Readers’ advisory (RA) is one of the hottest topics in library services to adults. In fact, you could argue that public libraries are undergoing a renaissance in RA.

According to Joyce Saricks, whose Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library (ALA Editions, 2005) is pretty much the Bible on the topic, RA is “patron-oriented library service for adult leisure readers.” Over at Wikipedia, it’s “a service which involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles to a reader through direct or indirect means.”

It’s understandable that adult librarians would turn to RA. The public library’s heyday as information gatekeeper has largely come and gone—thanks to Google—and RA provides the public with a much-needed service (unbiased advice on what to read next) while reinvigorating one of the library’s traditional roles.

But what does RA mean for service to children and teens?

Old-timers (and I mean those of us over 40!) can be forgiven if they answer: not much. They don’t need a renaissance in RA, they never stopped doing it: from reading many of the books that go into their collections, to thinking about who these books will appeal to, and keeping “read alike” lists (fantasy for middle school, princess folktales, classics like Maniac Magee) in their heads, on bookmarks, and on the web. And they (perhaps unknowingly) invented the “RA interview,” asking kids about the last book they enjoyed or their favorite TV show, along with other unobtrusive questions that can lead to the next good read.

Our reviewers are wise to RA too. Just check out Eva Mitnick’s review of Dawn Lairamore’s Ivy’s Ever After (Holiday House), p. 106. In addition to the plot, context, and pacing of the novel, we also learn that this fairy-tale-based fantasy has “a nice balance of character development and action,” and are even provided with two “read alikes” to help make recommendations.

In the last year or so there’s been a spate of books about RA for young people, invaluable for beginners but good refreshers for the rest of us. These include Heather Booth’s groundbreaking Serving Teens Through Readers’ Advisory (2007), Michael Sullivan’s refreshing Serving Boys Through Readers’ Advisory (2009, both ALA Editions), and Penny Peck’s comprehensive Readers’ Advisory for Children and ’Tweens (Libraries Unlimited, 2010).

But what’s largely missing in the discussion about RA and young people is what adult librarians call “appeal terms,” the language that readers use to describe what they appreciate in a book—something Olga Nesi tackles in “It’s All About Text Appeal,” pp. 40–42. A middle school librarian, Nesi describes her efforts to share with her students language that describes what makes a book, well, appealing to them, such as pace (“breakneck”), characterization (“realistic”), story line (“character centered”), and tone (“romantic”).

Why is this important? Because reading is too often presented as part of testing, a reading management program, or for assignments. Reading for pleasure can be marginalized, and too often students, in discussing books they like, are allowed to move from the middle school years—when the most they will say about a book is “I love it,” accompanied by the requisite plot summary—to the high school years—when they encounter formal literary conventions (the protagonist!) without ever thinking about what they enjoy in a book.

Appeal terms give readers a way to articulate what they like in their leisure reading, fiction or nonfiction, and let them know that these preferences are OK. They allow them to own their reading experiences and signal that reading for fun can be taken—just a little bit—seriously. And best of all, appeal terms offer young people a way to think about reading that can sustain them throughout their lives.