April 17, 2025, is Celebrate Teen Literature Day, a day to promote the love of reading for teens! At the end of 2024, the Sandy and Hoodland Libraries welcomed a new teen librarian, Kris Ritchie, so we though Teen Literature Day was a perfect time to introduce you to Kris and his views and thoughts on teen literature!
Did you always want to be a librarian?
I actually thought I wanted to be an English teacher before I became a librarian. But then I thought back on how much of a smart aleck I was in school, and thought karma would get me back tenfold. Librarian then made the most sense to me, and I never looked back!
What made you choose teen literature in particular?
Teens to me are where we are most likely to lose people's interest in the library. Children come to the library for storytime, and adults with new kids or elderly patrons also are regular patrons we can expect to see. However teens, who are at the age when you discover who you want to be and what to think of the world around you, are not given as high a priority in most community building endeavors. We, as librarians, have to make an effort to really show the teens that the library is still there and can provide resources and services catered to them.
Why do you think adult readers are drawn to teen literature?
I think adults are drawn to teen lit for many different reasons, with some of the biggest being the same reasons teens read too. Teen lit is always in conversation with the real world, either in framing current events or comparing different eras/fantasy worlds to our own. Young adult books also are easily identifiable in genre by the way a cover is designed: two people holding hands and pastels? Slice-of-life romance, maybe a romcom. Dark, brooding colors with large letters or a single prominent object? Likely a thriller or dark fantasy. Finally, YA books in almost every genre are all about exploration and discovery. Even as adults, it's fun to read these books and discover another way of looking at the world or experience the viewpoint of someone radically different from yourself.
What is your favorite YA book?
What is your favorite YA series?
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, Celtic magic and lore meets Game of Thrones-esque levels of character drama.
Which books have the best YA cover art?
See above, Three Dark Crowns! Also, anything Victoria Schwab.
If you could drop into any YA fantasy world, which one would it be and why?
Oh dear, I read a lot of post-apocalyptic and dark fantasy so I don't really have a definitive answer for you. I would say the world of
Tara Sims' Timekeeper trilogy only because it is not grim dark, and features a magic system in which clock towers running down and stopping can actually STOP time. It turns into this sprawling epic about enslaved clock spirits, eternal life, and trying to control what shouldn't be controlled.
Book or series coming out that you're most excited about?
I am really enjoying the new
Marvel Ultimate Universe comic line, so I am excited to keep reading Ultimate Spider-man, Avengers, Black Panther, and more. It twists and reimagines the marvel heroes and villains just enough to make it feel fresh.
Which teen book or series would you like to see be made into a movie?
The Woods by James Tynion IV. A graphic novel about a group of high schoolers who explore the wilderness of an alien(?) planet after their entire high school of over 500 people is magically transported off Earth.
What is your favorite piece of classic teen literature?
Define "classic." To me that can be anything that is as old as a teen itself! Growing up, I really enjoyed the
Cirque Du Freak books by Darren Shan exploring the dark fantasy world of a teen who became a vampire. At a time when not a lot of YA literature was of the dark urban fantasy type,
Cirque really stood out to me.
We are thrilled that Kris has joined our team and can't wait to see what he brings to the Sandy Public Library for our teens!
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