AN INTRODUCTION TO YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
Have you ever thought about the concept of a "text"? Are texts only
made up of the written word or do they include pictures too? How do
writers and authors combine words in different formats and for different
purposes? What are your favourite texts and why do you enjoy reading
them?
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:


 define YAL;
discuss and apply the characteristics of YAL to prescribed text(s); and
trace the development of children's and YAL across different eras.
You will need:

Internet access to conduct research and access content on eFundi
1.1 Texts in general
1.1.1 Familiarise yourself with this portfolio and the eFundi site.
1.1.2 Defining the concept of text
Do some research on these two concepts and come up with a definition for each of
them.
Definition of text:
Definition of genre:
1.1.3 Your favourite genres
Make a list of your favourite reading materials (these do not necessarily have to be
books) and draw a diagram below to classify them according to genre:
Which of these genres do you enjoy reading? Why?
Which of these genres would you find hard to teach? Why?
Should English teachers be allowed to select their own prescribed texts for learners
or should prescribed texts be the same for all schools? Why do you say so?
1.2 YAL as a genre
1.2.1 Defining YAL
Read the following information:
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE (YAL)
This is literature (mainly novels) written for an audience of teenagers and young
adults. The information in this EP is only a guide to help you understand and
eventually teach YAL. You are strongly advised to do additional research and read
as much YAL as you can.
WHO IS YAL FOR?
It is generally agreed that the age group catered for by Young Adult Literature
ranges from 12/13 to 19/20. Here are what some sources have to say:
● 12-18 years of age (WIKIPEDIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_fiction)
● 12-20 years of age (CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY Long Beach
https://csulb.libguides.com/YAliterature)
● 10-19 years of age (AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, quoted in
various documents)
Publishers Weekly made the following statement in 2012:
More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren’t all that
young. According to a new study, fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers
designate for kids aged 12 to 17 -- known as YA books -- are 18 or older, with the
largest segment aged 30 to 44, a group that alone accounted for 28% of YA sales.
And adults aren’t just purchasing for others -- when asked about the intended
recipient, they report that 78% of the time they are purchasing books for their own
reading.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industrynews/article/53937-new-study-55-of-ya-books-bought-by-adults.html
So it is important to bear in mind that, as it is in many situations, so it is in YAL –
borders and boundaries are porous, shifting, and changeable. Generally speaking,
if you can understand the language, relate to the content, and have the advantage
of age and experience to make sense of and digest the affective aspects of a
book, then you can read it.
There are other challenges when it comes to whether or not a book is ageappropriate. For example, sometimes the lines are blurred between “writing about
life”, writing erotica, and churning out pornography – and often these lines are
deliberately blurred by publishing houses and their marketers with their beady
eyes on the bottom line, what will sell the most copies….Thus it is that a “work of
fiction” such as FIFTY SHADES OF GREY can edge in slyly as literature of some
sort despite the fact that there is no character development, no complexity of
theme or motif, and no elegance or power in the writing – no linguistic or literary
merit. Here are two opinions about EL James’s book:
● "New Adult" features college-aged characters and plotlines e.g. Fifty
Shades of Grey and its student protagonist, Anastasia Steele. Many NA
books focus unashamedly on sex, blurring the boundary between romance
and erotica – but some do explore the challenges and uncertainties of
leaving home and living independently for the first time.
Source: THE GUARDIAN 31 July 2014
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jul/31/ya-books-readsyoung-adult-teen-new-adult-books
● Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele [are] two of the most vapid, onedimensional and unsympathetic characters ever, drawn from a book that,
when you actually read it, you discover is basically a plot-less, poorlywritten, 500-page glorification of misogyny and domestic abuse, based
around a bunch of weird and unpleasant sexual practices.
Source: LIFESITE 11 February 2015
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/even-the-co-stars-think-50-shades-ofgrey-is-awful-rubbish-and-maybe-even-a
IS YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE A GENRE OR A READERSHIP?
