tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/bibliotherapy-93596/articlesBibliotherapy – The Conversation2023-12-14T19:19:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2167502023-12-14T19:19:58Z2023-12-14T19:19:58ZFriday essay: do readers dream of running a bookshop? Books about booksellers are having a moment – the reality can be less romantic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559208/original/file-20231114-25-gsa01.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C7916%2C5297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paris-france-23-dec-2018-view-1268337910">EQRoy/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>My mother and I wanted to open a bookshop. We signed up for a CAE course, which was cancelled when the bookseller who ran it went out of business. I learnt this later because I went on to work in a bookshop and the book business is a small world.</p>
<p>As are bookshops. And books. Worlds within worlds within worlds.</p>
<p>My first job was in hospitality. It was hard work; physical labour. I cased city bookshops, handing out my CV, dreaming of a different life. My new boss saw me coming: I spent my first day unpacking box after box. Stacking, shelving – book after book. He tried to teach me they might as well be bricks, albeit in pretty packaging. Not-so-fast-moving, never-moving-as-fast-as-booksellers-might-like consumer goods.</p>
<p>But “handselling”, that mainstay of the independent “High Street” book trade, was everything I hoped it would be. I loved – love – the aesthetic object of the book. The artefact at the heart of an exchange that is rarely as simple as a commercial transaction. (Except, you might say, when someone is buying something as a gift that says “I spent this much. I know this much about you.” But even then, it seemed we were engaged in a storytelling exchange. Swapping literary histories. Imagining reading futures.)</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-hail-the-bookshop-survivor-against-the-odds-63758">All hail the bookshop: survivor against the odds</a>
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<p>It wasn’t only the book-based conversations with customers and colleagues that fulfilled my expectations. Part of the pleasure of bookselling was the sense of satisfaction I got in being a <a href="https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/bibliotherapy#:%7E:text=What%20is%20bibliotherapy%3F,comforts%20us%20during%20challenging%20times">bibliotherapeutic matchmaker</a>. Reader, I had been training for this my whole life. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photograph of an old fashioned bookshop sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559185/original/file-20231113-19-h5ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The artefact at the heart of a book sale is rarely as simple as a commercial transaction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bookshop-sign-on-steel-plate-vintage-1807258558">sylv1rob1/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Given the sense of community that coalesces around bookstores and the connection between people books can be a conduit for, it’s not surprising books about bookshops are popular. These stories are a genre unto themselves. They are invariably romantic, offering a different kind of (infinite) world within a (finite) world.</p>
<p>There are famous examples from fantasy, such as the wildly popular <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1232.The_Shadow_of_the_Wind?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WSSOSeTRe6&rank=1">The Shadow of the Wind</a> (2001), and closer to home, the wonderful adventure that is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45712581-from-here-on-monsters?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=YRktTZ2rbS&rank=1">From Here on, Monsters</a> (2020), both featuring antiquarian booksellers. Nonfiction books such as the 1970 classic <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368916.84_Charing_Cross_Road?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16">84 Charing Cross Road</a>, a tale told in letters between a New York writer and a used book dealer in London, rub spines with historical novels such as <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-bookseller-of-florence-9781784709372">The Bookseller of Florence: Vespasiano da Bisticci and the Manuscripts that Illuminated the Renaissance</a> (2021).</p>
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<p>More recently there has been a spate of translations. From <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9838.The_Bookseller_of_Kabul?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_23">The Bookseller of Kabul</a>, first published in Norwegian in 2002, to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047992-days-at-the-morisaki-bookshop?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=P4yzPqbsMp&rank=1">Days at the Morisaki Bookshop</a>, by Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa, to <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/welcome-to-the-hyunamdong-bookshop-9781526662279/">Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop</a>, Shanna Tan’s 2023 translation of Hwang Bo-Reum’s 2022 Korean bestseller.</p>
<p>These tales are not only set in bookshops, but revolve around bookselling itself. They describe the day-to-day work in detail, as meaningful: life sustaining and life-changing. A longed-for return to authenticity and more-than-economic exchange.</p>
<p>The reality is a little different. </p>
<p>In a 2019 <a href="https://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-237/retain-therapist/">essay for Overland</a> aptly titled “Retail Therapist”, bookseller and writer Freya Howarth articulated the “desirable, intellectual, even romantic” perception of working in a bookshop and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-emotional-labour-and-how-do-we-get-it-wrong-185773">emotional labour</a> at its heart.</p>
<p>This non-unionised, highly educated, usually part-time and often under-employed workforce provided a particular service, she wrote. Booksellers care for customers: smile, listen, suggest. And retail work, Howarth argued, has historically been feminised. </p>
<p>The industry’s working conditions have made the news as a result of pay disputes such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/24/renowned-melbourne-bookstore-in-war-of-words-with-authors-over-traumatic-pay-dispute">a recent one at Melbourne’s Readings bookstores</a> during negotiations over an enterprise bargaining agreement.</p>
<p>After a heated dispute, in which authors sent a letter to Readings calling for “a living wage” for staff, the bookseller became the second Australian bookshop to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/one-of-the-world-s-great-booksellers-ends-a-long-chapter-at-readings-20230727-p5drp1.html">negotiate an EBA</a>. It was hailed by the staff union as “one of the best retail agreements in Australia”. </p>
<p>Still, what was it <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/09/02/job-love/">some old-timer once said</a>? Find a job you love and you never have to work a day in your life. Howarth’s point is that finding a job you love – such as bookselling, or publishing; or I would add academia – may mean you work unpaid overtime for the rest of your life.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/saturday-is-love-your-bookshop-day-5-reasons-why-readers-keep-coming-back-to-independent-book-stores-169445">Saturday is Love your Bookshop Day. 5 reasons why readers keep coming back to independent book stores</a>
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<h2>Contradictory worlds</h2>
