Hey YA Podcast at Book RiotFrom great new books to favorite classic reads, from news to the latest in on-screen adaptations, the Hey YA podcast is here to elevate the exciting world of young adult lit.
YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)Through networking, advocacy, and professional development, the Young Adult Library Services Association empowers all those involved in the profession to provide equitable, diverse and inclusive teen services.
Young Adult literature at Book RiotBook Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America, and home to a host of media, from podcasts to newsletters to original content, all designed around diverse readers and across all genres.
books about YA books and reading
American Indian Themes in Young Adult Literature by Paulette F. MolinThis book analyzes American Indian characters and themes in young adult literature, outlining plots and evaluating content from a native perspective. Teachers, librarians, parents, and young adult readers will find essential analytical information about a cross-section of literature with American Indian protagonists, narratives, and settings. Reviews of young adult publications with American Indian themes are also examined, demonstrating how too many reviewers reinforce, and even honor, stereotypical works. Divided into three sections centering on a range of fiction and nonfiction featuring richly diverse tribal groups across a variety of settings and time periods, the book begins with contemporary selections, examining young adult fiction by non-Indian authors as well as a growing number of native authors. The next section is devoted to historical fiction, the most popular American Indian-themed novels for young adults. The last section examines nonfiction work, including memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, and poetry. A rich bibliography leads readers to other resources.
ISBN: 9780810850811
Publication Date: 2005
Critical Foundations in Young Adult Literature by Antero GarciaPushing the genre forward, Antero Garcia builds on his experiences as a former high school teacher to offer strategies for integrating Young Adult literature in a contemporary critical pedagogy through the use of participatory media.
ISBN: 9789462093980
Publication Date: 2013
Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature by Salem PressThis comprehensive collection provides thoughtful examination of the Authors, Works, Genres, Themes and Film Adaptations that have contributed to the popularity and success of the young adult genre. Author Biographies-Complete coverage of 40 of the most notable young adult authors from around the world. In-depth biographies provide an overview of each author's life, influences and major works. Coverage includes such notables as C.S. Lewis, Gary Paulsen, J.K. Rowling, Judy Blume, Lois Lowry, Markus Zusak, Stephanie Meyer, and many more. Genre Overviews-These comprehensive Genre Overviews provide a thorough examination of the genre, through the lens of three popular works. A wide variety of genres are covered, including Adventure, Apocalyptic, Christian, Graphic Novels, Humorous, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Romance, Dystopian, Steampunk, and Urban Literature. Plot Summaries-Provides a thorough examination of 50 notable young adult works. Detailed entries being with the type of work, type, time and locale of the plot, along with principal characters. A plot summary follows, along with a detailed critical evaluation of the work's theme, style and focus. Theme Overviews-Offers a detailed look at the most popular themes within young adult literature. Comprehensive essays take a close look at the theme, through an thought-provoking analysis of three individual works. Themes covered in this section include Alienation, Body Image, Bullying, Depression, Friendship, Good & Evil, Substance Abuse, and many others. Film Analysis-Provides a thorough examination of over 40 popular film adaptations of young adult novels. Detailed entries analyze the literary cinematic merits of the film adaptation, while making note of the similarities and differences between the film and the book. Coverage includes The Book Thief, Divergent, Eragon, The Fault in Our Stars, Hugo, The Lovely Bones, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and many more. The Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature provides a single source for examination of this popular genre. This new title is a must of high-school and undergraduate literature collections along with public libraries of all sizes.
ISBN: 9781619259713
Publication Date: 2016
Defending Frequently Challenged Young Adult Books by Pat R. ScalesA Day No Pigs Would Die, Speak, Thirteen Reasons Why These are some of the most beloved, and most challenged, books. Leaving controversial titles such as these out of your collection or limiting their access is not the answer to challenges. While ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom reports more than 4,500 challenges to young adult literature from 2000 through 2009. This authoritative handbook gives you the information you need to defend challenged books with an informed response and ensure free access to young book lovers. With a profile of each book that includes its plot and characters, related materials and published reviews, awards and prizes, and Web and audiovisual resources, you will be prepared to answer even the toughest attacks.
ISBN: 9781442264311
Publication Date: 2016
Girls' Literacy Experiences in and Out of School by Elaine O'Quinn (Editor)How do American girls compose and amend their identities? In this text, prominent scholars in their respective fields examine the complex social and cultural constructions that shape girls' lives both in and out of school. The book looks at matters ranging from embedded issues of class, race, ethnicity, immigrant status, and sexuality to popular culture and personal histories. Exploring the scholarly literature on gender and education, the successes and failures of feminist pedagogy, and girls' practices with both traditional and non-traditional texts, as well as the primary sources of a material culture, the authors expose the myriad forces that script girls' gender, identity, and literacy. The distinctive contribution of this book is to open up new discussions of girls in American classrooms today and to critically examine their experiences as they navigate preconceived notions of who they are while forming their personal and public identities, thereby helping teachers to better understand and create classroom experiences that make girls visible to themselves and to others.　
ISBN: 9780203802137
Publication Date: 2012
Handbook of Research on Children's and Young Adult Literature by Shelby Wolf (Editor)This landmark volume is the first to bring together leading scholarship on children's and young adult literature from three intersecting disciplines: Education, English, and Library and Information Science. Distinguished by its multidisciplinary approach, it describes and analyzes the different aspects of literary reading, texts, and contexts to illuminate how the book is transformed within and across different academic figurations of reading and interpreting children's literature. Partnbsp;one considers perspectives on readers and reading literature in home, school, library, and community settings. Partnbsp;two introduces analytic frames for studying young adult novels, picturebooks, indigenous literature, graphic novels, and other genres. Chapters include commentary on literary experiences and creative production from renowned authors and illustrators. Partnbsp;three focuses on the social contexts of literary study, with chapters on censorship, awards, marketing, and literary museums. The singular contribution of this Handbook is to lay the groundwork for colleagues across disciplines to redraw the map of their separately figured worlds, thus to enlarge the scope of scholarship and dialogue as well as push ahead into uncharted territory.
ISBN: 9780415965057
Publication Date: 2010
The Heart Has Its Reasons: young adult literature with gay/lesbian/queer content, 1969-2004 by Michael CartSociety does not make it easy for young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to find accurate, nonjudgmental information about homosexuality. It makes it even more difficult for young homosexuals to find positive role models in fiction either written or published expressly for them or--if published for adults--relevant to them and their lives. The Heart Has Its Reasons examines these issues and critically evaluates the body of literature published for young adults that offers homosexual themes and characters. Cart and Jenkins chart the evolution of the field of YA literature having GLBTQ (gay/lesbian/bisexual, transgendered, and/or queer/questioning) content. They identify titles that are remarkable either for their excellence or failures, noting the stereotypic, wrongheaded, and outdated books as well as the accurate, thoughtful, and tactful titles. Useful criteria for evaluating books with GLBTQ content are provided. Books and resources of all types are reviewed based on a model that uses the category descriptors of Homosexual Visibility, Gay Assimilation, and Queer Consciousness/Community. An annotated bibliography and a number of author-title lists of books discussed in the text arranged by subject round out this valuable reference for teachers, librarians, parents, and young adults.
Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature by JoAnne BrownAlthough the United States prides itself as a nation of diversity, the country that boasts of its immigrant past also wrestles with much of its immigrant present. While conflicting attitudes about immigration are debated, newcomers--both legal and otherwise--continue to arrive on American soil. And books about the immigrant experience--aimed at both adults and youth--are published with a fair amount of frequency. In Immigration Narrative in Young Adult Literature: Crossing Borders, Joanne Brown explores the experiences of adolescents as portrayed in young adult novels. Her study features protagonists from a wide variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds in order to provide a complete discussion of the immigration experience of young adults. In this volume, Brown analyzes young adult novels that portray various aspects of the immigrant experience--journeys to the shores of the United States, the difficulties of adjustment, and the tensions that develop within family units as a result of immigration. Brown also examines how ethnicity, religion, and country of origin affect the adolescent characters' adjustment to their new country, as well as the process of moving from social outsiders to accepted citizens. This thoroughly researched book includes theories of adolescent development and perspectives on immigration itself applied to the literary analyses. It also offers a framework for anticipating the success of young immigrants and relates this analysis to the novels Brown discusses. With an appendix of additional novels for further reading, this book will be a useful resource for librarians and teachers of adolescent literature, as well as for students, both those born in the United States and those who are immigrants themselves.
