Some Readers

• Data• Facts• Stats

Collect

Compete

Master

Act

• Assemble, build, plan – DIY, robotics, Maker spaces, crafts…

Key Step

• Recognize the NF pleasure in gathering facts, gaining knowledge, with focus on

• Doing, not Imagining • Owning not Empathizing

Is This the Only Goal of Reading?

• No• But now we are talking about pleasure

reading, not the role reading may possibly play in emotional development

Books That Offer These Pleasures

• Guinness• Ripley• Weird and Wacky• Minecraft• Origami• Paper Airplanes• Almanacs of Military Equipment• Sports stats and records

Think about how to feature these books and this kind of pleasure reading

• Have you ever made displays on different kinds of Collecting:

• Items (coins, stamps, shells)• Data (biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest)• Names (dinosaurs, bugs, stars, state and world

capitals)• Ranking (cars, planes, phones, superheroes)

Fantasy Sports Night

• NO BETTING• Gather to share stats, insights, tips to

assemble fantasy teams• Math• Analysis• Game Theory• Intergenerational

American Libraries

• Friday Night Library Lights• To reach sports fans, libraries offer resources

to a growing number of fantasy league players• By Adam Doster | November 26, 2013

In These Books and For These Readers

• The information or desire for knowledge comes first, the reading experience is an added extra

Images

• Almost all NF for children and teenagers is lavishly illustrated

• Browsing pleasure – • Two pathways through NF

Displays

• Life Size Dinos; Tracks – measure size of dino across library

• Lavish Photos• Dramatic Spreads• Make visual richness of NF an attraction ---

beyond subject

Steve Jenkins

But What About Story?

• What is Narrative NF?

Notice

• “Factual information” – maybe• “To make an exciting story” – as if the facts

themselves were not exciting

How Does it Differ From

Simple

• Noisy Paint Box – invented scenes to help give a sense of subject, used to explain fascinating complex experiences – thus, Historical Fiction

• Me Jane – nothing added to what can be documented, uses autobiographical stories and archival images to paint a portrait of the girl who would become a famous scientist – thus, Narrative Nonfiction

The Narrative in Narrative NF

• Does NOT mean story trumps the obligation to what can be either documented, or is clearly labeled as speculation.

• It DOES mean the author places a strong value on engaging the reader through fully realized incidents and narrative devices such as “you-are-there” opening scenes or cliff-hanger chapter endings

“Reads Like a Novel”

• For some readers, this will be the hook into nonfiction

• “I couldn’t put it down”• “I never knew X could be so interesting”• The reading experience comes first, the

information or knowledge is an added benefit.

Adult

• Cod; Longitude – single item opens wide• The Devil in the White City – dramatic events

lead to exploration of time/place/event• Into Thin Air – adventure and knowledge

woven together

Now In Books for Younger Readers

• Adaptations – Lincoln, Nazi Hunters• Similar structures – Bomb, Sugar – Rice, Bread,

Pro Con

• Adult advances give author time to research and write – can produce depth and voice not always available in books for younger readers

• How has the book been adapted? Cutting is not the same as adapting. Reaching younger readers means thinking of them as your audience. How have sources been adapted?

Two Kinds of NF Pleasure Reading

• 1) The information or desire for knowledge comes first, the reading experience is an added extra. (think travel guide)

• 2) The reading experience comes first, the information or knowledge is an added extra. (think travel memoir)

Yet Another Passion

First Person NF

• Nonfiction does NOT mean distant, cold, “objective,” textbook voice

• Nonfiction is the quest for knowledge, making use of the rules of a profession (scientist, mathematician, archaeologist, biologist…)

• More and more book bring young readers into nonfiction as PROCESS not as Result

• SITFS LGB• My Nat Geo Books• All get to outcome via the experience of the

individual seeking an answer• Adventure, exploration, mistakes, set-backs,

required skills, new outcomes

• http://bluelionphotos.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-rising-star-interviews.html

Announcing to Young People

• It is not that we know and you don’t – we are learning, you can too, we can explore together

HS

• Personal passion of author• Paul• Tanya• Keckla• Steve• Tobin

Winter 2017

• The Eyes of the World• How Robert Capa and Gerda Taro Tried to

Change History With Photos• Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

NF Animated by Passion

• Goal is to engage, excite – but there may be opposing ideas/views

• Great – no book must do it all – make the case, you in library can pair with others, feature the debate

To Review

• Younger readers: facts AND story• Middle readers: the adventure of discovery• HS readers: NF contention and debate