Literature for Adolescents
Jessica Dockter
Fall 2009
Definitions
 Written for & marketed to young adults
 Between 11 to 18
 Read by young adults between those ages
Purposes
 Early:
 Didactic – teaching proper behavior
 John Newbery published The Renowned History of
Little Goody Two Shoes
Later:
 Nurture imagination
 Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland
Early 20th Century
1919 – Macmillan launched children’s book
department
1922 Newbery Award
1938 Caldecott Award
1924 The Horn Book Magazine Published
1920s and 1930s picture books developed
From 1940s, children’s / young adult
sections of libraries and book stores grow
Later 20th Century
Increased cultural diversity in literature
Relatively low compared to diversity in
community
1975 Children’s Book Press; 1988 Dial
Bishop (1994) – 4% of children’s books
related to people of color
Since 1999, less than 3% (Hansen-Krening,
et al, 2003)
Similar trend in international literature
Literature for Adolescents
 1960s The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
Forever, Judy Blume
Michael Printz Award in 2000
Series books, young adult fiction, graphic
novels – expanded idea of what is possible
in books
Types and Genres
 Narrative / Exposition
 Genre
Poetry
Folklore
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Biography or Memoir
Nonfiction
Picture Books
Current Trends
 Which genre?
 Holes – Louis Sachar
 Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse
 Monster – Walter Dean Myers
 Postmodern texts (Sipe & McGuire, 2008):
 Blurring genres and author, narrator, reader distinction
 Subversion of literary traditions & conventions
 Intertextuality
 Multiplicity of meaning, high degree of ambiguity
Playfulness
 Self-referentiality
Current Trends
 Crossover Books: The Life of Pi, The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The
Book Thief
 Increasing Diversity of Content: Feed,
Copper Sun, Speak, and Boy Meets Boy
 Distinguishing between MS and HS
 Global Perspectives, Commercialism &
Technology,
Resources
 American Library Association:
www.ala.org
 School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly,
and Library Journal: www.bookwire.com
 Teenager’s reviews of adolescent lit:
www.teenreads.com/index.asp
 The Horn Book Magazine & The Horn Book
Guide
Book Awards
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Newbery Medal
Caldecott Award
Coretta Scott King Award
Pura Belapre Award
Sibert Award
Batchelder Award
See LC Appendix A: p. 361