Into the YA Universe: Your Portal to Young Adult Materials: This project was created for my INFO 265 Materials for Young Adults course as an advisory toolkit designed to connect teens with materials that speak to their interests and experiences. The blog site features a curated collection of 30 Young Adult materials ranging from books, movies, podcasts, and more, each carefully selected for its relevance to teen life. Each material includes a detailed blog entry where I provide in-depth analysis of the content, share my personal reactions, suggest library programming ideas, and explore many other elements from the material. The collection is organized through four comprehensive indexes—title, author, genre, and format. This helps make it easy for librarians, educators, and teens themselves to navigate and discover new materials. I hope that whoever explores this site finds something that captivates them, making them want to actually indulge in what was listed.

Jessica Perez is an aspiring children’s librarian and first-generation graduate student pursuing her MLIS degree. She is driven by her heritage as the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and is passionate about creating inclusive library spaces where every child can thrive.

Currently serving as a Youth Services Library Aide, Jessica fosters early literacy, creativity, and community connection through bilingual storytimes in English and Spanish, Lego Lab sessions, and engaging school-aged programs. Her passion for providing free resources and services stems from her desire to help underrepresented communities access the joy of reading and to bring awareness to the endless possibilities libraries offer.

She strongly believes that libraries should be safe havens for growth, discovery, and community unity. Her mission is to foster library spaces where people from all walks of life can feel like they belong and are supported.