Grumble, grumble

I'm in a grumbly mood today; maybe it is the time change and my desire to sleep well past the time I should be getting ready for work. Why I should be grumbly when the sun is shining and spring seems on its way, is beyond me. I have to grumble on my way in about some big hauling trailer taking up four prime patron parking spaces - is that the construction people or what? Maybe I can blame it on reading three young adult books in a row. I usually pick up a children's book on cd when I need to lighten my reading choices, but this time I've picked young adult materials that seem rather dark and bloody to me. Of course, I guess when you are young you like the teen angst type of thing and you know you are invincible so its all just an exciting read. When you get older, it only adds to the sense that bad things do happen. It seems that young people are dealing with and reading about very tough subject matter. It is very believable, these days, to fall in love with a troll or a vampire. To have your heart ripped out and reinserted the next day and go on. They say young adult books are getting longer these days, too. In 1989 the average length was 157 pages, in 2009 it was 337, and more is being published geared towards older high school students than 10 years ago. Our young people's collection certainly has grown and now the hardbacks are more popular than the paperbacks, I wonder why?

Susan
The grumbly librarian