According to Nicholas Carr (2010), "For some people, the very idea of reading a book has come to seem old-fashioned … like sewing your own shirts or butchering your own meat" (p. 8). Experts like Carr decry what they perceive as a movement away from books. But as librarians and teachers, we notice a parallel movement in another direction. The reading experience, the relationship between author and reader, and the book itself are evolving. And these shifts mean that many young people are embracing books and reading as never before.

As far back as 1999, Eliza Dresang and Kate McClelland observed that books for young people were beginning to diverge from traditional expectations to appeal to a new generation of readers, incorporating interactivity and other digital elements: