This incisive study analyzes young adult (YA) literature as a cultural phenomenon, explaining why this explosion of books written for and marketed to teen readers has important consequences for how we understand reading in America. As visible and volatile shorthand for competing views of teen reading, YA literature has become a lightning rod for a variety of aesthetic, pedagogical, and popular literature controversies. Noted scholar Loretta Gaffney not only examines how YA literature is defended and critiqued within the context of rapid cultural and technological changes, but also highlights how struggles about teen reading matter to-and matter in-the future of librarianship and education. The work bridges divides between literary criticism, professional practices, canon building, literature appreciation, genre classifications and recommendations, standard histories, and commentary. It will be useful in YA literature course settings in Library and Information Science, Education, and English departments. It will also be of interest to those who study right wing culture and movements in media studies, cultural studies, American studies, sociology, political science, and history. It is of additional interest to those who study print culture, publishing and the book, histories of teenagers, and research on teen reading. Finally, it will offer those interested in teenagers, literature, libraries, technology, and politics a fresh way to look at book challenges and controversies over YA literature.
Chapter One: How to Read a Young Adult Novel: An Introduction What Is Young Adult Literature? Golden Age or Dark Age? Histories of Young Adult Literature Early and Foundational Young Adult Novels YA Goes to School: Young Adult Literature in the Academy The Politics of Reading: How to Read YA (And This Book) Chapter Two: Constructing the Teenaged Reader "These Kids Today": Myths and Stereotypes about Contemporary Teenagers Reading in Theory Reading in Decline or Reading on the Rise? Print and Digital Literacies The Politics of Research: Teens and Reading in the Cultural Crossfire Chapter Three: Tending the Fair Garden: Canon Formation and Aesthetic Approaches to Young Adult Literature Youth Services Librarianship and Literary Aesthetics Defending the Canon: Realism v. Fantasy The Rise of YA Librarianship: Defending Teens' Freedom to Read Chapter Four: Bibliotherapy and the Problem Novel: Pedagogical Approaches to YA Literature The Rise of the New Realism The Problem with Problem Novels "Darkness Too Visible" Triggering the Real Conclusion Chapter Five: The Uses of Pleasure: Popular Literature and Young Adults Pleasure and Reading Motivation Libraries and Popular Literature Popular Literature, Dangerous Reading YA as Pop Literature Intellectual Freedom and Reading Research Chapter Six: "No Longer Safe": Young Adult Literature and Conservative Library Activism The Rise of the Pro Family Movement and Conservative Library Activism Sexual Conservatives, Pornography, and Information The Trouble with Harry Lessons From West Bend Chapter Seven: Do We Dare Disturb the Universe? Young Adult Literature and Social Change: A Conclusion Teen Readers Unite The Politics of Reading YA Literature and Social Change Bibliography