ISBN: 9780810877672
Publication Date: 2011
Intellectual Freedom for Teens by Kristin Fletcher-SpearYear after year a majority of the titles on ALA's Banned Books list, which compiles titles threatened with censorship, are either YA books or adult books that are frequently read by teens. It's important for YA librarians to understand the types of challenges occurring in libraries around the nation and to be ready to deal with such challenges when they occur. The Young Adult Library Services (YALSA) has tailored this book specifically for these situations, providing much-needed guidance on the highly charged topic of intellectual freedom for teens. Among the issues addressed areHow to prepare yourself and your staff for potential challenges by developing a thoughtful selection policy and response planResources for help when a challenge occursThe art of crafting a defense for a challenged book, and pointers for effectively disseminating your response through the press and social mediaThe latest on intellectual freedom in the digital realm, including an examination of library technologyUsing examples of censorship battles in both school and public libraries to illustrate possible scenarios, this guidebook gives YA librarians the foreknowledge and support to ensure intellectual freedom for teens.
ISBN: 9780838912522
Publication Date: 2014
Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature by Nancy Thalia ReynoldsMixed-heritage people are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States, yet culturally they have been largely invisible, especially in young adult literature. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature is a critical exploration of how mixed-heritage characters (those of mixed race, ethnicity, religion, and/or adoption) and real-life people have been portrayed in young adult fiction and nonfiction. This is the first in-depth, broad-scope critical exploration of this subgenre of multicultural literature. Following an introduction to the topic, author Nancy Thalia Reynolds examines the portrayal of mixed-heritage characters in literary classics by James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, and Zora Neale Hurston--staples of today's high school English curriculum--along with other important authors. It opens up the discussion of young-adult racial and ethnic identity in literature to recognize--and focus on--those whose heritage straddles boundaries. In this book teachers will find new tools to approach race, ethnicity, and family heritage in literature and in the classroom. This book also helps librarians find new criteria with which to evaluate young adult fiction and nonfiction with mixed-heritage characters.
ISBN: 9780810867109
Publication Date: 2009
Reading Like a Girl by Sara K. DayBy examining the novels of critically and commercially successful authors such as Sarah Dessen (Someone Like You), Stephenie Meyer (the Twilight series), and Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak), Reading Like a Girl: Narrative Intimacy in Contemporary American Young Adult Literature explores the use of narrative intimacy as a means of reflecting and reinforcing larger, often contradictory, cultural expectations regarding adolescent women, interpersonal relationships, and intimacy. Reading Like a Girl explains the construction of narrator-reader relationships in recent American novels written about adolescent women and marketed to adolescent women. Sara K. Day explains, though, that such levels of imagined friendship lead to contradictory cultural expectations for the young women so deeply obsessed with reading these novels. Day coins the term "narrative intimacy" to refer to the implicit relationship between narrator and reader that depends on an imaginary disclosure and trust between the story's narrator and the reader. Through critical examination, the inherent contradictions between this enclosed, imagined relationship and the real expectations for adolescent women's relations prove to be problematic. In many novels for young women, adolescent female narrators construct conceptions of the adolescent woman reader, constructions that allow the narrator to understand the reader as a confidant, a safe and appropriate location for disclosure. At the same time, such novels offer frequent warnings against the sort of unfettered confession the narrators perform. Friendships are marked as potential sites of betrayal and rejection. Romantic relationships are presented as inherently threatening to physical and emotional health. And so, the narrator turns to the reader for an ally who cannot judge. The reader, in turn, may come to depend upon narrative intimacy in order to vicariously explore her own understanding of human expression and bonds.
ISBN: 9781617038129
Publication Date: 2013
Young Adult Literature by Michael CartCart's up-to-date coverage makes this the perfect resource for YA librarians who want to sharpen their readers' advisory skills, educators and teachers who work with young people, and anyone else who wants to understand where YA lit has been and where it's heading.
