Article Review: Can photos alone make nonfiction more fun?

Article:

Cart, M. (2010). The eyes have it - other visual forms: Photo essays and the new nonfiction. In Young adult literature: From romance to realism (pp. 179-185). Chicago: ALA.

Nonfiction for youth has certainly had a rough history.  Cart guides us through the last century or so of nonfiction meant for children and teens, with some distressing statistics.  Thanks to library grants from the National Defense Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, unimpressive nonfiction titles were made a thing of the past and series nonfiction were released in all their colorful, photographed glory... until the money ran out and children and teens (and let's not forget the librarians) were, again, left disappointed.

Cart mentions the emergence of "lexigraphical" nonfiction, as famously produced by Dorling Kindersley (DK Publishing) (181).  The combination of detailed, colorful, or otherwise interesting photos and illustrations with informational text was revolutionary in that it got kids to read and enjoy nonfiction.  I am in full agreement that the images and text inform each other and help to improve the reading (and learning) experience for the young reader--even for the old reader!

I think that readers, young and old alike, do not truly realize that, unlike fiction, nonfiction does not need to be read fully or consecutively.  Unless you are truly interested in a subject, or are particularly immersed in the reading experience, there may not be a need to read a nonfiction book in its entirety.  I feel that this is part of what turns people off from reading nonfiction--it has a (long) history of being boring and unappealing, and there is that connotation of it being "just a school thing," (184) so why would anyone want to read it in full, when there are so many more interesting things you could be doing?  You can still enjoy a nonfiction title while maybe not reading the entire text--just stick to what catches your eye (hopefully, it's not just the pictures) and continue as you see fit.

While children's nonfiction is certainly plentiful, having seen many juvenile nonfiction sections across libraries, oftentimes young adult fiction seems to get very little notoriety or attention in the teen room.  What little may exist in the collection is likely collecting dust in the space, or is relocated to adult nonfiction with no indication but a simple "YA" spine label.  Teens do not seem to realize that nonfiction can be enjoyable, so these titles get left on the back burner (or, rather, in the adult stacks) and they rarely see the light of day.  Children's nonfiction has had quite the number of makeovers in its existence as a genre, so that now we have access to beautiful photographs in each nonfiction picture book, with enthusiastic colors and text, simply bursting from the shelves.  I see plenty of kids that are excited to take home a nonfiction book, whether it be on mammals or outer space, and even though publishing is still working hard to make nonfiction more appealing for a teen audience, I think they still have a long way to go before teens stop rolling their eyes at the YA librarian for suggesting they take home that JFK biography for some light weekend reading.

Adding more photos, illustrations, fiction-like narratives, or comic book elements to nonfiction are a great start to reinventing the reputation of youth nonfiction.  At the same time, it is a science that has still not been fully explored.

I cannot say for sure whether or not the inclusion of photos or illustrations are the only way to improve youth nonfiction, but maybe that just means it is time to experiment!

Fan Fiction and Readers

Collins, Tara. "Filling in the gaps: What is happening in the world of fan fiction." Library Media Connection 24, no 4 (2006): 36-38.

For readers looking to continue the experience of reading a favorite or particularly gripping story, they may turn to fan fiction writing.  Those who are not quite ready to leave Hogwarts or Middle Earth, or feel that some characters simply have more to say, can use fan fiction writing as a creative outlet in order to remain close with the characters and worlds they have come to know and love.  Tara Collins invites 80 decidedly "popular" fan fiction authors whose content is hosted on fanfiction.net to participate in a survey about their writing: their preferred characters, settings, and opinions on why readers are drawn to their re-imagined (and expanded) stories and characters.  She shares the results of her 30 responses in her article, Filling in the Gaps: What is Happening in the World of Fan Fiction (2006).  Much of her focus is spent on the preferences of writers' character choices, meaning, their reasoning behind choosing one character over another to lead their story(-ies).

Rather than consistently, habitually choosing the previously designated "main character" from the original works, fan fiction writers have been known to select minor characters to be the face of their creations.  Instead of having Harry be the star of a Harry Potter series fanfic, fan fiction writers may elect to tell the story from a smaller-scale character's perspective.  This is due to various factors, including the desire to be more creative with a less (officially, or "canon-wise") fleshed-out character, or even the fear of offending readers with a new (and possibly inaccurate) interpretation of a much-beloved character.  A respondent of Collins's survey confirms this with her use of a minor character in the Lord of the Rings universe, in that "[he] is a minor character but with fan fiction you can extend this.  There is little we know about [him] and because of this you can let your imagination as an author run free without going against what Tolkien wrote."  By choosing to write about minor characters and their adventures, one has less of a chance of either offending other fans of the original story, or tainting the history that has already been established.  They are allowed a creative experience without detriment to the series they know and love.

Collins's findings represent a small window into the world of fan fiction, yet presents stimulating and interesting information, unveiling the secret inner-workings of fan fiction authors' minds.  Each reader takes away something different from the stories they read, and they may choose to apply those feelings and discoveries in different ways to share that love with others.