<p>One of the most famous contemporary books about bookselling is undoubtedly the Norwegian bestseller The Bookseller of Kabul. Published in English in 2003 (translated by Ingrid Christophersen), this nonfiction narrative by journalist Asne Seierstad tells the story of self-made small businessman Shah Muhammad Rais and his family, with whom the author stayed for four months. </p>
<p>Rais’s store, which opened in 1974, was a gathering place for intellectuals, housing a vast collection of books on Afghanistan, as well as foreign titles – when he wasn’t hiding them around the city.</p>
<p>Rais was repeatedly arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for his views on censorship. Seierstad makes clear her subject’s belief in the power of books and the important role they play in education and liberation. Meanwhile, however, the eponymous bookseller’s two wives were confined to their homes. </p>
<p>Seierstad was in a unique position: as a Westerner she had an outsider’s perspective and was able to move between public and private, male and female domains. She made the unusual decision to write some chapters from different characters’ perspectives, which somewhat compromised the book’s status as nonfiction, but there was no mistaking her political point of view.</p>
<p>This real-life story took a turn when the family later brought legal action against the author. A Norwegian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/13/bookseller-of-kabul-author-cleared">court cleared Seierstad of any invasion of privacy</a> in 2011 and concluded the facts of the book were accurate. </p>
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<p>But Rais is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/04/bookseller-of-kabul-becomes-asylum-seeker-in-london">claiming asylum in the UK </a>, with his family scattered across the globe. He has published his own version of his story: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2240160.Once_Upon_a_Time_There_Was_a_Bookseller_in_Kabul">Once Upon a Time There Was a Bookseller in Kabul</a>. </p>
<p>Books about bookselling in translation may be the ultimate escapism. They are not literary; they are about literature. (Though too over-the-top an affirmation of the value of books and reading risks the medium contradicting the message.) We read for insight into a world that is usually worlds away from “ours”.</p>
<p>However, there is a sparseness to the prose of these international titles that makes it hard to parse. Is the baldness of the language a stylistic or cultural characteristic of the original? Is it an aspect (intentional? accidental?) of the translation? Certainly, for me, it adds to their foreignness.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The cover of Carsten Henn's book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=960&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565632/original/file-20231213-17-tjeu1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>In Carsten Henn’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62192261-the-door-to-door-bookstore?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8XonUolGwM&rank=1">The Door-to-Door Bookstore</a> (2020), translated from German by Melody Shaw and published in English this year, Carl Kollhoff delivers book requests direct to his reclusive customers – whose reading styles are humorously described and readily recognisable. Hares race through pages while tortoises fall asleep while reading.</p>
<p>When a young girl tags along on Carl’s rounds, playing havoc with his system of choosing books for customers, the message is clear: what we want to read is not always what we need. The friendship that develops is charming and heartwarming, with the oddball pair and their worthy work pitted against big, bad business when the boss’s daughter takes over the family bookshop. </p>
<p>(His book also reminded me of a dear friend who used to say there are courtly readers – who, like chaste lovers, never abandoned a book face down, stained it with wine, scribbled in the margins or dog-eared pages. And then there are those like me. Let’s just say my books have lived a life.)</p>
<p>It may be no coincidence that these newer additions to the genre emerged during, or soon after, the world’s long lockdowns. Many of us experienced a desperate desire to find <a href="https://www.window-swap.com/">windows onto a world beyond our own backyards</a>. Invalids are often avid readers (perhaps most famously, <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-louis-stevenson">Robert Louis Stevenson</a>) and COVID made patients, prisoners of us all. I would go as far as to say my pre-teen learnt to read, really lose himself in a book, during quarantine. Even when screen time was limited, his Kindle was always available – though the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12109-022-09899-w">lack of access to physical libraries</a> disadvantaged others.</p>
<p>What better place to escape to – through the pages of a book – than an overseas bookshop? A key feature of The Door-to-Door Bookstore and the titles that follow are their to-be-read lists – which are interspersed throughout, often discussed in conversations between characters. The books themselves might even be seen as portable libraries – or old-fashioned indexes, at least. Annotated bibliographies of what we should read; summaries of what we did, once, but may have forgotten.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Days+at+the+Morisaki+Bookshop&ref=nav_sb_noss_l_29">Goodreads</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Days+at+the+Morisaki+Bookshop&ref=nav_sb_noss_l_29">Days at the Morisaki Bookshop</a>, translated from Japanese by Eric Ozawa this year, was written by Satoshi Yagisawa in 2010. Twenty-year-old Takako quits her job and takes to her bed when her boyfriend announces, out of the blue, he is marrying someone else. Facing the prospect of moving home, she instead moves into the flat above her eccentric uncle’s bookshop.</p>
<p>A proud non-reader, Takako gradually returns to books as her heart heals.</p>
<p>This book rather heavy-handedly makes the case for great literature as a doorway not only into other worlds, but onto other selves. Or back to a true self for damaged salary-workers like Takako who have been swept off course. The shop is repeatedly described as a “safe harbour”. A place to shelter, regather and regroup – for bookseller and buyers alike. </p>
<p>Books about bookshops may be read as “heterotopias”, a concept Michel Foucault uses <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23696520-of-other-spaces-heterotopias?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=DEWYFL5fsK&rank=1">to describe</a> cultural and discursive spaces that are contradictory or transformative. Worlds within worlds. Parallel spaces such as museums and botanic gardens that mirror the “real” world but are artfully, artificially created curations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-ideas-of-foucault-99758">Explainer: the ideas of Foucault</a>
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<p>Bookshops are similarly contradictory: though they may be idealised as places of escape and reading may be romanticised as transformative, both are intrinsically bound up with capitalism. They offer solace, but ultimately exist to sell. </p>
<p>Still, the opposite is true too. Books are commercial products but their content escapes the covers. Like <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27712.The_Neverending_Story">The Neverending Story</a>, the “other” world we read about bleeds into our own. Even if a book is banned or burned, once read it is out in the world.</p>
<h2>A love letter and pause for thought</h2>
