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Myths, Legends, and Histories: How the Printz Awards Re(Present) Racialized Stories by Dr. Ashley D. Black

9/28/2022

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​Dr. Ashley D. Black is an Assistant Professor of English Education at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO.  She teaches courses in Young Adult Literature, adolescent literacy, and writing pedagogy and is interested in Critical Whiteness Studies and racial literacy development. 

Her most recent article, “Starting with the Teacher in the Mirror: Critical
Reflections on Whiteness from Past Classroom Experiences,” appeared in a spring issue of The Clear House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas.

​
Myths, Legends, and Histories: How the Printz Awards Re(Present) Racialized Stories by Dr. Ashley D. Black

As a teacher educator, I consider many factors when selecting texts for inclusion within my Young Adult Literature course reading list; for example, I strive to identify texts that are timely; include literary cohesive representations of YAL as a genre; consider potential for increasing students’ reading interest, engagement and motivation; and focus on inclusivity related to diverse authors and stories. Furthermore, in a saturated YA market, navigating the abundance of published texts can feel daunting, and lists like the Printz Awards provide those searching for new books a good starting point in that search. The impact of the Printz Awards can be linked to the curricular decisions teachers, teacher educators, and librarians make when selecting YA texts for instruction and/or inclusion within school and classroom libraries.

In a previous blog post in July 2020, I wrote about using summer sessions of my Young Adult Literature course to explore the Printz Award Winners. This has been a curricular move I have replicated, and returning to the same text set for several summers has deepened my analysis of both their content and sociocultural contexts. As such, I would like to use this space to share my critical content analysis (Short, 2017), which I am currently engaged in writing, on the Printz Award Winners from the last decade through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) (Jupp et. al, 2016). These lenses afford researchers the opportunity to interrupt how whiteness (defined here as a social construction, unearned privilege, and ideology/racial discourse) operates systemically and to challenge conditions of inequity. 

This critical content analysis has been driven by the following research questions:
  • How have the authors positioned characters of color in the Printz Award Winners from 2012-2022?
  • In what ways are issues of race re(presented) within the Printz Award Winners from 2012-2022?

The last decade of Printz Award Winners has recognized stories from diverse authors in a variety of genres that offer YA readers the opportunity to see themselves and those unlike them in authentic ways. The list below includes the text set used for this critical content analysis.

Acavedo, Elizabeth. (2018). The poet x. New York: Harper Teen.
Boulley, A. (2021). Firekeeper’s Daughter. New York: Henry Holt.
King, A.S. (2019). Dig. New York: Dutton.
LaCour, Nina. (2017). We are okay. New York: Dutton.
Lake, Nick. (2012). In darkness. New York: Bloomsbury.
Lewis, John, et. al. (2016). March: Book three. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf.
Nayeri, D. (2020). Everything sad is untrue (A true story). New York: Levine Querido.
Nelson, Jandy. (2014). I’ll give you the sun. New York: Dial.
Ruby, Laura. (2015). Bone gap. New York: Balzer + Bray.
Sedgwick, Marcus. (2013). Midwinterblood. New York: Square Fish.
To answer the first research question (How have the authors positioned characters of color in the Printz Award Winners from 2012-2022?), I began by identifying the race/ethnicity of the primary characters of each text using these categorical codes: white, Black, Latinx, Native American, Middle Eastern, and other, and a summary of these codes is represented in the chart below. ​
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I also considered the racial and ethnic representation outside and alongside the primary characters to include other characters who (1) operate in correlation to the primary character and/or (2) operate to develop the plot. 
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What stands out to me is that the inclusion of diverse races and ethnicities is multi-layered; while 50% of primary characters are white, the representation of characters of color represents a greater variety and inclusivity. This diverse representation also continues when considering the race and ethnicities of comprehensive characters, with the exclusion of Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (fantasy).
​
These findings within themselves may not be surprising for YA readers who have noticed a shift in the last two decades towards YA texts seeking to give a voice to marginalized, othered communities. However, when addressing the second research question (In what ways are issues of race re(presented) within the Printz Award Winners from 2012-2022?), I have found a correlation between the race/ethnicity of primary characters and racialized sources of conflict.

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In the chart above, I define an explicit source of conflict as one that positions racial issues at the center of the conflict for the primary character. For example, as an Iranian refugee, Daniel in Everything Sad Is Untrue (Nayeri, 2020) struggles to find acceptance from his white peers in Oklahoma. Language and cultural barriers place Daniel at the center of bullying and racism as he tries to adapt to his new surroundings. 

Conversely, implicit sources of conflict are ones in which racial issues are subverted, operating as subtext. Boulley’s (2021) protagonist, Daunis, finds herself as an informant for the FBI, investigating meth production and distribution in her Ojibwe tribe. While the investigation itself is not the product of criminal injustice, it highlights the colonized history of Native cultures and the consequences that ensued.

Lastly, the not a source of conflict category represents texts in which racial issues were not a factor within the text even though diverse characters may be present. In Nelson’s (2014) I’ll Give You the Sun, Noah and Jude are white characters dealing with the death of their mother and its effects on their family. Likewise, Bone Gap (Ruby, 2015) centers on the disappearance of Roza within a supernatural Midwestern town.

A cross-analysis of race and ethnicities of primary characters alongside racialized sources of conflict reveals that for the five texts that include primary characters of color, racialized conflicts are present, both explicitly and implicitly. There is not one text within this list with a primary character of color whose central conflict that does not revolve around issues of race. Yet, for the other five texts featuring white primary characters, only one (Dig., King, 2019) contains an implicit racialized source of conflict and is a non-factor in the other four texts in this category.

These findings might lead us to ask: why are white characters immune from racialized conflict while characters of color are not? How might white character centric texts reinscribe issues of white supremacy and privilege by lacking cultural or ethnic characteristics? How do diverse representations within this text set challenge the notion of the “single story”? How might these stories, grounded within racial conflict and/or trauma, affect our students of color?

I do not have answers to these questions, but I am working through them alongside my pre-service teachers who will one day enter middle and secondary English classrooms. When they do, I hope they are able to select texts that are both challenging and comforting to their future students. I hope that they seek out authors and stories that are varied and layered and lead to deeper levels of understanding. Lastly, I hope that they interrogate award winning lists with a critical eye.

References
ALA American Library Association. (2022). The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. YALSA. https://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz 
Jupp, J. C., Berry, T. R., & Lensmire, T. J. (2016). Second-wave white teacher identity studies: A review of white teacher identity literatures from 2004 through 2014. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1151-1191.
Short, K. G. (2017). “Critical content analysis as a research methodology.” In H. Johnson, J. Mathis, & K. G. Short (Eds), Critical content analysis of children’s and young adult literature: Reframing perspective (pp. 1-15). Routledge.

