,This week on Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday I am introducing the second issue of a new journal dedicated to the research surrounding young adult literature. About two years ago, Crag Hill and I, Steve Bickmore, began discussing in earnest the idea of a journal that would provide the space for longer research and empirical articles. As a result, we have created, along with our co-editor, Leilya Pitre, Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature. We love the work of The ALAN Review (Thanks Wendy Glenn, Ricki Ginsberg, and Danielle King) and The SIGNAL Journal (thanks Sean Connors). Our academic lives would not be the same without them. We wanted to create an additional space to promote the longer research work around young adult literature that we know is happening.
The field of Children’s literature has a significantly larger presence, in terms of the number of journals, than does YA adult literature. The list includes, just to mention a few, Children’s Literature, Journal of Children’s Literature, The Lion and the Unicorn, and The Horn Book. As scholars in the field of YA literature we wanted to create and promote another journal that can help us study the proliferation and popularity of young adult literature that has blossomed over the last decade. Certainly, YA literature has been around for a long time. We can argue about whether or not it started with the surge in titles that accompanied The Outsiders and The Contender, or if it began with The Catcher in the Rye, or if it started with a host of juvenile fiction in early decades. You see; it is exactly this type of question that leads us to believe there is space for longer theoretical pieces about the history, the quality, the expansion of space in books stores, the access of these books in school libraries, censorship, discussion of equity issues of all kinds, and the actual research in how these books are actually used in the classroom. That list doesn’t even begin to consider what we can prove about how adolescents feel about these books. Most of us believe that access to these books can and does changes lives, but we need better evidence. We hope you join us as we try to contribute to the discussion of YA literature with Study and Scrutiny.
The first issue of Study and Scrutiny was published during the summer of 2015. We invite you to revisit or visit that issue. It has a wonderful collection of both empirical and critical studies as well as an interview with author Benjamin Alire Saenz by Rodrigo Joseph Rodriquez. We know that many of you are including Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe in your classes and on your reading list and we hope that you use this wonderful resource.
The second issue of Study and Scrutiny was published on January 11, 2016. We are using this space to introduce the issue to a larger audience. Please take a moment to share the link with a few friends. This issue has three empirical pieces. The introduction does a great job of summarizing the articles. Let me just throw out a few key words that will link you to the article. Linda T Parsons has an article that addresses food addiction. In the second article, Crag Hill and Janine J. Darragh discuss poverty. The third essay by Judith A. Hayn, Karina R. Clemmons, and Heather A. Olvey examines Wonder as text that can be used to foster inclusion.
This issue also includes a critical essay by Adam Van Buren about temporality in three novels by A. S. King. The final contribution in the issue is an essay by Bryan Ripley Crandall and colleagues that highlights an NPR interview with the 2015 Newbery winner, Kwame Alexander and discusses how a yearlong professional develop collaboration with a writing project and K-8 school teachers use Alexander’s The Crossover and Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band.
This issue also includes a critical essay by Adam Van Buren about temporality in three novels by A. S. King. The final contribution in the issue is an essay by Bryan Ripley Crandall and colleagues that highlights an NPR interview with the 2015 Newbery winner, Kwame Alexander and discusses how a yearlong professional develop collaboration with a writing project and K-8 school teachers use Alexander’s The Crossover and Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band.
In addition, I would like to emphasize that the work of a journal does not happen in isolation. We would like to briefly introduce our board members. Their contributions are important. Without their work and scholarship the brilliance that is the world of YA literature would be dimmer. The guiding light of their academic work, their discussions, their encouragement, their help with reviews, and their willingness to answer emails has helped us bring this journal to the point of publication. We appreciate that they don’t turn and run in the opposite direction when they see us at a conference. We hope you spend a little bit of time exploring their web pages and reading their publications. Many of them have contributed to this academic blog and others are scheduled, so stay connected. They are in no particular order: Victor Malo-Juvera , Denise Davila, Lisa Eckert, Susan Groenke, Lisa Scherff, Karen Coates, Mark Lewis, Sharon Kane, Sophia Sarigianides, Ashley Boyd, Bryan Gilis, Jennifer Dail, Janet Alsup, and Jon Ostenson.
One final note before I sign off for the week. If you are in Las Vegas join us to listen to YA authors Kevin Emerson and Sean Beaudoin. They will be discussion their work from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
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