Prompt Response - Week 12

The Readers’ Advisory Matrix for Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves & Other Female Villains, by Jany Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple

1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?

› Highly narrative (reads like fiction)

- A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose)

- Highly fact-based (has few or no narrative moments)

2. What is the subject of the book?

    Bad women throughout history or had done criminal things, most commonly for their own gain.

3. What type of book is it?

    A history of criminal women in a narrative format

4. Articulate appeal

• What is the pacing of the book?

Short, quick read, episodic format for each character read.

• Describe the characters of the book.

Each person introduced is a bad girl, and we follow the two authors as they talk about the book and each character and a short blurb on their opinion.

• How does the story feel?

Quick, to the point, but also engaging thinking about what the characters do and who they are as people.

• What is the intent of the author?

To teach people about each of these characters and to get people to think and talk about each character and why they did what they did. Also, we are to think more deeply about whether what was done was necessarily bad.

• What is the focus of the story?

Focusing on what each character has done and doing only short blurbs on their stories to introduce the character.

• Does the language matter?

The language is simple and helps to drive the point across for many who read the book.

• Is the setting important and well described?

The setting changes with each character, but the basis for looking at each character is well-set and made clear.

• Are there details and, if so, of what?

The details are more so on what the characters have done that is considered bad for the time.

• Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear?

The materials give a great picture to help the reader imagine the time period and what the character looked like to contextualize and give a better idea of what the character had to go through.

• Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?

The book stresses whether each person was considered bad, or if the punishment fits the crime. There was always a push to discuss each character more.

5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal)?

1. Learning/Experience

2. Pacing

3. Frame/Setting