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Sealing in Whiteness: Williams-Garcia’s A Sitting in St. James by Dr. Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides & and Dr. Carlin Borsheim-Black

9/21/2022

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Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides is Professor of English Education at Westfield State University. Her research interests include antiracist teaching in the ELA classroom through literature, the study of social class through literature, and representations of adolescence in YAL. Her recent book, co-authored with Carlin Borsheim-Black, earned AACTE’s 2022 Outstanding Book Award in Education. 




Carlin Borsheim-Black, Professor of English Education at Central Michigan University, researches possibilities and challenges of antiracist teaching, especially in predominantly white spaces. Her recent book, Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students, co-authored with Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides, was nominated for the Grawemeyer Award for Education. ​​
Sealing in Whiteness: Williams-Garcia’s A Sitting in St. James by Dr. Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides & Dr. Carlin Borsheim-Black
Though Rita Williams-Garcia has received extensive recognition for novels like One Crazy Summer and its two sequels, as well as Jumped, No Laughter Here, and Every Time a Rainbow Dies, far less attention has been given to her 2021 historical fiction novel, A Sitting in St. James. Our post seeks to address this gap. We do so not by discussing all the beautiful merits of this novel, but by showcasing how this slavery story, written by a Black author, cleverly depicts whiteness in many ways, but especially through the symbol of the portrait sitting.
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Summary
Set in St. James Parish, Louisiana in the 1860’s, A Sitting in St. James is the story of the Guilbert family. The matriarch, Madame Sylvie Guilbert, finds herself in Louisiana after Bayard Guilbert travels to France to coerce her into marriage. Madame journeys, first to Haiti and then to America with little more than a family heirloom, a signet ring that connects her to her family’s vineyard and the social education she received as a member of the queen’s court. 

After Bayard dies, Madame is left to run the struggling plantation with her son, Lucien, and his son, Byron, who is expected to marry well and produce an heir to keep the plantation viable and to carry on the family legacy. From her salon, Madame Guilbert tries desperately to hold her family to rigid social norms of polite French society--the old world--as their last best hope for marrying Byron off to a family of higher status and social standing. In 19th century Louisiana, with its complex mix of racial and socioeconomic standing among whites, slaves, free Blacks, and mixed-race people—retaining this status serves as one of the central conflicts of the novel. 

A key strategy for sealing in her own and her family’s social standing is Madame’s insistence on sitting for a portrait, one the family cannot afford, that is to be completed by a French painter descended from a painter who portrayed Queen Marie Antoinette herself. We see this portraiture effort—the sitting—as a central symbol helpful for unpacking the ways in which whiteness attempts to work to seal in its power. 


Symbolism 
Whiteness as property. Readers are educated as to the purpose of sittings for portraits alongside Jane, Madame’s protege, the daughter of a wealthy neighbor who cannot seem to take on apt gender norms for a young lady. As Madame displays the jewelry she will wear, the way she will dress her hair for the sitting, she explains to Jane, “You see, a portrait is for eternity” (306). Comparing the sitting to an important party, Madame continues, “[W]hat happens at the party can last a lifetime, for the lifetime of the children and grandchildren to come” (307). As such, a portrait—like the complex social negotiations of 19th century formal parties—affects the social standing for current and future generations, something Madame seeks to stabilize for herself and her progeny given the family’s financial troubles.

So what is the social standing that Madame seeks to reinforce, to establish, to ensure? Her connection to the French royal court of Queen Antoinette and the social power that came with that. Her wealth, signified by the ring smuggled out with her from France. But also, in the slave-owning, plantation setting of 1860s Louisiana—and in a home where her profligate son, Lucien, seeks to introduce his mixed-race daughter, Rosalie, as a member of the family—she also seeks to seal in her whiteness and its place in the racial social hierarchy. The sitting, then, functions as a key symbol of whiteness: an opportunity to seal in racial identity and social class status onto canvas for eternity. It is one of the more valuable things she has to pass down to future generations.

Whiteness is an illusion, an invention. Racial and social status are both constructs, Madame’s social standing an illusion. The irony of the portrait is that Madame cannot afford the luxury at all. The portrait artist, Le Brun, begrudgingly agrees to do the painting as a favor to Countess Duhon, the favorite aunt of Madame’s future daughter-in-law. And Madame and Lucien know they will have to leverage what they have left to finance the purchase of the portrait. 

“No one in polite society follows these practices. And when they do it, it is all for show” (425). Though Le Brun makes this statement about a different social practice, it easily works to sum up his view of her worldview as well, and even of portraiture. Le Brun is part of a group of artists who work to experiment aesthetically through portraiture, including by focusing on subjects like the Black field hands cutting cane outside, something that outrages Madame. He is aware of how Madame sees the enslaved people on her plantation and how she seeks to use the portrait strategically in society. Given his concerns about the family’s ability to pay him for his work, readers might expect some tension around the entire sitting, tension that proves satisfying in its ultimate handling.

Sitting for a portrait is an outdated practice, one that “polite”—wealthy, white, European—society used to engage in but does no longer. It was intended to offer viewers a curated view of someone powerful, often with invented details to secure the subject’s social—and often political—status. 

Yes, portraits work to affect the workings of those social constructs, but ultimately, they also present artists—and viewers—and in this case, Madame’s intended audience, for an opportunity for subversion and disruption of those very social norms. And, in the hands of Williams-Garcia, this subversion works to satisfy readers’ disgust with the social norms Madame seeks to uphold.

Whiteness is a detriment to us all. Though we do not want to spoil this novel for readers, we will say that in Williams-Garcia’s hands, it is the stubborn clinging to whiteness, and its entanglements with classism, that lead to downfall. Relentless attachments to class and racial hierarchies lead to the greatest disappointments in this novel, since those willing to budge suffer far less. 

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To close, we want to help teachers, perhaps, guide students to understanding whiteness by suggesting they pair this novel with views of Kehinde Wiley’s subversive portraits. Teachers could juxtapose Jean-Louis David’s (1801) “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” against Wiley’s (2005) repetition of it in his “Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps.” Asking students to consider how Wiley takes up traditional features of portraiture in his image of the Black man whom he met on the street will go very nicely in a rigorous consideration of treatment across these two texts.
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YA Texts and Toxic Masculinity by Roy Jackson and Erinn Bentley

9/14/2022

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Roy Jackson is a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh in Information Sciences researching LGBTQIA+ book banning in Pennsylvania. In his spare time he enjoys hiking and traveling with his husband. 

