Thematic Guide to Young Adult Literature

Contemporary young adult literature is a relatively new genre. This guide provides an overview of the burgeoning field, focusing primarily on fiction. Included are 32 chapters on particular themes of special significance to young adults, including Abuse, Sexual Violence, and Healing; Families, Traditional and Redefined; Imagined Futures; Supernatural and Alien Beings: Confronting the Other; and War's Impact. Each chapter provides critical discussions of several important works, beginning with one or more classics and ending with a list of recommended fiction on the same theme. An appendix groups works according to additional themes, and a selected bibliography cites important critical resources. Among the works discussed are:

The Buffalo Tree The Chocolate War Dance on My Grave The Facts Speak for Themselves Hard Love The Harmony Arms Letters from the Inside Monster Love Necessary Roughness Slave Day Tangerine And many more. Librarians and teachers will find this guide useful in recommending works to young readers, as well as for choosing texts to suit curricular needs. Many of the texts have been the topic of brief book reviews but not critical articles. Thus this guide lays the groundwork for further critical discussion.Summary: Table of ContentsRating: 5Table of Contents Abuse, sexual violence, and healing 1 Accepting difference 9 Accidents and adjustments 17 Addressing addiction 23 Animals and the environment 29 Beauty's meaning 37 Breaking silence, speaking out 43 Crime, suicide, and their aftermath 51 Dating's challenges 59 Disease and disability 67 Emotional problems confronted 75 Families, traditional and redefined 83 Friends forever? 91 Guilty or innocent? 99 Heroism : what does it mean to be a hero? 107 History is about young adults, too 115 Imagined futures 125 Imagined places 133 Insiders and outsiders 139 Jobs : assuming adult responsibility 147 Old tales retold : fairy tales, legends, myths 155 Older people's impact on our lives 163 Parents' absence, parents' presence 169 Poverty's challenges 177 Pregnancy, parenthood, abortion 183 Religion and spiritual life 189 School days 197 Sexual identity, sexual desire 203 Supernatural and alien beings : confronting the other 211 Survival 217 Teammates 223 War's impact 231 App Additional themes and topics 243