These considerations do not necessarily oppose each other. Young Adult
Literature (YAL) is arguably a genre under the general heading Literature. In this
sense, other genres would be Children’s Literature, Science Fiction (some of
which is for younger and some for older readers), Biography and Autobiography
(some of which is for younger and some for older readers), Fantasy (some of
which is for younger and some for older readers) and so on. But we can also view
YAL as a readership instead of a genre (i.e. as a literary platform for a specific
audience). Within this readership there are a multitude of genres.
Many of these genres criss-cross. A story about the relationship (family and other
relationships) between a living human being and a ghost (paranormal) across time
periods (science fiction) is a combination of genres. A personal story (family and
other relationships) set during a historical period filled with turmoil and upheaval
(historical fiction) and based on the life of a real person (biography), is another
such example.
THE INFLUENCE OF FILM
Many of the books written for young adults have been adapted for film. Some of
the best-known examples of this are THE LORD OF THE RINGS, HARRY
POTTER, THE HUNGER GAMES, DIVERGENT, THE KITE RUNNER and LIFE
OF PI. There is a tendency to watch the movie instead of reading the novel
because it seems easier, and young people read less (on the whole) than they
used to. Reading the text before you watch the movie has distinct advantages. We
engage with the language and therefore the intellectual challenge is greater than
passively watching moving pictures. When you watch the film only after reading
the book, viewing becomes critical and conscious. You can then gauge how
successfully the novel has been captured on film. For novelists and their
descendants, selling the film rights can be lucrative, but there are always
exceptions:
Writer Arundhati Roy has said she will never sell the rights for a film
adaptation of her Booker prize-winning novel, ‘The God of Small Things'.
“Every reader has a vision of the novel in his or her head and I do not
want it to be fashioned into one film. A lot of Hollywood producers
approached me, but I do not want to sell the adaptation rights for any
amount of money. I do not want the novel to be colonised by one
imagination,” she said.
Source: THE HINDU 21 July 2011
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/estha-rahel-to-keep-off-the-bigscreen/article2277401.ece
*Please note that a recently-released film bears the same title as Arundhati Roy’s
novel, but the movie has nothing at all to do with her novel.
It is certainly true to say that before the arrival of cinema, reading was a much
more creative experience than it has been since just about every well-loved book
was turned into a movie. Each reader imagined for him or herself what the novelist
was bringing to life with only words. Having said that, some movies are useful aids
in helping us to understand what we have read. Remember though that watching a
movie is not a substitute for reading the novel.
FEATURES OF YAL
Older adults do not feature as prominently as the younger characters, and
sometimes do not feature at all. In young adult literature, the protagonists are
always teenagers or young adults. Narratives are told from their point of view. The
action is often fast-paced and the language is uncomplicated, sometimes
colloquial and very informal. For the most part, young adult fiction tends to be
optimistic, and hopeful for the future no matter what the odds. Issues and
concerns particular to young adults are explored. The main characters are seen to
grow in maturity and understanding, usually by having to deal with a crisis.
THE INTERESTING CASE OF PHILIP PULLMAN
Philip Pullman is billed as a writer for children and young adults. When he won the
prestigious Whitbread Award (for THE AMBER SPYGLASS) he was widely known
as the first children’s writer to have won this award:
Betting on the 55-year-old Pullman - who writes from a shed at the bottom of his
Oxford garden and has as many adult as teenage fans - was so heavy that William
Hill closed their book on Friday after a late flurry of huge bets. Last night their
worst nightmare came true as Pullman romped through to take the Whitbread
children's and the overall Book of the Year awards.
The judges took only two minutes to make up their minds, according to their
chairman, Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow. "Pullman is in a league of his
own. We worried about whether the book could be judged on its own, because you
never escape the feeling that it is part of a huge work. It is a superlative
achievement, head and shoulders above everything else we read."
He admitted that the judges fretted about giving the £25,000 top award to a
children's book. "If I am honest, the wind was against Pullman at the very
beginning. We did worry about giving such a literary prize to a children's book, but
then we thought of CS Lewis and that was that."