​



Erinn Bentley is a Professor and Program Coordinator of English education at Columbus State University, where she mentors pre-service teachers and leads study abroad programs. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.
YA Texts and Toxic Masculinity by Roy Jackson and Erinn Bentley​​
There is a massive wave of educational reform sweeping state legislatures across the nation. According to the exhaustive data Pen America has collected, over two hundred educational bills have been introduced specifically silencing educators from teaching and discussing certain topics. Thankfully, many of these bills have died, but an alarming number of states have, or will, pass ones that are concerning. Their aim is to prohibit the discussion of what certain politicians see as divisive topics. The language of these bills seems aimed at preventing students from feelings of guilt or discomfort in class. But to be clear, these bills are only meant to prevent one specific group from these feelings. That group is mostly white, straight males. Because erasure of other students does not cause them harm and discomfort. The bills specifically target discussions around CRT, LGBTQIA+, and gender issues. To educators, having uncomfortable conversations is a part of the core of education. We must take students out of comfort zones and present them with an array of issues and viewpoints to challenge and grow their worldviews. 
One such topic that seems of utmost importance to explore is specific to the population these bills are seemingly trying to protect. That topic is toxic masculinity. At its most basic definition, toxic masculinity can be described as cultural pressures for boys and men to behave in a certain way. Those ways are negative. They harm themselves and others. They increase behaviors like bullying, homophobia, sexism, and racism. However, there are vast ways to present alternatives to the negativity of toxic masculinity. One way is through literature. The following books approach the topic of toxic masculinity in varied ways. They explore the root causes of them and are teaching tools to uncomfortable conversations that can lead to extraordinary positive change. 
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The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves

In The New David, Aceves’ protagonist is routinely bullied for his slim physique. This impacts his mental health and ability to accept himself. He is physically assaulted, regularly verbally harassed, and shamed on social media by his bully. He vows to get bigger over the summer after junior year only to fall into a group of men who are injecting illegal steroids. David begins his addiction to the gym and the drugs with the hopes of senior year starting out with revenge. But that fantasy never comes to fruition. Instead, he is shamed again by his bully who outs him for his illegal drug use and harassed and shamed on social media for this. 
The novel explores layers of toxic masculinity that prey on young men. It isn’t just about what it means to not only be a man, but  what a man should look like. David cannot accept himself physically. When he erroneously believes getting bigger muscles will solve his problems, the steroids come with a side effect in the form of physical violence not only to his enemy but to his family. The violence is a repetition of the toxic masculinity on an extreme level that he once faced from his bully. 
The root cause of David’s toxic masculinity isn’t familial as often the case. His father is caring and supportive. Instead, it is akin to media portrayals of the male physique. It causes eating disorders and unhealthy life choices. David sees his appearance as the most important aspect to combat the abuse he endures. He doesn’t seek out adults in school or at home for help. That may be because he doesn’t see that as an option. He won’t tell anyone about the abuse as it is seen as not masculine to tell. As educators, we can meet the needs of students like David in a variety of ways and this book opens our eyes as adults to what may be lurking in the minds of young men. 
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​Alan Cole Is Not A Coward by Eric Bell
​
Alan Cole’s life is one of generational toxic masculinity. Alan’s father forces his sons to lie at his company dinner to make an appearance in hopes of them making him look good. An artist, Alan must hide that and instead pretend to play sports and be a real boy. The father treats his mother in a dominating, unloving manner. His older brother abuses him physically and mentally, engaging him in dangerous games he doesn’t want to play. But Alan is gay, and his brother uses that information to torment him and get him to do things he shouldn’t. The novel ends with Alan outing himself and finding self-acceptance. 
Bell has crafted a very important example of generational toxic masculinity. Alan’s older brother is humiliated and abused by his father, and feeling powerless, takes his abuse out on Alan. Bell shows how the power of generational influence passes toxic masculinity down from father to son, and brother to brother. As an educator, Bell presents small scenes with teachers that are powerful. Using a parent-teacher conference, Bell constructs a scene where a teacher can be an ally to their student. It is a small, but powerful moment that resonates. 
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Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
​
Poignant, and at times hilarious, this novel may be lighthearted, but Giles’ commentary on toxic masculinity is serious. In pursuit of his childhood crush, Del accidentally joins his church’s Purity Pledge group. He simultaneously enrolls in his high school’s sex education course and becomes increasingly confused with the two group’s mixed messages. Meanwhile, his peers cause a commotion when 9 girls become pregnant at the same time. As the novel progresses, Del must face the fact that he may not be the “good guy” he thinks he is and confront his past and present treatment of the females in his life, ultimately leading to a redemptive end to this narrative.
Giles does a wonderful job capturing teenage uncertainty when it comes to sex itself, hormones and the embarrassing ways they manifest among teens, sex eduation, and what “it means” to be a certain kind of boy or girl. This novel explicitly addresses the slut-shaming that often happens to females and acknowledges that males are revered for their sexual activty. One such scene portrays Del’s father, who admits to his role in perpetuating masculine toxicity. He says, “‘Junior. It’s not all your fault, because I’ve been encouraging you in a way my father and my uncles and a bunch of other guys I looked up to encouraged me…like it’s a rite of passage. ‘Go get the girl..’” (Giles, 339). Del is, in spite of his bravado, a virgin, which spins the plot into interesting directions.
Overall, the characters and situations are relatable and realistic. Some of these situations are awkward, but the humor throughout makes this a good text to dig into toxic masculinity, evangelical Christianity and sex education, and overall adolescent identity development . 
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Girl Made of Stars, Ashley Herring Blake
Blake’s novel takes the messiness of toxic masculinity and ramps up the chaos and messiness of it even more. The protagonist, Mara, is a twin whose brother is accused of rape. Through her eyes, readers see how seemingly liberal, well-intentioned parents immediately fall into the trap of the male trope to support their son. The school seemingly doesn’t address the issue at all, even though it appears to be a school where SEL would be the normed, yet when the student who is raped comes back to school, she is met with vile shaming and words. Blake’s novel isn’t clear and easy regarding outcomes, but the chaos that envelopes the novel is perhaps the most real regarding just how toxic American masculinity is.
Not an easy read, this novel shows how difficult it can be for victims of assault to tell their stories, especially when one is attacked by a person one trusts and, perhaps, loves. It also shows how “the system” - whether legal, familial, and/or educational - can fail victims by not bringing about justice or providing them with support. Mara’s shattered relationship with her brother prompts readers to consider just how well any of us can truly know the people we care the most about in our lives. In spite of all the painful and messy topics explored, this novel is written with tenderness and offers moments of hope and glimpses of self-discovery.
0 Comments

YA Texts and Toxic Masculinity by Roy Jackson and Erinn Bentley

9/14/2022

0 Comments

 
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Roy Jackson is a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh in Information Sciences researching LGBTQIA+ book banning in Pennsylvania. In his spare time he enjoys hiking and traveling with his husband. 






Erin Bentley is a Professor and Program Coordinator of English education at Columbus State University, where she mentors pre-service teachers and leads study abroad programs. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.



