Why YA Lit?: YA Lit in the
Secondary Language Arts
Classroom
Anna Nero & Shannon Perry
Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive
High School
Perceptions and Misconceptions
• Remedial texts
• Lacking literary merit
– Entertainment
– Sentimental
– Poorly written
So… what is Young Adult
Literature?
• Brief History
– Before 1960s – Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys,
Tom Swift
• Avoided serious/controversial issues
• White middle-class audience
– 1967 – The Outsiders, The Contender, The
Chosen, Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones
Big, Broad Definitions
• Any literature that teens read without
prodding, poking and threatening by
means of quizzes, tests and public
humiliation in the form of class discussion
• Books with teenage protagonists
• Books written for teenagers
• Includes books for adults, but read by
teens
Don Gallo’s List o’
Characteristics
• Focus on teenage characters
• Average length of 200 pages
• Point of view – often first person, usually a
teenager
• Narrator most often the main character
• Usually told in voice of teenager, not adult (as in
To Kill a Mockingbird or A Separate Peace)
• Contemporary language
• Usually contemporary setting (fantasy, science
fiction)
Gallo’s List (cont.)
• Relatable characters and issues
• Minor role of parents
• Outcome dependent on decisions and actions of
main character
• Tone and outcome usually positive/happy
• Plot and literary style uncomplicated, not
simplistic
• Possess all traditional literary elements
• As able to appeal to adults as teens
(Herz and Gallo, From Hinton to Hamlet)
What our students are saying…
• Carlsen and Sherril (1989) study:
– Dissection and over analysis of literature
– Reviewing same material for days
– Lack of fun / sense of wonder
– Meaning without feeling
– Lack of experience and/or maturity
– Comprehension difficulty
• Disconnect for everyday teenage life
• Unfamiliar words
What our students are reading . . .
• Lack of YA Lit titles in required AND pleasure
reading categories
• Applebee’s frequent required reading study
(1992):
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Four Shakespeare plays
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Scarlet Letter
Of Mice and Men
The Great Gatsby
Lord of the Flies
What our students are reading…
• Several studies (Hale & Crowe, Applebee)
– Little change in required texts
– Shakespeare dominates
– Other canonical texts follow
• Favorite genres:
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–
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Romance/love stories
Fantasy
Mystery
Sports
Science Fiction
Students want . . .
• To read about relatable and relevant topics
and situations
• To read works written in the language that
they speak
• To read about characters who look, sound
and feel like them
Theoretical Support
G. Robert Carlsen – Stages of Reading Development
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–
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Unconscious delight
Living vicariously
Seeing oneself
Philosophical speculations
Aesthetic delight
Louise Rosenblatt – Reader-response theory
– No meaning in text itself
– Readers bring meaning to text
– Ability to relate to text = important
So, why Not YA Lit?
• Many teachers cling to the notion of
canonical literature being necessary to a
quality ELA curriculum
– Must be difficult in order to be studied
– Students can read without a teacher, then not
worth reading
– The test of time
– Cultural indoctrination
So, why not YA Lit?
• Teacher perceptions have changed little
– “inferior” form of literature
– Most have never taken a YA Lit class
– Conference sessions
• Comfort and familiarity
• Teacher’s reading bias
– Experience
– Expertise
YA Lit in the Classroom
• Thematic Links
• Archetypal Links
• Writing Links
• Research Links
• Miscellaneous Links
– Dialogue
– Inferencing Lessons
Bibliography
Asher, Sandy. “What About Now? What About Here? What About Me?”
Reading Their World:
The Young Adult Novel in the
Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992. 77-82.
Bridgers, Sue Ellen. “Creating a Bond Between Writer and Reader.”
Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom.
Eds. Virginia R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 1992. 65-70.
Bushman, John H. “Young Adult Literature in the Classroom—Or Is It?”
English Journal 86.3 (1997): 35-40.
Gallo, Donald R. “How Classics Create an Alliterate Society.” English
Journal 90.3 (2001): 33-39.
Bibliography (cont.)
Gallo, Donald R. “Listening to Readers: Attitudes Toward the Young
Adult Novel.” Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the
Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992. 17-27.
Herz, Sarah K. and Donald R. Gallo. From Hinton to Hamlet: Building
Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. 2nd ed.
Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005.
Monseau, Virginia R. “Students and Teachers as a Community of
Readers.” Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the
Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992. 85-98.
Peck, Richard. “Problem Novels for Readers Without Any.” Reading
Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom. Eds. Virginia
R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann,
1992. 71-76.
Bibliography (cont.)
Salvner, Gary M. “Young Adult Novels in the Traditional Literature
Class.” Reading Their World: The Young Adult Novel in the
Classroom. Eds. Virginia R. Monseau & Gary M. Salvner.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1992. 99-112.
Santoli, Susan P. and Mary Elaine Wagner. “Promoting Young Adult
Literature: The Other ‘Real’ Literature.” American Secondary
Education 33.1 (2004): 65-75.