Source: THE GUARDIAN 23 January 2002
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/23/whitbreadprize2001.costabookaward
However, there were those who objected strenuously to this circumstance, and in
fact held the view that neither children nor young adults ought to be exposed to his
writing. THE AMBER SPYGLASS is the third in a trilogy called HIS DARK
MATERIALS. The main reason given for the objection was that Pullman’s books
imply criticism of established, organised religion, a view about which Pullman has
been transparent and open. For a discussion of this (what turned out to be a minor
controversy), follow these links:
● https://www.tor.com/2013/09/24/banned-books-week-philip-pullmans-hisdark-materials/
● https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1207/p09s02-coop.html
When you read about Pullman’s books, bear in mind that the first in the HIS DARK
MATERIALS trilogy is known by two titles: NORTHERN LIGHTS, and THE
GOLDEN COMPASS. The latter title was used to name the film version of the
book.
There are other authors whose writing has been subject to religious and moral
objection. The debates around the HARRY POTTER series and Salman Rushdie’s
THE SATANIC VERSES are well documented. Teachers of English Literature
should read up on these debates and discussions.
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE WRITTEN BY SOUTH AFRICANS
Though some of the following authors have settled elsewhere in the world, they
are all South African born (most of them also raised in SA). Some continue to write
about the land of their birth. Some of these works are autobiographical or have
strong historical elements, while others are pure fiction. As with other aspects of
this section, the information you are given here is not exhaustive; the list of titles is
only a sample of some of the most acclaimed novels and non-fiction titles among
young adults (and older adults) in the 20th as well as the 21st century. Some were
specifically written with a young adult audience in mind, while others were not.
Behr, Mark THE SMELL OF APPLES
Bennet, Toby THE MUSIC BOX
Case, Dianne LOVE, DAVID; THE RULES
Dorman, Nerine SING DOWN THE STARS
Essop, Ahmed SHORT STORIES
Glass, Linzie RUBY RED
Hammond, Brenda CAPE TOWN
Hassim, Shafinaaz NISA QAMAR AND THE LEGEND OF QAWTHAR
Magona, Sindiwe MOTHER TO MOTHER
Makholwa, Angela RED INK
Matlwa, Kopano COCONUT; SPILT MILK
Mlanzeli, Zinkhitha BLOOD TIES
Modisane, Bloke BLAME ME ON HISTORY
Mphahlele, Es’kia SHORT STORIES
Naidoo, Beverley OUT OF BOUNDS; BURN MY HEART; CHAIN OF FIRE
Partridge, Sally MINE
Penny, Sarah THE BENEFICIARIES
Raina, Arushi WHEN MORNING COMES
Rive, Richard BUCKINGHAM PALACE, DISTRICT SIX
Rowell, Rosie LEOPOLD BLUE
Themba, Can SHORT STORIES
Van der Ruit, John SPUD
Van Wyk, Chris SHIRLEY, GOODNESS AND MERCY
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
Abouet, Marguerite AYA (Ivory Coast)
Adei, Asare WITCHES OF HONOUR (Ghana)
Adeyemi, Tomi CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE (Nigeria/USA)
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi HALF OF A YELLOW SUN; PURPLE HIBISCUS
(Nigeria)
Alexie, Sherman J THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
(USA)
Allende, Isabel CITY OF THE BEASTS (Chile)
Alsaid, Adi NORTH OF HAPPY (Mexico)
Alvarez, Julia IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES (Dominican Republic/USA)
Arlt, Roberto THE MAD TOY (Argentina)
Baksh, Imam CHILDREN OF THE SPIDER (Guyana)
Bathena, Tanaz THE BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT (India/Saudi Arabia/Canada)