<p>Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is an even more explicit love letter to bookselling. Running a bookshop enables the novel’s main character to get out of the rat race and eventually even find her soulmate. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559210/original/file-20231114-21-ul1ah1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Goodreads</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“I must open a bookshop,” Yeongju says. Throwing herself headlong into this task as a way to change her life, she reinvents her relationship with work. Her story is a blow-by-blow account of her building the business, making conscious choices about employee relations, carving out personal reading time and nurturing a local community in an out-of-the-way neighbourhood.</p>
<p>Given my own early experience in the secondhand and antiquarian trade, along with a short stint at the BooksEtc chain in the UK, it’s hard to argue against the idea of bookselling as an alternate way of making a living. </p>
<p>But it’s not necessarily an alternative one. A bookshop is, after all, a business. One that is battling the behemoth Amazon, as well as an ever-increasing number of entertainment alternatives and ever-diminishing attention spans. Even reluctant booksellers embraced social media and e-commerce during COVID – as Yeongju learns to do.</p>
<p>If bookshops are to survive and thrive, perhaps they do well to “sell” the idea theirs is a different kind of career. A calling.</p>
<p>Robbie Egan, CEO of BookPeople (previously the Australian Booksellers Association), has described bookshops as “third-places”, engaging with their customers in meaningful ways that <a href="https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2022/10/21/222118/what-does-the-future-look-like-for-bookselling/">can’t be reduced to a commercial transaction</a>. It’s about community, he tells me, pointing out how many Australian writers have been – or still are – booksellers, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/fat-people-are-taught-to-hate-themselves-but-kris-kneens-intimate-book-could-create-change-206518">Kris Kneen</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-will-not-hide-helen-garners-radical-gift-is-the-shock-of-plain-speaking-179090">Sean O’Beirne</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-melbourne-bookshop-that-ignited-australian-modernism-138300">Friday essay: the Melbourne bookshop that ignited Australian modernism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In a note to readers in Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, Bo-Reum reflects on writing her debut novel. She describes how she sat at her desk every day not knowing what to write, until the bookshop appeared. “Everything else fell in place.” This letter perpetuates ideas about writing (immersive, inspirational, enjoyable) that are every bit as romantic as the world of bookselling she describes.</p>
<p>Yet of all these recent books, The Bookseller of Kabul is the one I return to. I cannot forget Seierstad’s imagined account of Aimal, Sultan’s youngest son, in a chapter called The Dreary Room. He is 12 years old and works 12 hours a day, seven days a week “in a little booth in the dark lobby of one of Kabul’s hotels”. </p>
<p>Aimal longs to go to school. He wails that his father, a rich bookseller “passionate about words and history”, has him working in a sweet shop as the best way to learn the family business.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216750/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rose Michael was previously the editor of Books + Publishing magazine.</span></em></p>From Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, to The Door-to-Door Bookstore, a variety of new novels present bookselling as a source of solace, meaning and escape. What’s going on here?Rose Michael, Senior Lecturer, Writing & Publishing, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2112742023-11-28T19:12:35Z2023-11-28T19:12:35Z‘I can see the characters’: how reading aloud to patients can break through ‘cancer fog’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552877/original/file-20231010-29-928lue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1182%2C758&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Elliot Robins/author provded</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside<br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>– Neil Gaiman</p>
<p>If you were going through cancer treatment, wouldn’t you want to escape your reality for a while? Reading a story can offer an alternate world, a chance to catch your breath from the cycle of appointments and treatment, offering imagined companions. Solace is an intangible bedfellow, but a good story weaves a certain kind of magic.</p>
<p>However, a problem arises in the form of “cancer fog”, a frequent but unwelcome side-effect of cancer and its forms of treatment. Cancer fog, also known as <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/cancer-side-effects/changes-in-thinking-and-memory">cancer-related cognitive impairment</a>, can affect problem-solving, concentration, memory, motivation, navigation, keeping track of conversations, visual processing and hence, reading. </p>
<p>Reading to oneself can become frustrating for those receiving cancer treatment, so it’s often abandoned. This means the therapeutic benefits of reading are denied at a time when they could be especially useful.</p>
<p>I previously worked in small public libraries in central Victoria and knew my community well – so well in fact, that I noticed a pattern of regular readers struggling with their reading, then abandoning it, in response to cancer treatment. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bibliotherapy-how-reading-and-writing-have-been-healing-trauma-since-world-war-i-106626">Bibliotherapy: how reading and writing have been healing trauma since World War I</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This pattern and how to address it has not been studied before, so I began to develop and evaluate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2022.2029264">a read-aloud program for people with cancer</a> as part of my PhD. During the trial of this program, people affected by cancer were read to, using material chosen especially for them, by an experienced reader. Mostly, short stories were read, although some narrative non-fiction and poetry was included, alongside humorous tales and vignettes. </p>
<p>No expectations were placed on the participant: they did not have to operate the technology required to listen to audio books, they did not have to travel anywhere (the reader came to their home or local library, or they met over Zoom), they did not have to chat about the stories (although almost all participants chose to), they did not even have to make small talk as the stories provided the structure and focus for the sessions.</p>
<p>These sessions were 45 minutes to an hour long, weekly, for six weeks. I measured wellbeing at the start and end of the program, and participants and family members were interviewed following the final session. All 38 participants reported enjoying the reading program. (One withdrew from the study due to difficulties managing deteriorating health.) </p>