​
YA Texts and Toxic Masculinity by Roy Jackson and Erinn Bentley
There is a massive wave of educational reform sweeping state legislatures across the nation. According to the exhaustive data Pen America has collected, over two hundred educational bills have been introduced specifically silencing educators from teaching and discussing certain topics. Thankfully, many of these bills have died, but an alarming number of states have, or will, pass ones that are concerning. Their aim is to prohibit the discussion of what certain politicians see as divisive topics. The language of these bills seems aimed at preventing students from feelings of guilt or discomfort in class. But to be clear, these bills are only meant to prevent one specific group from these feelings. That group is mostly white, straight males. Because erasure of other students does not cause them harm and discomfort. The bills specifically target discussions around CRT, LGBTQIA+, and gender issues. To educators, having uncomfortable conversations is a part of the core of education. We must take students out of comfort zones and present them with an array of issues and viewpoints to challenge and grow their worldviews. 
One such topic that seems of utmost importance to explore is specific to the population these bills are seemingly trying to protect. That topic is toxic masculinity. At its most basic definition, toxic masculinity can be described as cultural pressures for boys and men to behave in a certain way. Those ways are negative. They harm themselves and others. They increase behaviors like bullying, homophobia, sexism, and racism. However, there are vast ways to present alternatives to the negativity of toxic masculinity. One way is through literature. The following books approach the topic of toxic masculinity in varied ways. They explore the root causes of them and are teaching tools to uncomfortable conversations that can lead to extraordinary positive change. 
Picture
The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves
In The New David, Aceves’ protagonist is routinely bullied for his slim physique. This impacts his mental health and ability to accept himself. He is physically assaulted, regularly verbally harassed, and shamed on social media by his bully. He vows to get bigger over the summer after junior year only to fall into a group of men who are injecting illegal steroids. David begins his addiction to the gym and the drugs with the hopes of senior year starting out with revenge. But that fantasy never comes to fruition. Instead, he is shamed again by his bully who outs him for his illegal drug use and harassed and shamed on social media for this. 
The novel explores layers of toxic masculinity that prey on young men. It isn’t just about what it means to not only be a man, but  what a man should look like. David cannot accept himself physically. When he erroneously believes getting bigger muscles will solve his problems, the steroids come with a side effect in the form of physical violence not only to his enemy but to his family. The violence is a repetition of the toxic masculinity on an extreme level that he once faced from his bully. 
The root cause of David’s toxic masculinity isn’t familial as often the case. His father is caring and supportive. Instead, it is akin to media portrayals of the male physique. It causes eating disorders and unhealthy life choices. David sees his appearance as the most important aspect to combat the abuse he endures. He doesn’t seek out adults in school or at home for help. That may be because he doesn’t see that as an option. He won’t tell anyone about the abuse as it is seen as not masculine to tell. As educators, we can meet the needs of students like David in a variety of ways and this book opens our eyes as adults to what may be lurking in the minds of young men.
Picture

Alan Cole Is Not A Coward by Eric Bell
Alan Cole’s life is one of generational toxic masculinity. Alan’s father forces his sons to lie at his company dinner to make an appearance in hopes of them making him look good. An artist, Alan must hide that and instead pretend to play sports and be a real boy. The father treats his mother in a dominating, unloving manner. His older brother abuses him physically and mentally, engaging him in dangerous games he doesn’t want to play. But Alan is gay, and his brother uses that information to torment him and get him to do things he shouldn’t. The novel ends with Alan outing himself and finding self-acceptance. 
Bell has crafted a very important example of generational toxic masculinity. Alan’s older brother is humiliated and abused by his father, and feeling powerless, takes his abuse out on Alan. Bell shows how the power of generational influence passes toxic masculinity down from father to son, and brother to brother. As an educator, Bell presents small scenes with teachers that are powerful. Using a parent-teacher conference, Bell constructs a scene where a teacher can be an ally to their student. It is a small, but powerful moment that resonates. 
Picture
Picture
Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
Poignant, and at times hilarious, this novel may be lighthearted, but Giles’ commentary on toxic masculinity is serious. In pursuit of his childhood crush, Del accidentally joins his church’s Purity Pledge group. He simultaneously enrolls in his high school’s sex education course and becomes increasingly confused with the two group’s mixed messages. Meanwhile, his peers cause a commotion when 9 girls become pregnant at the same time. As the novel progresses, Del must face the fact that he may not be the “good guy” he thinks he is and confront his past and present treatment of the females in his life, ultimately leading to a redemptive end to this narrative.
Giles does a wonderful job capturing teenage uncertainty when it comes to sex itself, hormones and the embarrassing ways they manifest among teens, sex eduation, and what “it means” to be a certain kind of boy or girl. This novel explicitly addresses the slut-shaming that often happens to females and acknowledges that males are revered for their sexual activty. One such scene portrays Del’s father, who admits to his role in perpetuating masculine toxicity. He says, “‘Junior. It’s not all your fault, because I’ve been encouraging you in a way my father and my uncles and a bunch of other guys I looked up to encouraged me…like it’s a rite of passage. ‘Go get the girl..’” (Giles, 339). Del is, in spite of his bravado, a virgin, which spins the plot into interesting directions.
Overall, the characters and situations are relatable and realistic. Some of these situations are awkward, but the humor throughout makes this a good text to dig into toxic masculinity, evangelical Christianity and sex education, and overall adolescent identity development . 
Girl Made of Stars, Ashley Herring Blake
Blake’s novel takes the messiness of toxic masculinity and ramps up the chaos and messiness of it even more. The protagonist, Mara, is a twin whose brother is accused of rape. Through her eyes, readers see how seemingly liberal, well-intentioned parents immediately fall into the trap of the male trope to support their son. The school seemingly doesn’t address the issue at all, even though it appears to be a school where SEL would be the normed, yet when the student who is raped comes back to school, she is met with vile shaming and words. Blake’s novel isn’t clear and easy regarding outcomes, but the chaos that envelopes the novel is perhaps the most real regarding just how toxic American masculinity is.
Not an easy read, this novel shows how difficult it can be for victims of assault to tell their stories, especially when one is attacked by a person one trusts and, perhaps, loves. It also shows how “the system” - whether legal, familial, and/or educational - can fail victims by not bringing about justice or providing them with support. Mara’s shattered relationship with her brother prompts readers to consider just how well any of us can truly know the people we care the most about in our lives. In spite of all the painful and messy topics explored, this novel is written with tenderness and offers moments of hope and glimpses of self-discovery.
0 Comments

The Future and Technology in YA Science Fiction by Dr. Amy Piotrowski

9/7/2022

0 Comments

 
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Dr. Amy Piotrowski is an associate professor of English education at Utah State University.  She teaches undergraduate courses in English education and secondary education as well as graduate courses in literacy education.  Her scholarly interests focus on digital literacies, young adult literature, and teacher education.  Before going into teacher education, she taught middle school Language Arts, high school English, and college composition in Texas.
The Future and Technology in YA Science Fiction by Dr. Amy Piotrowski
YA science fiction authors raise interesting questions about technology’s impact on our lives, the future, and our very notions of what it means to be human. Could artificial intelligence become capable of its own thoughts and emotions?  How could cybernetic technologies advance human capabilities?  Will time travel become possible, allowing someone to change the past and future?  What might space travelers find on worlds beyond Earth?  These questions become even more important in light of recent debates such as whether or not Google’s LaMDA language model is sentient. Readers, and their teachers, can turn to young adult literature to think about these questions.

