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- Description
- Table of Contents
- About the author
- Reviews
Foreword by Kafi D. Kumasi
Building on the continued popularity of street lit, Irvin's updated guide will help library workers, teachers, and other community-based educators encourage reading and library use by meeting patrons' reading interests and information needs.
Street lit, also known as urban fiction, addresses with unflinching grit the concerns and problems of city living and survival in the United States. As a leisure reading genre, street lit encompasses some of the most in-demand titles in American public libraries’ collections. In this new, thoroughly revised edition of her popular guide, Irvin’s coverage of street lit is fortified by professional narratives from her experiences as a public librarian in Philadelphia, an updated treatment of canonical and contemporary book titles, and scholarly references that reflect her research background in library and information science. Attuned to the needs of novices and devotees alike, Irvin
- sketches out the rich history of the urban fiction, showing why it appeals so strongly to readers and providing a quick way for street lit novices to get up to speed on understanding the genre;
- demonstrates why promoting street lit means promoting literacy;
- explores how authors, readers, and librarians read and respond to the genre and one another;
- covers a variety of subgenres in terms of scope, popularity, style, major authors, and works;
- shares approaches to readers’ advisory (RA) founded on creating trust between the patron and the librarian; and
- offers pointers on collection development and library programming.
Series Introduction by Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt
Foreword by Kafi D. Kumasi
Introduction: The Canonical Agency of Street Lit
Chapter 1: History of Street Literature in American Culture
Chapter 2: Characteristics of Street Lit
Chapter 3: Understanding, Classifying, and Defining Street Lit
Chapter 4: Readers’ Advisory Approaches to Street Lit
Chapter 5: Collection Management Considerations for Street Lit
Chapter 6: Library Programming for Street Lit
Chapter 7: Reading Street Lit as a Literacy Practice
Epilogue: Street Lit’s Enduring Legacy
Appendix: Street/Urban Literature: A Foundational Collection
References
Index
Have you read this book? Leave a review!
"Accessible chapters about the history and characteristics of street lit clearly define the differences between it and other types of urban fiction. Irvin provides ample examples of classics (pre-1990s), modern classics (1990s–2000s), and contemporary works, through which she demonstrates how library workers can develop inclusive collections, conduct effective reader’s advisory, and create engaging displays and programming ... As evidenced by the popularity of New York Times–bestselling books such as Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, street lit continues to be a reflection of readers’ realities, making this readers’ advisory guide a must-purchase for library professionals."
— Library Journal (starred review)
Praise for the first edition
"In this comprehensive book, Morris provides excellent input to aid in collection development and includes a list of publishers."
— School Library Journal
"Morris persuasively overturns common prejudices against Street Literature, situating the genre convincingly in a long literary history of narratives located in low-income city neighborhoods. Her broadened conceptualization of the genre provides educators with indispensable tools for linking Street Literature with works of other literary periods and genres, non-fiction formats and even audiovisual media. Librarians and teachers will gain in-depth knowledge about readers’ agency, tastes and complex reading practices—all essential prerequisites for engaging seriously with street literature and its readers."
— Kristina Graaff, author of Street Literature: Black Popular Fiction in the Era of U.S. Mass Incarceration and Junior Faculty, Humboldt University Berlin