ISBN: 9780838914762
Publication Date: 2016
Young Adult Literature and Culture by Harry Edwin EissThis book offers a multifaceted approach to the world of young adults, everything from Ray Schrock's use of Walter Dean Myers' sports stories to discuss race relations and cultural politics to Joyce Litton's analysis of the highly popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Quartet. The cover illustration is done by Joel Rudinger based on his experiences with the Inuit where he learned many of their legends and myths, resulting in his own excellent work on Sedna, the creation goddess, a story filled with deep tragedy, mystery and the world of the spirits. This mythic world slides into the discussion of Harry Eiss, one that focuses on The Isis Trilogy, best known of Monica Hughes many works, who writes, Science fiction and fantasy in particular are valid carriers of myth for the 20th century, and most especially for young people. Margaret Best and Susann deVries also give us literature that uses science. They begin, The science fair project is the central metaphor and the reality in Paul Zindel's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1970), Christopher Paul Curtis's Bucking the Sarge (2004), and Joyce Maynard's The Cloud Chamber (2005). After providing an overview science fiction, Sally Sugarman offers a study of the entire genre. For this study two hundred and thirty-nine high school students from two schools in Vermont and Massachusetts were surveyed. Alethea K. Helbig provides an overview of her important activities promoting literature for the young. She was a seminal scholar and educator when colleges and universities were just beginning to take the study of such literature seriously, when English departments were initiating serious undergraduate and graduate classes in what previously had been seen as inferior literature. Her life itself provides us with an entertaining and historically valuable autobiographical account of a person at the center of the change that has taken and continues to take place. Jerry Loving expands the horizons of the entire collection of essays, providing a firsthand account of how the young are educated in China, including a detailed history. It begins: I have been traveling to mainland China at least 4 to 6 times a year as a teacher or education evaluator since 2002. As the visits and years passed, I watched the education system of China slowly improve to the level my schools were like when I went to school in the 50's and 60's
ISBN: 9781443804936
Publication Date: 2009
Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism by Loretta M. Gaffneyhis incisive study analyzes young adult (YA) literature as a cultural phenomenon, explaining why this explosion of books written for and marketed to teen readers has important consequences for how we understand reading in America. As visible and volatile shorthand for competing views of teen reading, YA literature has become a lightning rod for a variety of aesthetic, pedagogical, and popular literature controversies. Noted scholar Loretta Gaffney not only examines how YA literature is defended and critiqued within the context of rapid cultural and technological changes, but also highlights how struggles about teen reading matter to?and matter in?the future of librarianship and education. The work bridges divides between literary criticism, professional practices, canon building, literature appreciation, genre classifications and recommendations, standard histories, and commentary. It will be useful in YA literature course settings in Library and Information Science, Education, and English departments. It will also be of interest to those who study right wing culture and movements in media studies, cultural studies, American studies, sociology, political science, and history. It is of additional interest to those who study print culture, publishing and the book, histories of teenagers, and research on teen reading. Finally, it will offer those interested in teenagers, literature, libraries, technology, and politics a fresh way to look at book challenges and controversies over YA literature.
American Indian Themes in Young Adult Literature by
This book analyzes American Indian characters and themes in young adult literature, outlining plots and evaluating content from a native perspective. Teachers, librarians, parents, and young adult readers will find essential analytical information about a cross-section of literature with American Indian protagonists, narratives, and settings. Reviews of young adult publications with American Indian themes are also examined, demonstrating how too many reviewers reinforce, and even honor, stereotypical works. Divided into three sections centering on a range of fiction and nonfiction featuring richly diverse tribal groups across a variety of settings and time periods, the book begins with contemporary selections, examining young adult fiction by non-Indian authors as well as a growing number of native authors. The next section is devoted to historical fiction, the most popular American Indian-themed novels for young adults. The last section examines nonfiction work, including memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, and poetry. A rich bibliography leads readers to other resources.
Critical Foundations in Young Adult Literature by
Pushing the genre forward, Antero Garcia builds on his experiences as a former high school teacher to offer strategies for integrating Young Adult literature in a contemporary critical pedagogy through the use of participatory media.
Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature by
This comprehensive collection provides thoughtful examination of the Authors, Works, Genres, Themes and Film Adaptations that have contributed to the popularity and success of the young adult genre. Author Biographies-Complete coverage of 40 of the most notable young adult authors from around the world. In-depth biographies provide an overview of each author's life, influences and major works. Coverage includes such notables as C.S. Lewis, Gary Paulsen, J.K. Rowling, Judy Blume, Lois Lowry, Markus Zusak, Stephanie Meyer, and many more. Genre Overviews-These comprehensive Genre Overviews provide a thorough examination of the genre, through the lens of three popular works. A wide variety of genres are covered, including Adventure, Apocalyptic, Christian, Graphic Novels, Humorous, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Romance, Dystopian, Steampunk, and Urban Literature. Plot Summaries-Provides a thorough examination of 50 notable young adult works. Detailed entries being with the type of work, type, time and locale of the plot, along with principal characters. A plot summary follows, along with a detailed critical evaluation of the work's theme, style and focus. Theme Overviews-Offers a detailed look at the most popular themes within young adult literature. Comprehensive essays take a close look at the theme, through an thought-provoking analysis of three individual works. Themes covered in this section include Alienation, Body Image, Bullying, Depression, Friendship, Good & Evil, Substance Abuse, and many others. Film Analysis-Provides a thorough examination of over 40 popular film adaptations of young adult novels. Detailed entries analyze the literary cinematic merits of the film adaptation, while making note of the similarities and differences between the film and the book. Coverage includes The Book Thief, Divergent, Eragon, The Fault in Our Stars, Hugo, The Lovely Bones, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and many more. The Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature provides a single source for examination of this popular genre. This new title is a must of high-school and undergraduate literature collections along with public libraries of all sizes.
Defending Frequently Challenged Young Adult Books by
A Day No Pigs Would Die, Speak, Thirteen Reasons Why These are some of the most beloved, and most challenged, books. Leaving controversial titles such as these out of your collection or limiting their access is not the answer to challenges. While ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom reports more than 4,500 challenges to young adult literature from 2000 through 2009. This authoritative handbook gives you the information you need to defend challenged books with an informed response and ensure free access to young book lovers. With a profile of each book that includes its plot and characters, related materials and published reviews, awards and prizes, and Web and audiovisual resources, you will be prepared to answer even the toughest attacks.
Girls' Literacy Experiences in and Out of School by
How do American girls compose and amend their identities? In this text, prominent scholars in their respective fields examine the complex social and cultural constructions that shape girls' lives both in and out of school. The book looks at matters ranging from embedded issues of class, race, ethnicity, immigrant status, and sexuality to popular culture and personal histories. Exploring the scholarly literature on gender and education, the successes and failures of feminist pedagogy, and girls' practices with both traditional and non-traditional texts, as well as the primary sources of a material culture, the authors expose the myriad forces that script girls' gender, identity, and literacy. The distinctive contribution of this book is to open up new discussions of girls in American classrooms today and to critically examine their experiences as they navigate preconceived notions of who they are while forming their personal and public identities, thereby helping teachers to better understand and create classroom experiences that make girls visible to themselves and to others.　
Handbook of Research on Children's and Young Adult Literature by
This landmark volume is the first to bring together leading scholarship on children's and young adult literature from three intersecting disciplines: Education, English, and Library and Information Science. Distinguished by its multidisciplinary approach, it describes and analyzes the different aspects of literary reading, texts, and contexts to illuminate how the book is transformed within and across different academic figurations of reading and interpreting children's literature. Partnbsp;one considers perspectives on readers and reading literature in home, school, library, and community settings. Partnbsp;two introduces analytic frames for studying young adult novels, picturebooks, indigenous literature, graphic novels, and other genres. Chapters include commentary on literary experiences and creative production from renowned authors and illustrators. Partnbsp;three focuses on the social contexts of literary study, with chapters on censorship, awards, marketing, and literary museums. The singular contribution of this Handbook is to lay the groundwork for colleagues across disciplines to redraw the map of their separately figured worlds, thus to enlarge the scope of scholarship and dialogue as well as push ahead into uncharted territory.
The Heart Has Its Reasons: young adult literature with gay/lesbian/queer content, 1969-2004 by
Society does not make it easy for young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to find accurate, nonjudgmental information about homosexuality. It makes it even more difficult for young homosexuals to find positive role models in fiction either written or published expressly for them or--if published for adults--relevant to them and their lives. The Heart Has Its Reasons examines these issues and critically evaluates the body of literature published for young adults that offers homosexual themes and characters. Cart and Jenkins chart the evolution of the field of YA literature having GLBTQ (gay/lesbian/bisexual, transgendered, and/or queer/questioning) content. They identify titles that are remarkable either for their excellence or failures, noting the stereotypic, wrongheaded, and outdated books as well as the accurate, thoughtful, and tactful titles. Useful criteria for evaluating books with GLBTQ content are provided. Books and resources of all types are reviewed based on a model that uses the category descriptors of Homosexual Visibility, Gay Assimilation, and Queer Consciousness/Community. An annotated bibliography and a number of author-title lists of books discussed in the text arranged by subject round out this valuable reference for teachers, librarians, parents, and young adults.