Posthumanism deals with the relationship between humans and technology. This paradigm has its origins in Donna Haraway’s 1985 essay “A Manifesto for Cyborgs.” Haraway defines cyborgs as “a hybrid of machine and organism,” (2001, p. 2269) and argues that the boundary between what is human and what is machine has been blurred. Scholars of YA literature (Hayles, 1999; Ostry, 2004; Flannagan, 2014) have used the lens of posthumanism to examine how literature can provide readers with ways to question how humans and machines relate to each other. Several recent young adult novels dealing with artificial intelligence, time travel, and space travel can be read through the lens of posthumanism and would be great additions to secondary literature instruction.

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Rebelwing - by Andrea Tang
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Prudence Wu is a prep school student in what once was Washington, D.C., one of the few oases of democracy on a continent taken over by a brutal corporate conglomerate. She heads out on a job smuggling contraband media into the conglomerate’s territory where she is betrayed to the authorities and unexpectedly rescued by a cybernetic dragon called Rebelwing. This cybernetic dragon is powered by sentient A.I. and can win the war against the corporate conglomerate. Prudence must learn to pilot Rebelwing now that it has imprinted on her. Tang weaves a story about the power of connection as Prudence and her friends team up to save their city.
Waking Romeo - by Kathryn Barker
This novel is a mix of Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, the Back to the Future films, and the songs of Taylor Swift. In the future, traveling forward in time is possible, and time travelers seek a better life in the future. Unfortunately, these time travelers leave behind too few people and resources to build that better future while they keep going forward in time to find when a better future might be. In the wrecked world that is the year 2083, some families, including the Capulets and the Montagues, have decided to reject time travel. Juliet is recovering from her suicide attempt in the Capulet tomb, while Romeo lies in a coma. When a time traveler named Ellis (yes, Brontë’s Ellis) shows up, the world’s future depends on Juliet and Ellis teaming up to wake Romeo. Barker reminds readers that if we want a better future, we must work today towards making that future a reality rather than waiting for it to arrive.
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Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
Noemi, a pilot fighting for the colony world Genesis against imperial power Earth, and Abel, an A.I. created by Earth’s best cybernetic researcher, embark on a mission that could end the war between Genesis and Earth. Abel is the most advanced A.I. ever, expressing thoughts and emotions that are very human-like. At one point, Noemi reminds herself that Abel is not human, a “simulation of consciousness instead of the real thing.” But how much of a simulation is Abel?  Noemi comes to realize that Abel is far different from, and perhaps more human than, the cold and cruel researcher who created him.  The series delves into questions about the line between human and machine, suggesting that our humanity may be rooted in empathy and care for others.
Nyxia by by Scott Reintgen
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Emmett Atwater is headed for the planet Eden with a group of other teens. He desperately needs to make money for his family. A corporation called Babel pits the teens against each other in competition to see who will get to go down to Eden to mine a mysterious and versatile substance called nyxia. Along the journey, Emmett learns some of Babel’s dark secrets, what nyxia is capable of, and about Eden’s inhabitants, called the Adamites.  Emmett must find a way to not lose his humanity as he fights for survival.
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References

Flannagan, V. (2004).  Technology and identity in young adult fiction: The posthuman subject.  Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Haraway, D. (2001).  A manifesto for cyborgs: Science, technology, and socialist feminisms in the 1980’s.  In V. Leitch, W. Cain, F. Finke, & B. Johnson (Eds.), The Norton
Anthology of Theory and Criticism (2269-2299). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Hayles, N.K. (1999).  How we became posthuman: Virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and infomatics.  Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Ostry, E. (2004).  “Is he still human? Are you?”: Young adult science fiction in the posthuman age.  The Lion and the Unicorn, 28(2), 222-246.

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Exploring Representation of Rural Language Varieties in Young Adult Literature by Dr. Chea Parton

8/31/2022

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Chea Parton grew up on a farm and still considers herself a farm girl. She has been a rural student, a rural English teacher, and is currently a visiting assistant professor at Purdue University where she works with future teachers through the Transition to Teaching Program. She is passionate about rural education. Her research focuses on the personal and professional identity of rural and rural out-migrant teachers as well as rural representation in YA literature. She currently runs Literacy In Place where she seeks to catalogue rural YA books and provides teaching resources, hosts the Reading Rural YAL podcast where she gives book talks and interviews rural YA authors, and serves on the Whippoorwill Book Award for Rural YA Literature selection committee. You can reach her at readingrural@gmail.com. ​
Exploring Representation of Rural Language Varieties in Young Adult Literature by Dr. Chea Parton
On a recent phone call with my mom, we were talking recipes, and I was explaining that my daughter and I made sugar cookies because I “didn’t have no shortenin’” to make the oatmeal cookies I really wanted to. To which Mama replied, “Didn’t have none? Aren’t you supposed to be some kinda English teacher or somethin’?” and then chuckled. Since when did she become the language police? I reckon it’s probably payback for my own language policing after I learned in school that the way we talked was wrong. In my defense – I didn’t know no better at the time. I hadn’t yet been introduced to the wonderful world of sociolinguistics. 
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What my mom demonstrated was a keen understanding of the position of our language variety and its inferiority to the kind of English that ELA teachers are supposed to speak and value and teach. And she’s not the only one who gets it. Blue Collar TV, a sketch comedy show that evolved out of The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, had a segment called “The Redneck Dictionary” where the comedians would take common words or phrases and present them as “redneck” speech. For example, one episode defined “mayonnaise” by using the sentence “Mayonnaise [Man, they’s] a lot of people here.” This move is also showcased in memes like those shown below. 
Rural people and their language are always the butt of these jokes that continue to other and diminish the language practices of rural people.
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In my work and personhood, language diversity and linguistic justice (Baker-Bell, 2020) are things that I think about often. I’ve even undertaken cataloging my own Appalachian-infused Hoosier rural ways of speaking and written about it on the blog I host on Literacy In Place. 
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Recently, these two things came to a head when talking with Monica Roe and Ginny Myers Sain as part of the Author Talk interviews I’m conducting for my YouTube series/podcast Reading Rural YAL. I have noticed in my reading of YA literature that while there may be some code switching in rural YAL, for the most part they are written in what I call White Middle-Class Mainstream English (WMCME). 

*Note:* I know that there are different names for the type of English that is privileged in academic spaces as standard and the measuring stick against which all other versions of English (e.g., African American Vernacular English; Appalachian English; Acadian) are judged. However, I find that most of those terms focus on race and omit the very real and important aspect of social class. For example, though I am White, I didn’t grow up speaking what Baker-Bell (2020) calls White Mainstream English. Because of my class position, rural raising, and closeness to my Appalachian family, I grew up speaking a version of English that I very quickly learned was considered non-standard and lesser than the version of English favored and privileged in school spaces. So, though it is still unlikely to capture all the nuances amidst speakers of English varieties, I use White Middle-Class Mainstream English to refer to the type of English considered to be “standard” in academic and other spaces of power. 

