Sharon Domier's blog

Just like public libraries – there is generally a clear division between children’s books and adults books. Not always, some fabulous picture books aren’t intended for children, but by and large the division is clear. But then where does the YA fit? If you want it to stand out, it needs to be in its own section. I decided to do the same thing with my Read Japanese collection.

There are thousands and thousands of Japanese books and manga be published annually and both funds and space are very limited. My Read Japanese collection is already pretty full so I have to make very strategic choices about what I add. I decided that I would select titles that were popular enough that English language translations existed for them so that it was likely that the students had already some familiarity with them. For manga and light novels this was particularly important to me because those just aren’t in my wheelhouse. I have no idea what is and isn’t good. I can read the rankings and reviews but it is still guesswork. By reading reviews of the translations I can work backwards and choose the Japanese titles.

There are many public libraries that are collecting English language manga and light novels, so I can ask the students to borrow those through our local library system. I spend my limited funds on the Japanese language titles that aren’t held or aren’t widely held. I scour lists like this one: 50 MUST-READ YA BOOKS IN TRANSLATION and of course websites like Seven Seas Entertainment for ideas.

Because these titles are not graded readers and are generally written at a much higher level than 0-5, I have expanded the tadoku reading levels to go up to level 8 (basically high school Japanese). Manga in my collection start in level 3, I have a lot in level 4 (if they have furigana), more in level 5 and a few in higher levels. Light novels are in level 6 and above. This way students can still browse easily a small collection and if they like what they see and can read it, then we can add more to our regular East Asian language collection.

I am also looking at this website: Books??? Books Amadare for lots of good reviews of middle/high school books, including ?? books.