Hit list for young adults 2: frequently challenged books by
Featuring 20 "hot button" books including 11 new titles, Hit List for Young Adults 2 presents a who's who of young adult writers including Salinger, Cormler, Chbosky, and Blume.
Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature by
Although the United States prides itself as a nation of diversity, the country that boasts of its immigrant past also wrestles with much of its immigrant present. While conflicting attitudes about immigration are debated, newcomers--both legal and otherwise--continue to arrive on American soil. And books about the immigrant experience--aimed at both adults and youth--are published with a fair amount of frequency. In Immigration Narrative in Young Adult Literature: Crossing Borders, Joanne Brown explores the experiences of adolescents as portrayed in young adult novels. Her study features protagonists from a wide variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds in order to provide a complete discussion of the immigration experience of young adults. In this volume, Brown analyzes young adult novels that portray various aspects of the immigrant experience--journeys to the shores of the United States, the difficulties of adjustment, and the tensions that develop within family units as a result of immigration. Brown also examines how ethnicity, religion, and country of origin affect the adolescent characters' adjustment to their new country, as well as the process of moving from social outsiders to accepted citizens. This thoroughly researched book includes theories of adolescent development and perspectives on immigration itself applied to the literary analyses. It also offers a framework for anticipating the success of young immigrants and relates this analysis to the novels Brown discusses. With an appendix of additional novels for further reading, this book will be a useful resource for librarians and teachers of adolescent literature, as well as for students, both those born in the United States and those who are immigrants themselves.
Intellectual Freedom for Teens by
Year after year a majority of the titles on ALA's Banned Books list, which compiles titles threatened with censorship, are either YA books or adult books that are frequently read by teens. It's important for YA librarians to understand the types of challenges occurring in libraries around the nation and to be ready to deal with such challenges when they occur. The Young Adult Library Services (YALSA) has tailored this book specifically for these situations, providing much-needed guidance on the highly charged topic of intellectual freedom for teens. Among the issues addressed areHow to prepare yourself and your staff for potential challenges by developing a thoughtful selection policy and response planResources for help when a challenge occursThe art of crafting a defense for a challenged book, and pointers for effectively disseminating your response through the press and social mediaThe latest on intellectual freedom in the digital realm, including an examination of library technologyUsing examples of censorship battles in both school and public libraries to illustrate possible scenarios, this guidebook gives YA librarians the foreknowledge and support to ensure intellectual freedom for teens.
Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature by
Mixed-heritage people are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States, yet culturally they have been largely invisible, especially in young adult literature. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature is a critical exploration of how mixed-heritage characters (those of mixed race, ethnicity, religion, and/or adoption) and real-life people have been portrayed in young adult fiction and nonfiction. This is the first in-depth, broad-scope critical exploration of this subgenre of multicultural literature. Following an introduction to the topic, author Nancy Thalia Reynolds examines the portrayal of mixed-heritage characters in literary classics by James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, and Zora Neale Hurston--staples of today's high school English curriculum--along with other important authors. It opens up the discussion of young-adult racial and ethnic identity in literature to recognize--and focus on--those whose heritage straddles boundaries. In this book teachers will find new tools to approach race, ethnicity, and family heritage in literature and in the classroom. This book also helps librarians find new criteria with which to evaluate young adult fiction and nonfiction with mixed-heritage characters.