When I asked Monica Roe about how she goes about deciding what to write in dialect and what not to, she described a couple of salient factors: (1) what would be authentic to the rural regional language practices of the characters; (2) what will the editor/publisher allow; and (3) how much can she include without alienating readers unfamiliar with the dialect. 
I asked Ginny Myers Sain, author of the Whippoorwill Award winning book Dark and Shallow Lies the same question because her book takes place in the rural Louisiana bayou where folks speak a Cajun dialect called Acadian. There were instances where Acadian speakers were clearly using their dialect but then others where it seemed they were speaking WMCME. She gave a very similar answer to Roe and described feeling a need to strike a balance between representing the speech and culture of her characters authentically and writing in a way that doesn’t alienate readers. 

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I’m grappling with this. 
I understand the tense negotiation that must occur because of the way places of power, including the publishing industry, privilege WMCME. But I wonder if not representing the rural language dialects characters would speak serves only to reify the power disparity instead of disrupting it. 
So, now I’m thinking – what does that mean for our work with students? In my multiculturalism class, over one quarter of my students identify as rural. When we talk about linguistic justice, I assign my language variety blog as one of the readings for that week and all of my rural students have talked about how important it was for them to read and think about their language variety. Now they want to know how to do it with their students. 
One way would be to read rural YAL like the books I’ve mentioned here. Asking students to inquire into the way the characters’ speech is represented in their book and the ways that they do/n’t relate to it by cataloging their own would be a great start. Comparing and contrasting the different ways rural language is represented across different rural YA books could also be enlightening. 
I have also found that even when I’m reading WMCME, I actually read it in my Appalachian-infused Hoosier rural variety of English. When I read it aloud, especially, I notice the ways I alter words (e.g., making contractions where there aren’t any, dropping g’s when they’re still present). Asking students to vocalize the characters as they’re written and as they hear it in their own way of speaking could open up conversations about language diversity, power, and linguistic justice in significant ways.  
If you’re interested in doing this work with your secondary students or preservice ELA teachers (and I really hope you are!), here are a few books that offer rich opportunities to do that:
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From Thoughts and Prayers to Action and Reform: Gun Violence in 2022 by Dr. Shelly Shaffer

8/17/2022

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We are grateful to benefit from  Shelly Shaffer's wisdom this week. Shelly is a professor of Literacy at Eastern Washington University. Much of Shelly's research focuses on how school shootings are portrayed in YA literature. That interest has led to an edited collection about gun violence in the ELA classroom-Contending with Gun Violence in the English Language Classroom.  Shelly is also working on a book related to the Toe Tag Monologues.  
From Thoughts and Prayers to Action and Reform: Gun Violence in 2022 by Dr. Shelly Shaffer
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had already worked for several years on reading and researching YA literature related to mass violence, specifically school shootings. With the hope that knowledge and critical thinking accomplished through reading and discussing YA literature might impact this unfortunate trend, I tried to advocate for the inclusion of books portraying stories of school shootings (including the viewpoints of survivors, outsiders, and shooters themselves) in K-12 classrooms. I presented at conferences, co-edited a book (Shaffer et al., 2019), and continue to work on projects related to this topic. I still believe that talking about gun violence and creating more awareness of warning signs will make a difference in prevention. Learning about school shootings and watching for warning signs will still not be able to prevent a teenager from obtaining a gun from home or from friends or relatives, which according to Cox et al. (2022) is the case for more than 85% of shooters. And, since some of the most recent mass shootings took place after 18-year olds purchased automatic weapons (Oxner, 2022) without a background check, psychological evaluation, or training, access to guns is still a larger issue altogether. 
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Parents, students, teachers, and others continue to live in fear of school violence (e.g., Columbine, CO-1999 - Uvalde, TX- 2022). According to Vigderman and Turner (2022), there have been 304 deaths from school shootings since the shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The government response always seems to be “thoughts and prayers” after an incident. No action. Very little gun reform. Few changes in regulations on who can own guns. No difference on which types of guns are being sold. Guns are big business. Apparently, the loss of children’s lives is the cost of doing business. After all, not many have died in these past 23 years from school shootings: 304 children and teachers. A pretty low number percentage-wise. Though many more than 304 students have been exposed to the trauma associated with school shootings, pro-gun folks figure the more than 311,000 students who have experienced gun violence at school since 1999 (Cox et al., 2022) are less important than their guns. These students have died, have been injured, and have been profoundly traumatized by violence in their schools. Yet, gun folks refuse changes to the laws, making claims of second amendment rights. But our Constitution also promises “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”--doesn’t this type of violence take that promise away from those who are impacted? 
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Often we don’t even hear from the survivors–the 311,000 students who have lived in the aftermath of a school shooting. The students who hid behind doors, who watched their friends die, who now live with constant fear, who no longer feel safe, who are angry their lives have changed, who are angry at adults who failed to protect them–these students are supposed to just move on with their lives. Heal and move on. But how are they supposed to move on when nothing has actually changed? Schools aren’t any safer. Guns are still just as accessible–and just as automated. The “grown-ups” still aren’t protecting kids by passing safer gun laws. 
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In 2018, students got angry. And they had a reason to be mad. They decided that their voices needed to be heard. #NeverAgain became a rallying cry after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. It was supposed to be a start to ending school violence. Students across the nation staged walkouts protesting the government’s inaction toward passing more restrictive gun laws; young people marched on Washington and lobbied lawmakers. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School published books. David and Lauren Hogg wrote #Never Again: A New Generation Draws the Line (Hogg & Hogg, 2018), which shares their journey to becoming activists following the shooting at their high school. Both David and Lauren were in the school February 14, 2018–hiding and texting their friends and family as they feared for their lives. Parkland Student Journalists published the book We Say #Never Again (Falkowski & Garner, 2018), a collection of news articles and editorials written by student survivors of Parkland. The book has four sections: “Introduction,” “Part 1: Activism,” “Part 2: MSD Strong,” and “Part 3: What Comes Next.” With 24 student contributors and 2 faculty advisors/editors, this book offers a personal and compelling voice about how a school shooting impacts a high school community. Parkland Speaks: Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories (Lerner, 2019) adds to the voices of student survivors of this tragic shooting. Sarah Lerner, an English and journalism teacher at Parkland, edited this collection of photos, art, poems, stories, letters, speeches, and journal entries from student contributors. It is a gripping collection full of heartbreaking loss–and hope, reminiscent of a class book. The Founders of March for Our Lives published Glimmer of Hope: How a Tragedy Sparked a Movement, which chronicles the evolution of the March for Our Lives Movement. Twenty-three of its 25 contributors were students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the collection includes a diverse array of text types as readers learn about these young activists’ experiences. These four books–written by the students who were there, and survived–provide a priceless look into the impact of trauma, grief, anger, determination, healing, and hope felt after school shootings. 