<p>The works included short stories such as Far North by Alexander McCall Smith, many Maeve Binchy stories, including the funny Ten Snaps of Christmas, The Mouse by Saki, Yellow Jacket Jock by Colin Thiele and numerous short stories by Jojo Moyes, Monica McInerney, Jeffrey Archer, Lee Child and Agatha Christie, as well as chapters from James Herriot’s books and Michael Caine’s autobiography,</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman reads to a man sitting up in bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557617/original/file-20231105-29-fuln2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A good story weaves a certain kind of magic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/side-view-portrait-elderly-couple-enjoying-1397021222">SeventyFour/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-creatures-great-and-small-at-50-why-these-stories-about-a-country-vet-still-charm-today-182325">All Creatures Great and Small at 50: why these stories about a country vet still charm today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Close to 450 stories were read. All participants appreciated the personalisation of the program and the individual reading sessions; reporting that it felt like they were being nurtured. Many spoke of the joy of being read to. Said one participant, “I felt like a king!” A participant who was having a particularly
distressing experience, said: “It changed my whole attitude for the day”. </p>
<p>Another told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s a very nurturing feeling. It takes you to another world. It’s lovely to listen to someone read […] Really, it feels like a gift. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Participants with cancer fog did report they were
able to focus on the listening even though they had struggled to read (visually) to themselves. Visualising the story was not uncommon. One person told us </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I find, um, it’s like you’re in a movie because you’re
reading it to me, I find it more visual and descriptive in my brain. So I […] can see the characters and it’s like I’m watching it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both regular readers and non-readers were encouraged to enrol in the program. A consequence of the research was reconnecting people to the joy (and escapism) they can find in reading, even those who thought it was hard or boring or irrelevant to our modern lifestyle.</p>
<h2>‘My last memory is of him chuckling’</h2>
<p>I had the privilege of reading at the bedside of two terminally ill participants in their last days, making a difference to them and their loved ones.</p>
<p>One of my participants was suddenly admitted to hospital mid-way through the program and died not long after.</p>
<p>He had never been a regular reader but his preference had been humorous fiction and I found plenty to
amuse him. My last memory is of him chuckling. One of his relatives sent me a text message with thanks: “I wanted to let you know how much he enjoyed your reading. It was a joy for me too.”</p>
<p>The joy that the reading sessions brought to so many participants, the distraction from pain, illness and worries, the laughter and lightening of their loads, was also a comfort for families and a delight for the person reading too. It is so simple, but so powerful. Hopefully they’ll continue to at least borrow audio books as the next best thing for relaxation and escapism in the midst of cancer fog.</p>
<p>Read-aloud programs offer distraction and escapism and have the potential to relieve or reduce treatment side-effects like nausea, pain, anxiety, depression and loneliness. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-more-support-systems-for-people-who-want-to-work-during-and-after-cancer-treatment-65540">We need more support systems for people who want to work during and after cancer treatment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The promising <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2023.2231231">preliminary findings from my PhD research</a> suggest these programs would be a valuable addition to the integrative oncology toolkit. Reading together is such a simple thing to do, but it has the potential to make a big difference to emotional wellbeing. </p>
<p>My goal is to see programs like this in cancer centres, hospices and as a part of palliative care programs and my next step is finding how best to make that happen.</p>
<p>If you have someone in your life who is going through cancer, try reading to them. You might just be surprised at what transpires as a result.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Wells does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People receiving cancer treatment can struggle to read. An innovative form of bibliotherapy brought joy and solace, enabling patients to concentrate as listeners, rather than readers.Elizabeth Wells, PhD Candidate, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1833062022-06-16T12:25:06Z2022-06-16T12:25:06ZBabies don’t come with instruction manuals, so here are 5 tips for picking a parenting book<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469087/original/file-20220615-18-6vr9hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=199%2C253%2C4762%2C3152&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Evidence-based and easy to read are two important criteria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-reading-with-sleeping-baby-son-royalty-free-image/601800815">JGI/Tom Grill/Tetra images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Babies don’t come with instruction manuals. Children are at once joyful, sad, confusing, predictable, generous, selfish, gentle and mean. What’s a parent to do when faced with such perplexing offspring? Given the complex interactions of parent, child and surroundings, parents often feel lost. Many may seek answers in parenting books.</p>
<p><a href="https://askwonder.com/research/avg-amount-millennial-parents-spend-parenting-books-apps-field-great-break-down-xjjsxbcdl">Parenting books are big business</a>, and there are tens of thousands of titles for sale. The big question, though, is: Do parenting books help?</p>
<p>How effective they are is a matter of debate, especially given the lack of scientific evidence regarding their usefulness. Limited research has found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9041-2">problem-focused self-help books may be helpful</a> to readers – think tips about time management or healthy eating. And studies find that using books independently to improve well-being – what psychologists call bibliotherapy – is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103543">somewhat effective for addressing stress</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S152747">anxiety and depression</a>.</p>
<p>So it makes sense that reading a parenting book could be useful. In terms of quality and usefulness, however, they exist on a continuum.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=20slzkIAAAAJ&hl=en">We’re scholars</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=f2RwlNoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">of human development</a>, have taught thousands of students about parenting and write about family, parenting and development through the lifespan. One of us (Bethany) is the mother of six little ones, while the other of us (Denise) has two adult children, one of whom is Bethany. We believe that parents can become <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45398785">critical thinkers and choose the books</a> that will be most appropriate for them. Here are five questions to think about when you’re looking for the best parenting book for you.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman in bookstore with toddler in baby carrier" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469088/original/file-20220615-10847-g5wxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With so many books to choose from, put in some effort to find a good fit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-asian-mother-reading-books-to-lovely-little-royalty-free-image/1147930346">d3sign/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Who wrote it and why?</h2>