Reading Like a Girl by
By examining the novels of critically and commercially successful authors such as Sarah Dessen (Someone Like You), Stephenie Meyer (the Twilight series), and Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak), Reading Like a Girl: Narrative Intimacy in Contemporary American Young Adult Literature explores the use of narrative intimacy as a means of reflecting and reinforcing larger, often contradictory, cultural expectations regarding adolescent women, interpersonal relationships, and intimacy. Reading Like a Girl explains the construction of narrator-reader relationships in recent American novels written about adolescent women and marketed to adolescent women. Sara K. Day explains, though, that such levels of imagined friendship lead to contradictory cultural expectations for the young women so deeply obsessed with reading these novels. Day coins the term "narrative intimacy" to refer to the implicit relationship between narrator and reader that depends on an imaginary disclosure and trust between the story's narrator and the reader. Through critical examination, the inherent contradictions between this enclosed, imagined relationship and the real expectations for adolescent women's relations prove to be problematic. In many novels for young women, adolescent female narrators construct conceptions of the adolescent woman reader, constructions that allow the narrator to understand the reader as a confidant, a safe and appropriate location for disclosure. At the same time, such novels offer frequent warnings against the sort of unfettered confession the narrators perform. Friendships are marked as potential sites of betrayal and rejection. Romantic relationships are presented as inherently threatening to physical and emotional health. And so, the narrator turns to the reader for an ally who cannot judge. The reader, in turn, may come to depend upon narrative intimacy in order to vicariously explore her own understanding of human expression and bonds.
Young Adult Literature by
Cart's up-to-date coverage makes this the perfect resource for YA librarians who want to sharpen their readers' advisory skills, educators and teachers who work with young people, and anyone else who wants to understand where YA lit has been and where it's heading.
Young Adult Literature and Culture by
This book offers a multifaceted approach to the world of young adults, everything from Ray Schrock's use of Walter Dean Myers' sports stories to discuss race relations and cultural politics to Joyce Litton's analysis of the highly popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Quartet. The cover illustration is done by Joel Rudinger based on his experiences with the Inuit where he learned many of their legends and myths, resulting in his own excellent work on Sedna, the creation goddess, a story filled with deep tragedy, mystery and the world of the spirits. This mythic world slides into the discussion of Harry Eiss, one that focuses on The Isis Trilogy, best known of Monica Hughes many works, who writes, Science fiction and fantasy in particular are valid carriers of myth for the 20th century, and most especially for young people. Margaret Best and Susann deVries also give us literature that uses science. They begin, The science fair project is the central metaphor and the reality in Paul Zindel's The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1970), Christopher Paul Curtis's Bucking the Sarge (2004), and Joyce Maynard's The Cloud Chamber (2005). After providing an overview science fiction, Sally Sugarman offers a study of the entire genre. For this study two hundred and thirty-nine high school students from two schools in Vermont and Massachusetts were surveyed. Alethea K. Helbig provides an overview of her important activities promoting literature for the young. She was a seminal scholar and educator when colleges and universities were just beginning to take the study of such literature seriously, when English departments were initiating serious undergraduate and graduate classes in what previously had been seen as inferior literature. Her life itself provides us with an entertaining and historically valuable autobiographical account of a person at the center of the change that has taken and continues to take place. Jerry Loving expands the horizons of the entire collection of essays, providing a firsthand account of how the young are educated in China, including a detailed history. It begins: I have been traveling to mainland China at least 4 to 6 times a year as a teacher or education evaluator since 2002. As the visits and years passed, I watched the education system of China slowly improve to the level my schools were like when I went to school in the 50's and 60's
Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism by
his incisive study analyzes young adult (YA) literature as a cultural phenomenon, explaining why this explosion of books written for and marketed to teen readers has important consequences for how we understand reading in America. As visible and volatile shorthand for competing views of teen reading, YA literature has become a lightning rod for a variety of aesthetic, pedagogical, and popular literature controversies. Noted scholar Loretta Gaffney not only examines how YA literature is defended and critiqued within the context of rapid cultural and technological changes, but also highlights how struggles about teen reading matter to?and matter in?the future of librarianship and education. The work bridges divides between literary criticism, professional practices, canon building, literature appreciation, genre classifications and recommendations, standard histories, and commentary. It will be useful in YA literature course settings in Library and Information Science, Education, and English departments. It will also be of interest to those who study right wing culture and movements in media studies, cultural studies, American studies, sociology, political science, and history. It is of additional interest to those who study print culture, publishing and the book, histories of teenagers, and research on teen reading. Finally, it will offer those interested in teenagers, literature, libraries, technology, and politics a fresh way to look at book challenges and controversies over YA literature.
