Snooping for a Good Story?

On August 22, 2011, School Library Journal blogger and librarian, Joyce Valenza, posted an article,  Share Story Snoops with your community.  After having read that piece I have been wanting to try the services offered by that site ever since.  I surely wish that I would have had the time earlier, because Story Snoops is one-stop shopping for readers and one of the best readers' advisory tools out there.  It is a parent's perspective on books, reading and reviews. 

At the home page viewers can stay and search by basic information using ages, tween (9-12), tween/teen (12-13), teen (14+) or adult (18+) and genres, adventure, dystopian fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, historical fiction, horror, humor, literary fiction, mystery/thriller, realistic fiction, romance, science fiction and sports fiction. 

Searching by author, title, suggested reading and content keyword are additional options. 

Drop-down menus for suggested reading appear like the visual on the right.  When a specific category is selected using any of these search techniques a list of possible titles is generated showing the book cover, title and author.

 By clicking on the book cover the viewer is privy to a short synopsis of the title. By clicking on the author's name you are taken to a listing of his/her books.  When selecting the title you are taken to a page that is broken into sections:  bibliographic detail with additional pluses, the story (the plot), the scoop (a short review), content keywords and user comments.  When clicking on any of the content keywords listed you are taken to another list of books with similar subject matter.

Beneath the find-a-book tab is a tab, featuredbooks.  Within this grouping are books-of-the-week (books grouped by theme), snippet-of-the-week (quote from a book) and freshscoops (the latest and greatest titles to hit the shelves).  By mousing over an of the covers viewers can read further details about the book.  You can also go back and read previous books-of-the-week and freshscoops.

When leaving the main page, Home, users have further treats awaiting them.  By selecting the Browse tab at the top the next screen gives them the choice of searching by titles in alphabetical order, by authors in alphabetical order with their books listed beneath their name, by content keyword in alphabetical order or by award.  When you mouse over the award list a definition of the award is given.

The FAQ tab takes readers to a page that answers all those questions that just might pop up when you are using the site.  Here is a sample.  These parents know what others need and want to know; their expertise is invaluable.

Phenomenal interviews of authors and others involved in the world of books and reading along with reviews are posted under Our Blog.  The author interviews are a great source of inspiration for beginning authors or for readers wanting to know more about a favorite.

The Quick Search feature located in the upper right hand corner of every page is just that; type in an author, title, keyword or 10 digit ISBN number and away you go.


The About Us tab includes an overview of what prompted these four moms to begin and continue this outstanding resource.  StorySnoops is the ultimate parent-to-parent book tool--always straightforward and informative. We hope you use it as a practical resource to find the best fiction for your child. We know we do!

Career, education, personality positives and book list are given for each of these remarkable women.  These are the kind of parents that do and will continue to make a difference.  These are the kind of people that can change a world.