<p>A good parent doesn’t need a Ph.D.; neither does an author. However, an advanced degree in an area related to parenting helps in understanding and interpreting relevant research.</p>
<p>Another consideration is the experience of the author. Having one or a dozen children does not make someone an expert. Doing more parenting doesn’t necessarily make you better at it. Not having a child doesn’t disqualify someone from being an expert, either, but should be thoughtfully considered. We taught parenting classes before having children, and it’s fair to say that our own parenting experiences have added depth, insight and even grace to what we teach.</p>
<p>The reason someone wrote a parenting book can also be informative. Advice from authors who write out of angst about their own upbringing or who failed at parenting should be taken with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Finally, don’t let celebrities’ books fool you. Most of these are written by <a href="https://professionalghost.com/blog/how-common-are-ghostwriters/">ghostwriters</a> and are primarily designed to sell books or build a brand.</p>
<h2>2. Is it based on science?</h2>
<p>Psychology researcher and <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ten-Basic-Principles-of-Good-Parenting/Laurence-Steinberg/9780743251167">parenting expert Laurence Steinberg</a> writes that scientists have studied parenting for over 75 years, and findings related to effective parenting are among the most consistent and longstanding in social science. If you notice inconsistencies between parenting books, it’s because “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ten-Basic-Principles-of-Good-Parenting/Laurence-Steinberg/9780743251167">few popular books are grounded in well-documented science</a>.”</p>
<p>How can you tell if a book is grounded in science? Look for citations, names of researchers, sources and an index. Also, learn the basic principles of effective parenting determined through decades of research and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/ten-basic-principles-of-good-parenting-science-of-raising-children">outlined by Steinberg</a>. They include: set rules, be consistent, be loving, treat children with respect, and avoid harsh discipline.</p>
<p>If the book you’re considering is not consistent with these guidelines, rethink its parenting advice. Likely it’s based not on science but opinion or personal belief. Opinion and belief have a place, but science is better in this space.</p>
<h2>3. Is it interesting to read?</h2>
<p>If the book is not interesting, you are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10862969009547717">unlikely to finish it, much less learn from it</a>. Before taking a book home, read the first page and flip to a page in the middle to see if it grabs your attention. Try to find books that you can read in small bites, skip around in, and return to in the future.</p>
<p>Avoid books that contain “psychobabble,” pseudoscientific jargon that has an air of authenticity but lacks clarity. For example, the publisher’s description of the book “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/603436.Indigo_Children">The Indigo Children: The New Kids have Arrived</a>” reads, “The Indigo Child is a child who displays a new and unusual set of psychological attributes that reveal a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before. This pattern has common yet unique factors that demand that parents and teachers change their treatment and upbringing of them in order to achieve balance. To ignore these new patterns is to potentially create great frustration in the minds of these precious new lives.” Pass.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two men sit on bed with baby with a tall bookshelf against the wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469089/original/file-20220615-11210-leelbp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even a shelf full of books can’t cover your family’s exact – and always changing – circumstances.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/fathers-starting-the-day-with-newborn-royalty-free-image/1160661769">Willie B. Thomas/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Is it realistic?</h2>
<p>Run, don’t walk, from any book that tells you its method always works or any failure is because of you – or worse yet, ignores failure. </p>
<p>It’s impossible to provide advice for every single parent, child and situation! An effective parenting book appreciates context and complexity and informs the reader that not all answers are in the book. No parent is perfect, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413504106">recognizing weaknesses and failures leads to growth and improvement</a>, and no child is completely malleable. Even parents who do everything right may have children who become wayward.</p>
<p>Make sure the book provides you with detailed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj9957">instructions and things to do</a>, as well as ways to track improvements. In other words, make sure it is actionable.</p>
<p>Finally, a parenting book should respect a parent’s instincts. </p>
<h2>5. Does it motivate and inspire hope?</h2>
<p>Some parenting books offer insights related to general behavior, like “<a href="https://www.newharbinger.com/9781684033881/raising-good-humans/">Raising Good Humans</a>.” Others offer insights for specific issues, like “<a href="https://www.platypusmedia.com/product-page/safe-infant-sleep-expert-answers-to-your-cosleeping-questions">Safe Infant Sleep: Expert Answers to Your Cosleeping Questions</a>.” Likely, you will be more motivated to read a book that reflects your specific needs and values and leaves you feeling hopeful.</p>
<p>A word of caution, however. One study found that parenting books that stress strict routines for infant sleep, feeding and general care might actually make parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2017.1378650">feel worse by increasing depression, stress and doubt</a>. Parenting research does not support overly strict routines, and it’s easy to understand why most of these parents did not find such books useful.</p>
<h2>Remember to trust yourself</h2>
<p>When you read a parenting book, the goal is to feel empowered, more confident, excited and even relieved. You are not alone, nor are you the only parent with questions.</p>
<p>Psychologist <a href="https://psychology.jrank.org/pages/659/Edward-F-Zigler.html">Edward Zigler</a> described parenting as “the <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/handbook-of-parenting-volume-3-status-and-social-conditions-of-parenting/oclc/967239514&referer=brief_results">most challenging and most complex</a> of all the tasks of adulthood.”</p>
<p>Yes, parenting can be tough. In your parenting adventures, you’ll likely need all the resources and tools you can muster. With thoughtful and critical explorations, you can find books that enhance your personal wisdom and intuition to help in raising these delightfully complicated little humans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being a parent can be tricky, and many turn to parenting guides for help in figuring out what to do. Two human development scholars have tips for picking a book that will be useful for you.Denise Bodman, Principal Lecturer in Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State UniversityBethany Bustamante Van Vleet, Principal Lecturer in Family and Human Development, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1495462020-12-23T21:05:58Z2020-12-23T21:05:58ZTeen summer reads: 5 novels to help cope with adversity and alienation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374369/original/file-20201211-24-pjbrct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-man-serious-student-male-hand-446583973">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/teen-summer-reads-97466">three-part series</a> on summer reads for young people after a very unique year.</em></p>
