Literature Map is a web tool that lets you type in the name of an author you like, click enter, and then a “cloud” of additional author’s names is displayed. The closer a name is to the one you entered, the more likely you’re supposed to like him/her.

This might be an interesting tool to use in my mainstream ninth grade English class and with my more advanced English Language Learner students.   Of course, in my experience, just looking a book you like on Amazon’s website will get you a lot of good recommendations.  But I think my students would like the cloud visualization.

That is, they’d like it if Literature Map included any young adult writers.   It didn’t recognize any popular young adult authors I entered, but it did know a number of authors that are my favorites.  I hope they’ll be adding more authors of the kinds of books my students like.

I’ll be putting the link on my Teacher’s Page.

Thanks to the SEGA Tech blog for alerting me to this site.