Reading Mentors
Reading Mentors is a research study trying to understand how young people (ages 16 to 19) think about mentors and other guiding adults in speculative young adult (YA) fiction and how they make sense of the ways adults treat adolescents in these stories. We're also interested in whether these fictional relationships feel realistic, inspiring, frustrating, confusing, familiar, or something else entirely.
Already read the Information Letter? Ready to talk?
The project focuses on four core speculative YA series:
- The Hunger Games series, including its prequels, by Suzanne Collins,
- the Shadow and Bone trilogy with its prequel graphic novel
Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo, - The Testing trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau, and
- The Great Library series by Rachel Caine
You can also choose to talk about a series of your own choice! You don't have to have completed a series to discuss it, either.
The Books
Study Elements
The study consists of a survey first and will also include a series of interviews.
The survey includes open-ended and closed questions and takes about 15 to 20 minutes if you choose to talk about one series.
More information on the interviews will follow soon. At the end of the survey, participants can leave their email address if they want to be contacted about such an interview.
Information Letters (Survey)
Before you begin the survey, we need you to read the Information Letter for Participants. And if you are under 18, we need your parent(s) or guardian(s) to read the Information Letter for Parents & Guardians.
These letters give you and your family all the information you need about what data we will collect, how we will handle and protect that data, what you are expected to do, and the letters inform you of your rights as a participant.
Who can participate?
Anyone aged 16 to 19 who reads speculative YA fiction and wants to talk about the characters and the relationships between teens and adults in these stories.
It’s totally fine if you’ve read the books in English or in (Dutch) translation. You don’t need to be fluent in English or Dutch – just comfortable enough to read the survey and express your thoughts in either language. (For interviews, speaking in English or Dutch is also necessary.)
Taking the Survey
The survey consists of open-ended and closed questions about the relationships between teens and guiding adults.
It takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes, but it may take longer (up to 30 minutes) if you choose to discuss two series. There are no right or wrong answers because we are interested in individual experiences and interpretations.
Materials for Schools, Libraries, and Other Youth Organizations