Genre, Classics, and Resources

Genre is a word from the French which means "category". Genre is "a term used in literary criticism to designate the distinct types or categories into which literary works are grouped according to form or technique." (Dictionary of Literary Terms) Books that belong to the same genre have things in common. Mystery is a genre, for example; mystery books are stories that have a puzzle (usually involving a crime) you try to figure out. Biography is another genre; biographies tell the true facts about someone's life and personality.

A classic is "a book that has never finished saying what it has to say"(Italo Calvino) A book can be a classic because it was one of the first pieces of writing to try writing a story a certain way. It could also become a classic because the people of today can still learn about life, about people, and about the world from reading it, even though it was written a long time ago.

Here are links to pages about each genre. Each page will have the following sections:

What Kids Think
What Teachers Think
History and Classics of the Genre
Resources for the Genre

This page also contains links to useful resources for young readers. These links will help you find things like fun activities, definitions, author information and biographies, good lists of books for special needs. We hope you find them helpful!

	Children's Literature
	Fiction: Novels, Historical Fiction and the Short Story
	Science Fiction
	Fantasy
	Mystery
	Drama
	Biography

Useful Resources for Young Readers

	Amazon.com, a great online bookstore!
	Advanced Book Exchange, a great source for used and out-of-print books!
	Newbery Awards Do you have to read a book that has to be a Newbery? Well click on to this site and you be able to pick out every Newbery book which was ever writen.
	Background of the Newbery Awards
	Other awards besides Newbery awards You might think that there is only one award but there isn't. Click on this link to find out about other awards.
	Children's Literature Web Guide (great all-around site!)
	World of Reading (reviews and information)
	Help with Literary Terms
	A Brief History of Young Adult Literature
	Traditional Classics in Children's Literature
	Inkspot's Info on Genres for Authors
	SFF Net: Great site for all kinds of genre literature!
	Beyond Basals (reviews and resources)
	Internet Public Library (Great site for young readers!)
	Activities and Resourcesfor young readers (Internet Public Library)
	The Internet Book Information Center
	WWW Virtual Library - Literature
	Bookbrowser (an online resource for readers)
	Electronic Writer's Group
	Advice to Young Writers
	BlakLife (Good links for African American Classics!)
	LiveZone GirlTalk BookList (Good books for girls!)
	A List of Books for Young Adult Learners of English
	Rutger University's Children's and Yound Adult Author Guide (really thorough!)
	Internet Public Library Young Adult Author Page
	Author Links (Internet Public Library)
	Yahoo Author's Section
	Yahoo Young Adult Author's Section

If you know of any good book resource links, please visit our Contact Us page and fill out the form, letting us know about the link!