Notes on young adult literature

Towards a definition of young adult literature
Introduction

• How adolescence has changed
• Term first appeared in 1905
• Puberty is an universal experience
  o But adolescence is not
• More complex a society becomes
  o More training is required to participate fully
• Also: emotional, intellectual and physical changes
  o Very interesting time of life
• Young adult readers have unique needs

Developmental tasks/goals

• Achieving an identity
• Acquiring more mature social skills
• Accepting changes in one’s body
• Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults
• Developing personal values
• Becoming accepted as an independent person by peers and adults

A bit of history

• Early novels
  o The Pilgrim’s progress (1678)
  o Robinson Crusoe (1719)
• Domestic novels
  o Women wrate
• Dime novels
  o Cost 10 cents
  o About 100 pages
  o Small format – 7” x 5”
  o Originally aimed at adults
  * Remarketed at boys
  o Price cut to a nickel
  o 16 or 32 pages long
• Series featuring heroes
  o e.g. Diamond Dick, Buffalo Bill
• Many genres
• By 1860’s – linked to crime
• Lead to creation of paperback books
• Cheaper to reprint hardcover books
• Rise of literacy
• Beginnings of public libraries

The competition

• Pulp magazines Argosy -  1891
• Magazines Detective story, Western story
• Characters
  o Hopalong Cassidy, The Shadow, Doc Savage
• First comic appeared in 1892
• Series fiction
• Movies – used tie-ins
  o E.g. Ben Hur, Show boat
• 1930’s ...
• First course on adolescent literature
• Term “junior” or “juvenile” first used
• Some American publishing houses established juvenile divisions

Paperbacks: an American phenomena

• First mass paperback: 1938
• The Good earth by Pearl Buck
• By 1951 – 230 million paperbacks
  o Sold in U.S.
• Slow acceptance in school libraries
  o Difficult to catalogue
  o Short life easy to steal
  o “lurid” covers
  o Concern over content

The Clean decades

• Post World War II
  o Career books
  o Focus on “wonderful” high school years
• Taboos strictly enforced
  o “sugar puff” stories
• One exception: James Bond novels
  o Considered racy

Young adult novels come of age

United States: 1967

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

 

Canada: 1978

Hold fast by Kevin Major

 

Characteristics of early young adult literature

• Characters
  o Lower classes
• Settings
  o Harsh and difficult
• Language
  o Colloquial
  o Slang
• Subject matter
  o Irony, even tragedy

Young adult novels: their appeal

• Characters and plot
  o Readers see characters like themselves facing issues like they do
  o Personal problems and moral dilemmas
• Use first person narration

Myths about young adult literature

• Young adult literature is simplified to accommodate low reading skills
• Young adult books are all the same
• Young adult readers choose books with the same gender protagonist
• Young adult literature is less enduring
  o There are no classics

Advantages of young adult novels

• Length not intimidating
• Bridge to adult literature
• ‘Working model’ of how literature works
• Provide alternative viewpoints provide some answers
• Bibliography
  o Term first appeared in 1929
  o Wide range of activities
  o Personal insights a reader gains from a book
  o Books used in a therapist-client relationship
• Readers’ advisory

Themes in young adult novels

• Importance of heroes
  o Change with every generation
• Alienation
• Friendship (no sex)
• Families of all kinds
• Death
• Suicide
• Mental illness:
  o Teens themselves
  o Other people in their lives
  * E.g. peers, siblings, adults
• Sex and sexuality
  o All types of relationships
• Drugs and alcohol
• Universal theme:
  o Study of the human condition
• Watch literary quality
• Tells a good story
• Includes memorable characters
• Has well described settings

Understanding the appeal of young adult fiction

• Show young adults who are independent (or becoming) from adults
• Reassure young adults that they are “normal”
• Depict role models
• Display relationships of all sorts
• Capture intensity and uncertainty of their lives
• Explore lives of other young adults
• Help young adults develop socially acceptable behaviour

Understanding the appeal of young adult non fiction

• Like “real life” stories
• Read because young adults are curious
• Develop special interests
  o Into trivia

Understanding the appeal of magazines

• Require short attention span
• Not intellectually challenging
  o Easy going
• Are socially acceptable
• Provide information about “important stuff”
  o E.g., celebrities, sex, love, etc.

Young adult programming in the library

• Develop a “cool” website
  o Provide links to other pages
• Recognize the competition
  o Can you provide any of those activities?
• Provide high quality customer service
• Understand why young adults read
• Fun and pleasure
  o female
• Facts and information
  o male
• Research and knowledge
• Personal growth
• Ask questions about what they like
  o Listen!!!
• Learn what are current/past favourites
• Buy multiple copies of favourites in paperback
• Give them their own space
  o Ensure that library is open convenient hours
• Teach research skills, how to evaluate information, critical thinking
  o E.g. evaluating information found on the Internet
• Advisory board
  o Plan programming
  o Work as volunteers
  * Write reviews
  * Assist with reading programs/clubs
• Younger children
  * Lead/assist with book discussion groups
  * Tutoring, homework assistance
• Have a clear selection policy
  o Not all resources may be aimed at young adult readers
  o But contents will be interesting and useful
  • Goal: develop life long users/readers

Displays, bulletin boards and booklists

• Collect book reviews from teens
• Gather materials about authors
• Provide genre based reading lists
  o Display on a reading board
  o Print in newsletter
  o Include in website

Where to shelve the books?

• Children’s services?
  o “I’m not a child!”
  o Teens intimidate younger children
• Adult services?
  o What is age appropriate?
  o Identify with spine labels
• Separate section?
  o But make it appealing
• Provide booklists of appropriate adult authors
• Genre fiction?
  o Science fiction
  o Fantasy
  o Horror
  o Read adult authors
• Others: identify with spine labels
• Paperbacks are cool
  o Display with covers out
  o Cover art is NB
  o Catalogue them!

Conclusion: some general truths about libraries and their patrons

• Both school and public libraries can provide a safe environment for young adults to explore and learn
• Access to both school and public libraries positively affects reading ability
• The strongest influence on what young adults read is their peers
• Young adults prefer paperbacks to hardcovers
• Library use increase when graphic novels and comics are made available
• The more you read ... the better you read