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<p>2020 has been a particularly tough year for those approaching the latter years of high school. </p>
<p>Young people have witnessed large-scale economic insecurity and unstable education systems. Teenagers have reported <a href="https://www.unicef.org.au/about-us/media/may-2020/unicef-australia-covid-survey-results">high levels of stress and anxiety</a>. But they have also demonstrated <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/seven-young-people-who-had-great-ideas-during-covid19/">outstanding resilience</a> and resolve in adapting to the “new normal”.</p>
<p>During COVID-19, cultural texts have become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/15/research-reading-books-surged-lockdown-thrillers-crime">more important than ever</a> — a place to turn to for knowledge, reflection, support and escape. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-reading-habits-have-changed-during-the-covid-19-lockdown-146894">How reading habits have changed during the COVID-19 lockdown</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Reading <a href="https://js.sagamorepub.com/trj/article/view/7652">can be therapeutic</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-fiction-builds-mental-resiliency-in-young-readers-135513">for young readers during difficult times</a>. It offers something other media <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/29/social-media-detox-read-books-one-week">doesn’t</a> — greater <a href="https://bookriot.com/benefits-of-reading/">social and emotional benefits</a>. It also does more to stimulate the imagination and creates a sense of moral achievement in readers.</p>
<p>With this in mind, here are some summer reading ideas for older teenagers. The texts I have chosen demonstrate how young characters have coped with trauma and uncertainty. </p>
<p>Research suggests young people are <a href="https://theconversation.com/teenagers-arent-reading-enough-tough-books-heres-why-that-matters-91932">more likely to listen to their peers</a> than their teachers when it comes to reading recommendations. </p>
<p>So, I spoke to my 18-year-old son and asked him to name five types of books he would like to read over the summer. </p>
<p>He suggested: </p>
<ul>
<li>a classic book he’s always wanted to read but hasn’t</li>
<li>a book penned by a young author</li>
<li>a “throwback” young adult novel he has already read</li>
<li>an autobiography of someone who has overcome adversity</li>
<li>something provocative that was published this year. </li>
</ul>
<p>Inevitably some of my selections meet more than one of his criteria. </p>
<h2>1. The classic: <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/hinton-outsiders-young-adult-literature">The Outsiders</a> (1967)</h2>
<p><strong>by S.E. Hinton</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="The cover of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374361/original/file-20201211-20-143hxi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Outsiders is thought to be one of the first novels written specifically for young adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-outsiders-9780141368887">Penguin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Outsiders is thought to be one of the first novels written <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/hinton-outsiders-young-adult-literature">specifically for young adults</a>. The coming of age novel explores the class divide between the rival Greasers and Socs gangs in the American South in the mid-1960s. </p>
<p>The book’s challenging and emotive representations of inequality, violence, crises of conscience, and the powerful love of family and friends, make it an enduring standout for young readers. The first-person narration constructs intimacy between the reader and our protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, as he approaches an increasingly uncertain future.</p>
<p>Hinton started the book at 15, finished it at 16, and it was published when she was 18. It is said she wrote the book because it was the sort of book <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/books/the-outsiders-s-e-hinton-book.html?searchResultPosition=2">she herself wanted to read</a>. </p>
<p>In a year when many young people have experienced isolation and separation, Ponyboy’s wisdoms should resonate powerfully: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>2. Autobiography (memoir): <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393345438">Crazy Brave</a> (2012)</h2>
<p><strong>by Joy Harjo</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Crazy Brave: a memoir" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374363/original/file-20201211-14-12xypwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joy Harjo’s memoir is confronting and, at times, graphic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393345438">W.W. Norton</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cherokee.org">Cherokee</a>, <a href="https://www.mcn-nsn.gov">Creek</a> painter, musician and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/30/848001380/joy-harjo-gets-a-second-term-as-u-s-poet-laureate#:%7E:text=Library%20Of%20Congress%20Appoints%20Joy,As%20U.S.%20Poet%20Laureate%20%3A%20NPR&text=Live%20Sessions-,Library%20Of%20Congress%20Appoints%20Joy%20Harjo%20To%20A%20Second%20Term,Librarian%20of%20Congress%2C%20Carla%20Hayden.">US Poet Laureate</a>, Harjo wrote her memoir when she was 61. </p>
<p>Crazy Brave recalls her early life from birth to her early 20s. The story is abstract and non-linear in structure, making the memoir unpredictable, which destabilises the reader’s experience. </p>
<p>Harjo’s memoir is confronting and, at times, graphic. But her spiritual connections, and trust of her own “knowing” (instinct, or inner vision) will inspire readers keen to escape problematic right or wrong, or black and white perceptions of experience. As Harjo astutely observes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the end, we must each tend to our own gulfs of sadness, though others can assist us with kindness, food, good words, and music. Our human tendency is to fill these holes with distractions like shopping and fast romance, or with drugs and alcohol.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>3. Young author: <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/A-Lonely-Girl-is-a-Dangerous-Thing-Jessie-Tu-9781760877194">A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing</a> (2020)</h2>
<p><strong>by Jessie Tu</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The cover of Jessie Tu's A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374364/original/file-20201211-22-hg9jv8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This is not a fun read, but it is a timely one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/A-Lonely-Girl-is-a-Dangerous-Thing-Jessie-Tu-9781760877194">Allen & Unwin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>28-year-old Tu’s debut novel presents 22-year-old violinist child prodigy Jena Chung. We follow Jena’s sense of alienation and detachment as she attempts to find meaning in the world. </p>
<p>Lonely Girl is not a fun read, but it is a timely one. We need to see more Asian-Australia women’s voices in literature because of the important provocations they make about race and misogyny in Australia. Tu wanted this novel to be a conversation starter and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/01/jessie-tu-when-you-dont-see-yourself-on-the-page-you-literally-dont-exist">it certainly is</a>.</p>
