Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Book Recommendations and Library Associations

Over the years, there have been many posts seeking and recommending "age-appropriate" books for advanced readers.
(Crowd-sourced lists of recommended books, here: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/forums/4/1/Recommended_Resources.html)

Parental requests for "age-appropriate" materials typically indicate a desire for some combination of:
- advanced vocabulary,
- varied sentence structure,
- material providing deeper knowledge, connections, and insight,
... while being free from:
- sexual content,
- violence and abuse,
- strong negative emotion,
- complex or conflicting emotional processing.

In recent years, there have been increasing accounts of parents becoming aware of materials in school libraries, which they deem age-inappropriate for the children for whom the materials have been curated and approved. Several states have separated/disassociated from the American Library Association (ALA).

This has given rise to the formation of the World Library Association, a new national alternative to the American Library Association.

Introducing World Library Association:
1. WLA website home - https://worldlibraryassociation.org/
2. WLA website, about - https://worldlibraryassociation.org/about/
3. WLA services - https://worldlibraryassociation.org/services/

The long-established American Library Association:
1. ALA website - https://www.ala.org/
2. ALA list of most challenged books of 2022 - https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
3. ALA President for 2023-2024 - Emily Drabinski.

EdWeek compared recent ALA and PEN "banned book" lists, for the 2022-2023 school year -
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/these-were-the-most-banned-books-in-2022/2023/04

Parents seeking higher level books which are age-appropriate for their advanced readers, may choose to steer clear of books on these lists as these selections may tend to be sexually explicit.

With various reports of controversial adult material available to children through school library systems, especially online digital collections, this website may be of interest for parents who want to be proactive about helping to guide their child in choosing books: Booklooks.org

BookLooks rating system described here: https://booklooks.org/ratings-system

BookLooks Book Report Index here: https://booklooks.org/book-reports