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Unfortunately, #NeverAgain did not come true. Three months after February 14, 2018 - after one of the worst school shootings to ever occur - more shootings, more death, more injury, and more trauma: Forest High School, Santa Fe High School, Noblesville West Middle School, Dixon High School, North Scott Junior High School…the list goes on and on. Forty-two shootings in 2021, according to the Washington Post (Cox et al., 2022). The third deadliest school shooting took place just months ago (in spring 2022) at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, resulting in the death of 21 people and injuring 17 others (Flourish team, 2022). Incidences of mass violence in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, Maryland, oregon, Georgia, Colorado, Alabama, California, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington D.C. have threatened the lives of schoolchildren, teachers, and staff since 2018 (Flourish team, 2022)--since Parkland’s deadly shooting had America saying #NeverAgain. 
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So depressing. So maddening. I feel helpless and frustrated, so I’ve continued my work with YA books focused on school shootings, still hoping to make a difference. So many of the books I’ve been studying recently feature survivors trying to “move on” with their lives, like the Parkland students and the 311,000 other students who have been impacted by school shootings.
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Thoughts and Prayers by Brian Bliss (2020) follows the lives of three students who survived a school shooting by hiding in a stairwell. A year later, all three suffer from trauma and guilt, and all three have trouble moving on with their lives. One has such terrible PTSD that she struggles to attend school; another is so angry that she started wearing T-shirts stating “Fuck Guns,” resulting in being targeted and threatened by pro-gun groups, and the other escapes into the world of “Wizards and Warriors” a fictional RPG similar to “Dungeons and Dragons.”

Every Moment After by Joseph Moldover (2019) takes place at senior graduation and the summer that follows. Three students who lived, after a shooter killed every one of their classmates, still struggle to figure out how to move on - even after 12 years. The shooting happened when they were 6 years old, in first grade; yet, their lives continue to be haunted by their lost classmates and thoughts of “What if?”

Liz Lawson’s The Lucky Ones (2020) tells the story of May, who is a survivor of a school shooting that killed her twin brother. She is angry - so angry that she vandalizes the  house of the lawyer representing the shooter, gets into fights at school, and blames herself for not saving her brother. Anger paralyzes May, and even eleven months after the shooting, she cannot move forward.

Aftermath by Emily Barth Isler (2021) is a middle school book about a 12-year old girl’s experience of moving to a town four years after a school shooting took place. When she starts school, the trauma is still thick in the hallways of the school. Almost every new classmate she meets tells her about the shooting - where they were, who they lost - and it seems like the entire town is stuck. Lucy finally meets Avery, who seems to be an outsider, but Lucy finds out that Avery has a different kind of connection to the shooting; the shooter was her step-brother. Lawson does an excellent job helping readers to see how difficult it is to move on, and how hard it is to forgive.

​Marisa Reichardt takes readers on a personal journey of trauma and recovery in Underwater (2016). Everything changed on October 15th, the day of the school shooting. Morgan used to be outgoing, competitive, and friendly, but after the shooting, she becomes trapped in her apartment by her own trauma. She can’t move on; she literally can’t step outside of her own front door. Reichardt’s story poignantly illustrates just how paralyzing trauma can be. Though this is not an exhaustive list of YA school shooting novels that feature characters trying to heal, these 5 texts share stories of trauma and provide insight into what survivors of school shootings–even those students who weren’t physically injured–are facing years later. 
What can we do? What MUST we do? We cannot count the damage of school shootings simply by the number of lives lost or people wounded. We have to include the hundreds of thousands of people who are left behind to try to heal the emotional trauma they carry as a result of the experience. These lives are forever changed from a tragedy that should have been prevented. 
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We must change the narrative because gun ownership DOES NOT hold more value than human lives. Children’s lives cannot be the cost of doing business. 
References
Bliss, B. (2020). Thoughts and prayers. Greenwillow Books. 
Cox, J. W., Rich, S., Chui, A., Thacker, H., Chong, L., Muyskens, J. & Ulmanu, M. (2022, May 27). School shooting database. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-shootings-database/
Falkwoski, M., & Garner, E. (Eds.). (2018). We say #neveragain. Crown. 
Flourish team. (2022, June 10). School shooting timeline: Incidents with active shooters on school campuses from Columbine to Robb Elementary. Kiln Enterprises Ltd. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/10219708/
Grinberg, E., & Mauddi, N. (2018, March 26). How the Parkland students pulled off a massive national protest in 5 weeks. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/us/march-for-our-lives
Hogg, D., & Hogg, L. (2018). #NeverAgain: A new generation draws the line. Random House. 
Isler, E. B. (2021). Aftermath. Carolrhoda Books. 
Lawson, L. (2020). The lucky ones. Delacorte Press. 
Lerner, S. (Ed.). (2019). Parkland speaks: Survivors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas share their stories. Random House. 
Moldover, J. (2019). Every moment after. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 
Oxner, R. (2022, May 25). Uvalde gunman legally bought AR rifles days before shooting, law enforcement says. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uvalde-shooter-bought-gun-legally/
Reichhardt, M. (2016). Underwater. Farrar Straus Giroux. 
Shaffer, S., Rumohr-Voskuil, G., & Bickmore, S. (Eds.). (2019). Contending with gun violence in the English language classroom. Routledge.
The Associated Press. (2018, March 24). Fiery speech, and charged silence, from a Parkland student [video]. The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000005817208/fiery-speech-and-charged-silence-from-a-parkland-student.html
The Founders of March for Our Lives. (2018). Glimmer of hope: How tragedy sparked a movement. Razorbill & Dutton. 
Vigderman, A., & Turner, G. (2022, July 6). A timeline of school shootings since Columbine. Security.org a Centerfield Media Company. https://www.security.org/blog/a-timeline-of-school-shootings-since-columbine/

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Tween YA books for Mental Health: Please Advise by Dr. Gretchen Rumohr

8/3/2022

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​Gretchen Rumohr is Chief Curator of YA Wednesday.  She serves as a professor of English and department chair at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.
Tween YA books for Mental Health: Please Advise by Dr. Gretchen Rumohr

You may have noticed that this summer, YA Wednesday has taken on a less regular schedule (at least for Wednesdays).  In typical summertime fashion, there has been time to play, time to read, time to rest.  But behind the scenes of this summer, there have been other challenges:  children who are also off of school and require  care and attention; hospitalizations and follow-ups; disruptions in custody schedules.  Throughout these bumps, my goal continues to be an ongoing conversation about the value of YA literature in our, and our students’ lives.

Which brings me to today’s goal. My own summer’s theme has been caring for loved ones who struggle with depression and self-harm.  And in looking for support on this theme, I notice that there are plenty of books in the “grade 9 and up” category that address mental health–yet very few books in the “tween” category.  This is especially challenging if a tween is a reluctant or struggling reader.