Beah, Ishmael A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER (Sierra
Leone/USA)
Beale, Fleur I AM NOT ESTHER (New Zealand)
Bradbury, Ray SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (USA)
Brand, Dionne WHAT WE ALL LONG FOR (Trinidad/Canada)
Burd, Nick THE VAST FIELDS OF ORDINARY (USA)
Carriger, Gail THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE series (USA)
Chao, Gloria AMERICAN PANDA (Taiwan/USA)
Chetambe, Mark NAMES AND SECRETS (Ghana)
Chinodya, Shimmer TALE OF TAMARI (Zimbabwe)
Dangarembga, Tsitsi NERVOUS CONDITIONS (Zimbabwe)
Danticat, Edwidge BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS (Haiti)
De la Cruz, Melissa SOMETHING IN BETWEEN (Philippines/USA)
Eire, Carlos WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA: CONFESSIONS OF A CUBAN
BOY (Cuba)
Else, Barbara THE TRAVELING RESTAURANT (New Zealand)
Engle, Margarita DRUM DREAM GIRL: HOW ONE GIRL’S COURAGE
CHANGED MUSIC; ENCHANTED AIR: TWO CULTURES, TWO WINGS
(Cuba/USA)
Frank, Anne THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL (Germany/The Netherlands)
Grimes, Nikki A GIRL NAMED MISTER (USA)
Guène, Faïza KIFFE KIFFE TOMORROW (France)
Haddon, Mark THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
(UK)
Hinton, SE THE OUTSIDERS (USA)
Hodge, Merle CRICK CRACK, MONKEY; FOR THE LIFE OF LAETITIA (Trinidad)
Hosseini, Khaled THE KITE RUNNER (Afghanistan)
Ihimaera, Witi THE WHALE RIDER; THE PARIHAKA WOMAN (New Zealand)
Joseph, Lynn DANCING IN THE RAIN (Trinidad)
Kabui, Elizabeth WAS NYAKEERU MY FATHER? (Kenya)
Kibera, Ngumi THE DEVIL’S HILL (Kenya)
Kincaid, Jamaica ANNIE JOHN (Antigua and Barbuda)
Kwok, Jean GIRL IN TRANSLATION (Hong Kong/USA)
Lai, Thanhhà BUTTERFLY YELLOW (Vietnam/USA)
Lum, Melati AYESHA DEAN: THE ISTANBUL INTRIGUE
(Malaysia/China/Australia)
Machado, Ana Maria FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Brazil)
Masood, Sayed MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE (Pakistan/UK)
McBride, James THE COLOR OF WATER (USA)
McCaulay, Diana GONE TO DRIFT; HURACAN (Jamaica)
Mlynowski, Sarah TEN THINGS WE SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE (Canada)
Mugo, Anthony NEVER SAY NEVER (Kenya)
Murphy, Sally TOPPLING (Australia)
Mwamgwirani, Juma THE CHOICE; THE WISH; GOOD INTENTIONS, EVIL
DEEDS (Tanzania)
Mwijarumi, Mkama TREELAND (Tanzania)
na Nyoto, Mkuki (Tanzania)
Ndlovu, Vivienne FOR WANT OF A TOTEM (Zimbabwe)
Ratner, Vaddey IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN (Cambodia/USA)
Reeve, Philip MORTAL ENGINES (UK)
Roth, Veronica DIVERGENT series (USA)
Rowling, JK HARRY POTTER series (UK)
Satrapi, Marjane PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD (Iran)
Sedgwick, Marcus MY SWORDHAND IS SINGING; REVOLVER (UK)
Selvadurai, Shyam FUNNY BOY (Sri Lanka)
Slane, Chris MAUI series (New Zealand)
Tolkien, JRR THE HOBBIT; LORD OF THE RINGS series (UK)
Venkatraman, Padma CLIMBING THE STAIRS (India)
Williams, Lori Aurelia THE HATE U GIVE (USA)
Wyndham, John THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (UK)
Yang, Kelly PARACHUTES (China/USA)
Zobel, Joseph BLACK SHACK ALLEY (Martinique)
1.2.2 More on YAL
Read the following book reviews from The New York Times on two young adult
novels and identify and list the characteristics of YAL as discussed in these book
reviews:
KING OF THE SCREWUPS
By K. L. Going
310 pp. Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $17. (Ages 12 and up)
What would the world look like without stereotypes? It seems that everyone has
asked us: Martin Luther King Jr., “Sesame Street,” MTV — which figured out how
to monetize the question in “Real World.”