<p>Tu’s is a powerful intervention young readers will appreciate. It is a book about making bad choices while feeling so much pressure to be “good”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I throw myself into things, expecting always to get what I want. And I always get what I want. Now it feels like I’ve failed all over again. Only this time there’s no motivation behind it. I’ve just failed myself, and it hurts in a strange, unfamiliar way. The wound is deeper than anything I’ve ever felt.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This novel contains graphic representations of sex. It is recommended for readers 17 and over. </p>
<h2>4. Written in 2020: <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/The-Morbids-Ewa-Ramsey-9781760877538">The Morbids</a> (2020)</h2>
<p><strong>by Ewa Ramsey</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The cover of Ewa Ramsey's, The Morbids" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374365/original/file-20201211-17-1abxz54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This is Newcastle-based author Ewa Ramsey’s debut novel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/The-Morbids-Ewa-Ramsey-9781760877538">Allen & Unwin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a wonderfully compassionate book about living with anxiety caused by our 20-something protagonist Caitlin’s fear of death. The Morbids explores the value of friendship and romance amid youthful fears and phobias. </p>
<p>Ramsey’s debut novel is a difficult read. The style of the novel (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/11/the-morbids-by-ewa-ramsey-review-mental-illness-captured-with-remarkable-nuance-and-skill">fragmented, sometimes repetitive language</a>) attempts to bring the reader closer to the experience of mental illness. But the characterisations are warm and the moral is ultimately hopeful. </p>
<p>It’s a book about therapy and letting people in when it is the last thing you feel like you can do, because “Sometimes you need to give up on death … to have the time of your life”.</p>
<h2>5. Throwback: <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/love-creekwood-9780241492253">Love, Creekwood</a> (2020)</h2>
<p><strong>by Becky Albertalli</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The cover of Becky Albertalli's, Love, Creekwood" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374367/original/file-20201211-17-3nspe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Love, Creekwood is narrated via the characters’ emails to each other.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/love-creekwood-9780241492253">Penguin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not exactly a throwback, but if you enjoyed <a href="https://beckyalbertalli.com/simon-vs-the-homo-sapiens-agenda">Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda</a> as much as my teens and I did, here is the latest instalment of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonverse">Simonverse</a>. </p>
<p>Love, Creekwood is a short epistolary romance novella (the story is narrated via the characters’ emails to each other). It is “part 3.5” in the series and functions as an epilogue. </p>
<p>Love, Creekwood follows the characters to college and we follow the progression of two same-sex relationships. The book explores the challenges of being too close and too far away from a partner. It explores the mental health struggles often triggered by loneliness and fear. </p>
<p>Love, Creekwood is a light-hearted but genuine representation of what the first year of university can feel like. </p>
<p>As Simon explains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When we say we want to freeze time, what we mean is that we want to control our memories. We want to choose which moments we’ll keep forever. We want to guarantee the best ones won’t slip away from us somehow. So when something beautiful happens, there’s this impulse to press pause and save the game. We want to make sure we can find our way back to that moment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Albertalli is donating all proceeds from the sale of this novella to <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org">The Trevor Project</a>, an organisation committed to crisis and suicide prevention for LGBTQIA youth. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teen-summer-reads-how-to-escape-to-another-world-after-a-year-stuck-in-this-one-150646">Teen summer reads: how to escape to another world after a year stuck in this one</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><em>The author would like to thank to Katerina Bryant, Kylie Cardell, Joshua Douglas-Spencer and Emma Maguire for sharing ideas for this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Douglas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The texts in this shortlist demonstrate how young characters have coped with trauma and uncertainty.Kate Douglas, Professor, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1451802020-09-29T20:00:33Z2020-09-29T20:00:33ZA place to get away from it all: 5 ways school libraries support student well-being<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360412/original/file-20200929-14-1uwb5a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-happy-boys-sitting-on-floor-196555901">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students in Australia and around the world have experienced significant challenges this year, including the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. </p>
<p>Globally, as many as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28942803/">one in five</a> young people may experience mental-health problems. These can be exacerbated, or even brought on by, stressful life events including economic pressures related to the pandemic.</p>
<p>We know teacher librarians and school libraries play an important role in supporting <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/04250494.2018.1558030">young people’s reading</a> and broader <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0031721718767854">academic achievement</a>. But school libraries play a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01930826.2020.1820278">more diverse role</a> in students’ lives, among which is to support <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01930826.2020.1773718">their well-being</a>. </p>
<p>Here are five ways they do this.</p>
<h2>1. They can be safe spaces</h2>
<p>Creating a positive, safe and supportive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3043">school environment</a> can help schools meet young people’s academic, emotional and social needs.</p>
<p>Whether students are victims of bullying or simply feel like they don’t fit in, school libraries can provide safe spaces in sometimes challenging school environments. In some schools, the <a href="https://aasl.digitellinc.com/aasl/sessions/2102/view">library is the only space</a> intentionally created as a refuge for young people.</p>
<p>Both the library as a whole, and spaces in it, can be adapted to be comforting sanctuaries. A quiet space with comfortable furniture can make the library a place to “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/109555/">get away from it all</a>”. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Boy sitting cross legged on round stool in library and reading." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360413/original/file-20200929-22-1oiftsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A school library is a quiet sanctuary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-reading-book-school-library-170402048">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In recent times the school library has been expected to cater to a <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030210243">growing array of diverse purposes</a> such as sports equipment storage and meeting venues, perhaps challenging its ability to be a safe space. It’s important for schools to ensure, within these demands, students still have a special spot to come to for refuge.</p>