Our tweens–who are on waiting lists at psychiatrists’ offices, can’t find counselors who participate in their insurance, or are struggling quietly, alone, afraid to even tell someone what’s actually on their mind–need to be seen and heard.  They need to see themselves represented in accessible, high-interest YA books. 

​Let’s use this space today to share all of our favorite tween books that address mental health.  
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Kamala Khan’s Rising Influence: The Ms. Marvel TV Show vs. the Comics by Dr. Margaret Robbins

7/20/2022

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We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Margaret Robbins back to YA Wednesday this week!  Robbins is a Humanities Educator at The Mount Vernon School.  She is also a National Writing Project Fellow, avid reader and scholar of diverse comics and YA literature, and creative writer.

Margaret's reflection below is especially valuable because it weds world history, current popular television, and YA graphic novels.  
Kamala Khan’s Rising Influence: The Ms. Marvel TV Show vs. the Comics by Dr. Margaret Robbins
In early June, I watched the debut Ms. Marvel TV show on Disney Plus with my five-year-old nephew, who followed it surprisingly well. He asked me questions, but he could appreciate the characters and the imagination. The subsequent episodes might be too scary and serious for him, but I’m glad he watched the first episode with me. He’s Jewish, so I want him to understand the importance of representation, along with imagination.
As some readers know, I am passionate about the new Ms. Marvel comics featuring Kamala Khan, a teenage Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City. I’ve taught them, particularly the first Ms. Marvel: No Normal volume, and I’ve also written about them in academic articles and journals. I met G. Willow Wilson at the ICFA Conference in March 2019 and heard her speak. So at first, I had conflicting feelings about the fact that the TV show is so different from the comics. However, I’ve grown to enjoy the show, even though I see it as a separate entity from the books. The pace of the television show is much faster than that of the comics, which I think makes sense for the transition to television. A couple of friends and students who have read the comics have said they liked the story, but that the pace was slow, so I imagine that one reason behind the faster pace is to have wider audience appeal.
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Some incidents in the tv show happen a lot more quickly and in more depth than in the comics. For instance, in Volume 1 of Ms. Marvel No Normal, Kamala attends a cousin’s Mehndi, or engagement party. In the television series, much of one episode is devoted to her brother Amir’s wedding, whereas the comic only mentions that Amir got married. Through the episode, though, the audience is able to learn about Pakistani cultural wedding traditions, which I found interesting. 
The character of Red Dagger is introduced much earlier in the series, and Kamala makes a voyage to Karachi, Pakistan, much earlier in the story. We also learn much of Kamala’s family’s history involving the partition of India and Pakistan in the late 1940s earlier and in more depth than in the comics. Overall, the television series introduces us to more action and conflict and also more of Pakistani culture sooner than the comics, which I think invites more audience engagement and also more education about Middle Eastern history and culture. 
Interestingly enough, Kamala’s close friend Nakia and her mother Muneeba both have more character development in the television show, and Kamala’s male best friend Bruno has less. I’ve written about Bruno and Kamala’s relationship because it’s fascinating to me not only because of their strong bond based on mutual interests and values, but also because of their racial and cultural differences. However, I know from the audience notes featured on the back of the comics that the romantic turn of their relationship got mixed reactions from readers, so that could be part of why it has been de-emphasized up to this point. Kamala has other potential love interests on the show, but so far, her relationship with Bruno has been purely platonic, even though Bruno seems to have unreciprocated feelings for Kamala. 

​Overall, I’m appreciating the Ms. Marvel TV show for its action and audience appeal, even though it diverts from the comics. I hope Kamala’s friendships with both Bruno and Nakia get more developed because I think both are important. However, I do appreciate the show exploring Nakia’s leadership and activism roles in more depth and early on, as her character gets less attention in the comics.  Also, I love how the opening conflict with Zoe involves a popular culture convention instead of a more conventional high school party. It shows how important CONS have become to modern day pop culture. I’m enjoying the TV show and think it’s culturally important and relevant because of the representation of a middle easter Muslim teenage girl, along with the empowered female characters.
In terms of classroom study, I think there’s potential to compare and contrast the comics and the TV show in terms of storytelling techniques and the building of conflict, characterization, and visual media. I also think learning more about the1947 partition would be relevant, especially for a world history curriculum. Studying the show from a critical media literacy perspective and examining power dynamics between the characters would also be beneficial, particularly since the comics and the television show both show scenes involving prejudice against Muslim and middle eastern people, along with the struggles Bruno faces based on social class. In both K12 and college classrooms, Kamala Khan is worth studying as a pop culture icon, as she is appearing more and more in other Marvel comics. I believe her influence will be long lasting because of her prominent role as a young middle eastern female Muslim character. As young children watch the show and engage with the comics, hopefully they will be reminded why representation matters.   
   
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Summer Resting by Dr. Gretchen Rumohr

7/13/2022

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​Gretchen Rumohr is Chief Curator of YA Wednesday.  She serves as a professor of English and department chair at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.
Summer Resting by Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
After a few weeks of work and travel in June, after yardwork and laundry and emptying the dishwasher night and day, I am taking a week or two OFF.  Off, I tell you!  My girls and I are headed this very moment to Manistee, where we will enjoy lake time, campfires, and hobo pies.  And then we will head to Cadillac to see brother (and fellow YA Wednesday contributor) Luke Rumohr for a few days of boating, hot tubbing, and discount store shopping. We will soak in all of the things we love about Michigan summers, staying up late and sleeping late and barbecuing things on the sunny deck. And we will rest. Do you think I have everything I need in my trunk?  I sure hope I do, because I don’t have another inch to spare.  ​
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​Wait!  I forgot!  There are just three more things I need to add…

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​The next week or two, I will enjoy my family, enjoy the weather, enjoy Michigan beautiful, and of course READ! This is what is on my list–and why.


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​​I know I’m behind the times because I haven’t yet read In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner.  In my defense, I let my father borrow my copy first (which he devoured immediately)--now it’s my turn!  As with The Serpent King, I look forward to Zentner’s rich prose, realistic and heartbreaking storytelling, strong sense of place (especially rural place, as Chea Parton’s Literacy in Place has explored).


But yet!  I am AHEAD of the times because I have my hands on Twin Cities by Jose Pimienta and it is a gorgeous book.  Flipping the pages, I note realistic urban landscapes of Calexico–a border town–and a boy-girl twin dynamic as each twin decides whether to attend school in Mexico or in the U.S.--and contends with changes in their relationship as they grow.


And The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson will be my perfect beach read. After all, it takes place in the summer, celebrates friendship, and keeps us in suspense with its thrilling murder mystery.  I’m ready for it!

So–what is on your “resting” reading list?  Whatever is in your TBR pile, happy reading!

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    Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
    Chief Curator
    Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and department chair at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

    Dr. Steve Bickmore
    ​Creator and Curator

    Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

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