It’s nice to imagine. But the world of young adult literature? It would look like a
blank page. Books for young adults thrive on stereotype because adolescents try
on types so often and in such bizarre combinations that they have to form groups
on the Internet to figure it all out. And there are entirely new menageries of labels
to identify and dislike, like white rappers, superpopular gay guys, emo kids (tough
to define but easy to spot — black glasses, hair combed down into the face).
This puts young adult novels in a powerful position. It is one thing to hear from
“Sesame Street” that you should love people for who they are; it is another thing to
get beaten up by a rich popular guy but around the same time read a book that
convinces you that not all rich popular guys are like that.
Of course, to do that, you would have to read a book starring a rich popular guy:
enter “King of the Screwups.” In K. L. Going’s latest novel, Liam Geller is the son
of a model and a C.E.O. He is good at basketball and fashion and bad at
everything else. His problem? His dad. Mr. Geller could come from the Roald Dahl
pantheon of evil parents. He kicks Liam out of the house at the start of senior year
and sends him to live with his cross-dressing “Aunt” — er, Uncle — Pete in upstate
New York.
As Liam goes through the expected culture shock, the novel shapes up to be the
story of two misfits coming together, and one wishes it featured more of that. But
Liam’s relationship with his father takes precedence. Missing his dad and
desperate to impress him, Liam resolves to do better in school, which means
becoming less cool and reinventing himself as a loser.
This is a daring reversal of the nerd-to-cool journey, even if it is not always
completely believable. For example, when Liam’s good looks get him advances
from cheerleaders, he refuses them. Would he really do that? There are rules
about high school and then there are rules.
But Going does us a favor by using Liam’s love interest to comment on another
teenage cliché: the put-upon, sweet, outcast girl. Darleen Martinek dresses in
overalls, makes art and is shunned by football players. What is her secret? She is
an unpleasant person to boot. This exposes a piece of classified information in the
misfit high school community: some misfits are actually not nice people. They have
a reverse snobbery at least as powerful as that directed toward them. Perhaps if
more young adult authors wrote characters like Darleen, more people like Liam
would read the novels.
Going’s writing is smooth and simple; her torn-family scenes make you long for Mr.
Geller’s comeuppance. What lasts when the story concludes, however, is Liam. By
subverting expectations, Going not only reaches readers who might otherwise
pass up a book like hers, she also shows them she understands: their view from
the top of the social power structure is not easy, nor is it even all that powerful.
THE VAST FIELDS OF ORDINARY
By Nick Burd
309 pp. Dial Books. $16.99. (Ages 14 and up)
“The Vast Fields of Ordinary” is a tricky title for Nick Burd’s fascinating and dreamy
first novel. It is set in vast fields (of Iowa, lovingly depicted) but filled with
characters who are extraordinary to a degree that the reader wants to know more,
even about the most minor ones.
Dade Hamilton, just graduated from high school, finally has the chance to escape
an abusive relationship with the senior quarterback. Dade plays against type in
two immensely gratifying ways: he fights when cornered, and he wastes no time
talking about what it “feels like” to be gay. A chance encounter with a smart, worldweary drug dealer begins what his father calls “your last real summer.”
With divorce-ready parents, drugs and relationships in the mix, one would forgive
Burd for turning out a standard last-summer-before-college drama (a subgenre in
young adult novels). Instead he tosses up metaphor after hard-to-top metaphor
(after a party, a green bra on the lawn is a “listless amphibian”) and a series of
original tableaus, notably the powerful moment when an unpopular girl asks Dade
why he won’t be with her — and both he and the reader learn there are worse
things to be than closeted in Iowa. “The Vast Fields of Ordinary” reads like the
best kind of first novel — it’s packed with insights that might have been carried
around for years, just waiting to come out.
Characteristic of YAL
Example from King of
the Screwups
Example from The
vast fields of
ordinary
1.2.3Trace the development of children's and YAL across different eras on the
following A4 page: