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Talk: AdonFox

Greetings, AdonFox!

Novels for Young Readers and Junior Audiences

Hello AdonFox! What excellent timing! I have recently been involved in a significant effort to (re)categorize our book articles. The goal is to ensure proper placement and maintain consistency. To aid in this, I created a spreadsheet documenting the age ranges used on the Disney Books website. Disney Books uses "6–8 Years Old," and either "8–12" or "9–12 Years Old" (they are inconsistent with the starting age) for novels and chapter books that are not YA/Adult. Here's how I've been approaching it. I hope this is helpful and not overly verbose!

  • Junior Novel: Books with "Junior Novel" in their titles, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel, are categorized in the 8/9-12 age range. This implies that other narrative books within that age range could also be considered junior novels. Furthermore, there are no "Junior" titles listed in the 6-8 age range, suggesting that "junior novels" do not encompass books intended for that younger age group.
  • Chapter Book: Nearly all (though not entirely!) books identified or labeled as a "chapter book" on Disney Books fall into the 6-8 age range. Rise of the Rebels is an exception, as Disney Books categorizes it as 9-12. However, the other books in that series are listed as 6-8. Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space is entirely 6-8 and described as a "chapter book (series)" on Disney Books. Consequently, the term "chapter book" alone generally indicates it's for young readers, but age range information is essential. The GoA book is 6-8 and described on Disney Books as an "illustrated chapter book." The FoD Daring Adventures books available on Disney Books are also 6-8 and described as "chapter book." Therefore, both are young-readers rather than juniors. Immi Thrax (talk) 15:28, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

This is incredibly helpful and insightful. I greatly appreciate the effort you've invested here. The way you've structured and explained everything makes perfect sense. Adhering to these guidelines would bring much-needed consistency to the timeline. I can dedicate time to reviewing the entire timeline, ensuring that all JR and YR book categories align with this framework.

  • One minor point I'd like to raise is that this categorization unfortunately places books like the Rebels chapter books and Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space – books that I find enjoyable and readable for adults, and that genuinely contribute to the canon (some refer to them as 'middle-grade books') – into the same young readers category as works like the World of Reading books or C-3PO Does Not Likes Sand. I believe many people, myself included, tend to overlook or disregard the YR content. Therefore, it feels somewhat unfair and a shame to relegate these middle-grade novels. Perhaps a separate category is warranted for these types of books, but I suspect this would only further complicate matters and potentially confuse casual visitors to the timeline.
  • I've examined other online timelines, and most, including starwarsreading.com and swbooks.net, adhere to the guidelines you've outlined. However, Wikipedia's list includes books like FoD Daring Adventures in its main section.
  • The only other feasible solution I can envision is to follow the age ratings-based guidelines you've explained, derived from Disney Books. Then, we at Wookieepedia could unofficially decide to 'upgrade' certain books to the JR level, providing a clear explanation alongside their entries. In truth, aside from the series we've both mentioned, there aren't many other books that would require this 'upgrade'. Perhaps the Galactic Adventures Storybook as well. I can investigate further. Do you think this could be a viable approach? It's possible that you or others might feel it's not within our purview to determine what is and isn't worthy of JR status, and that we should simply follow Disney's classifications. I understand this perspective, even if Disney's classifications don't always seem thoroughly considered.

I apologize if I'm making too much of this, but I know that many timeline users, like myself, are somewhat 'completionist' about the canon. While we may not actively seek out YR novels (as they aren't always the most engaging for adults), we still appreciate much of the junior material. Also, please let me know if you need any assistance with the spreadsheet or anything else. I'm happy to help in any way I can. AdonFox (talk) 22:04, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

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