<h2>2. They provide resources for well-being</h2>
<p>When students are experiencing health and other well-being issues, libraries can have valuable <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/School-and-public-youth-librarians-as-health-from-Lukenbill-Immroth/1d1b2bea37eb167530267558776e9acdb2a51439">resources to help</a> them understand what they are going through and where to get help. School libraries can also potentially provide valuable health resources to the <a href="http://qqml-journal.net/index.php/qqml/article/view/520">broader community</a>. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-every-teacher-needs-to-know-about-childhood-trauma-132965">Why every teacher needs to know about childhood trauma</a>
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<p>Teacher librarians <a href="https://search.proquest.com/openview/1e8240cf4d8cb18c2061c80bfe66097d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=38018">curate resources (and weed out irrelevant</a> ones) to ensure students get current, quality information. Library staff may also work with teachers and school psychologists to ensure the school community is well resourced for meeting young people’s needs.</p>
<h2>3. They help build digital health-literacy skills</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/health-literacy/en/">World Health Organisation</a> has emphasised the importance of health literacy and its potential to support better individual and community health outcomes.</p>
<p>Young people need these skills to prevent potentially dangerous misconceptions, such as those that have circulated during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-spot-coronavirus-fake-news-an-expert-guide-133843">COVID-19 pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15398285.2017.1279894">2017 study</a>, researchers worked with school librarians to improve young people’s digital health-literacy skills. The study showed young people had good digital literacy skills when it came to searching for general information. But they had poor knowledge when it came to evaluating the credibility of websites and health information. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teach-questions-not-answers-science-literacy-is-a-crucial-skill-144731">Teach questions, not answers: science literacy is a crucial skill</a>
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<p>School librarians are digital literacy experts. Supporting staff and students with their information skills is part of their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01930826.2020.1820278">job description</a>. School libraries can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405535/">build students’ digital and information health-literacy skills</a>, helping them evaluate online health information sources.</p>
<h2>4. They support reading for pleasure</h2>
<p>Reading for pleasure is associated with <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED593894">mental well-being</a>. </p>
<p>School libraries facilitate reading for pleasure by providing comfortable reading spaces, as well as access to interesting texts. Visits to the library <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004944119880621">encourage young people</a> to read more and positive attitudes toward reading. </p>
<p>Teacher librarians may also make recommendations and read books aloud, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0004944117727749">which is relaxing</a> for young people.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl reading in a library, leaning against book shelf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360415/original/file-20200929-22-l5f5p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Reading for pleasure is associated with well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-high-school-university-learning-people-484280842">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>While much is known about the <a href="https://products.abc-clio.com/abc-cliocorporate/product.aspx?pc=A5940P">literacy benefits</a> of reading, keen reading in childhood is also linked to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009174351930369X">healthy choices</a> and fewer issues with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620301908">behaviour</a> in the teen years. Reading for pleasure can provide a <a href="https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/1567">valuable escape</a> from the challenges of everyday life. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/love-laughter-adventure-and-fantasy-a-reading-list-for-teens-126928">Love, laughter, adventure and fantasy: a reading list for teens</a>
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<p>However, the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lit.12189">crowded curriculum</a> can lead to reading for pleasure being undervalued in schools. Students at schools with libraries do not always have <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030210243">regular access</a> to them, which is something schools need to ensure is provided.</p>
<h2>5. They encourage healing through reading</h2>
<p>Teacher librarians may also support students to engage with literature in healing ways. Known as bibliotherapy, which is “<a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol35/iss5/3/">healing through books</a>”, students can deal with issues challenging their well-being from a safe distance when they are experienced by book characters. They can also get guidance on how to cope from the experiences and perspectives of book characters. </p>
<p>Teacher librarians may <a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=10239391&AN=122422185&h=0rviYBqgtY476LzpfK9u5vRhAkNZ8Ewe7fesNDrfY1AnbgfoYPjm7Q2%2Fqtgjq3%2FhSawer%2BLzw54cGqiTCRKNzg%3D%3D&crl=c">select specific literature</a> to support students encountering particular challenges. This is one of the numerous benefits of the literature expertise of teacher librarians. </p>
<p>School libraries and staffing are <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/33/">under threat</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/24750158.2018.1557979?journalCode=ualj21">undervalued</a>. These resources are easy to take for granted, and school libraries often <a href="https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/softlink-apac-school-library-survey-report/">lose out</a> in budget cuts. </p>
<p>Where school libraries do not have the staff and materials they need, this can <a href="https://www.greatschoollibraries.org.uk/news">limit their ability</a> to support student well-being. We need to better understand how our school libraries and staff contribute to student well-being so we can make the most of this valuable resource.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret Kristin Merga receives funding from the BUPA Health Foundation, the Ian Potter Foundation, the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, and the Collier Foundation. She is the current inaugural Patron of the Australian School Library Association.</span></em></p>We know teacher librarians support children’s literacy. But school libraries play a more diverse role, including supporting students’ well-being.Margaret Kristin Merga, Senior Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.