Welcome to Subject spotlight! Our new series where we give you quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market.
When was the last time you opened up a picture book? Or read the latest in teen lit?
In our newest edition of the Canadian Leisure & Reading Study, we discovered that the percentage of adult Canadian readers who had read children’s and young adult books almost doubled across all formats in 2020: print books, ebooks, and audiobooks included! This is despite few changes to the number of respondents to our survey living with young children between 2019 and 2020.
This data doesn’t stand alone. In a blog post earlier this year, we investigated the sales of Canadian Juvenile and Young Adult titles for 2020. Even though sales trended down for most Canadian-authored books for young readers last year, the sales of Juvenile and Young Adults subjects did well overall in 2020. Sales of Juvenile titles decreased less than 1% from 2019 and sales of Young Adult titles soared, up 9% in 2020. This isn’t just adults who are buying books for the young readers in their lives. Like Bowker’s 2012 study Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age revealed, 55% of Young Adult sales are purchased by adults and 78% of those purchases are for their own reading.
And things aren’t letting up — Canadian adults and their young readers are still reaching for books.
Using data from both BNC SalesData, our sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language trade book market, and BNC LibraryData, our national library collection and circulation analysis tool, we’re shining a spotlight on both the sales and library circulation of Juvenile and Young Adult titles during the first quarter of 2021.
Let’s jump right in.
Juvenile subject category
Sales of Juvenile titles have trended up for the first quarter of 2021. As shown in the graph below, Juvenile titles started off the year with a 13% decrease in sales from January 2020. Over the rest of the quarter, sales of Juvenile books steadily increased and were up 23% by March 2021.
It wasn’t just sales that trended up from January to March 2021. Library circulation of Juvenile titles also ended the quarter on a high note. The quarter began far below 2020’s figures, with both loans and renewals of Juvenile titles for January and February 2021 seeing decreases shown in the graph below. By March 2021, loans and renewals of Juvenile titles increased, ending up 32% and 14% over 2020 respectively.
While library circulation of Juvenile titles is trending up at the end of the first quarter of 2021, there’s more to this story. These 2021 peaks are still below the numbers of loans and renewals in libraries during January and February 2020, and what might have been the circulation for March 2020 had libraries not closed across the country due to the pandemic.
What books are capturing the imaginations of Juvenile readers in 2021?
Comparing sales and library circulation from January to March 2021, these books are the top picks in the Juvenile category.
Claudia and the New Girl (the Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel #9) by Ann M. Martin, illus. by Gabriela Epstein
The Dark Secret (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #4): a Graphix Book by Tui T. Sutherland, illus. by Mike Holmes
Karen's Worst Day (Baby-sitters Little Sister Graphic Novel #3) by Ann M. Martin, illus. by Katy Farina
Young Adult subject category
Next in the limelight: Young Adult.
Similar to Juvenile, January sales of Young Adult titles in 2021 were 5% lower than in 2020. But, as the quarter continued so did the purchasing of Young Adult books. Sales of Young Adult titles trended up to the end of the first quarter, with March 2021 sales up a significant 44% over 2020.
At the library, loans and renewals for Young Adult titles also trended up this quarter, seen below in the next graph. After another rocky start in January and February 2021, both loans and renewals of Young Adult books peaked in March, up 16% and 12% over 2020 respectively, although not quite reaching pre-pandemic heights.
What’s at the top of the 2021 Young Adult reading pile?
Comparing sales and library circulation from January to March 2021, these are the most popular Young Adult books.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
With Juvenile and Young Adult subjects both trending up at the end of the first quarter of 2021, it looks like we’re in for a great year for young readers.
If you’re curious about the next big Juvenile and Young Adult titles, check out the new May & June Loan Stars Jr. top 10 list for the brightest upcoming titles recommended by Canadian library staffers.
Stay tuned for future instalments of this series or sign up to our eNews for more digestible data on the Canadian book market.
Until next time!
Use CataList reports to keep track of new drop-in titles and changes to key elements that publishers make to their forthcoming titles.