At last, I have landed a contribution from Chris Crowe. I have been following his career longer than he knows. When he really had no idea who I was, I had a phone call conversation about a one year appointment at his home institution, BYU, in mid 1990s. I had hosted student teachers every other year or so for more than a decade. I was asking about the required degrees need to get a full time job in higher ed. He explained about the need for a Ph.D as opposed to a Masters degree (which I had) which might allow me to serve as an adjunct or as a one year appointment. He was helpful and was one of the first to help me think about how to lay out a plan to move to a university.
Chris claims 44 years in education and I show up right behind him with 42. The balance between high school and university is different. The bulk of my time has been public education with a total of 26 years and 16 in higher education when I count the full time graduate work.
Chris' advice has always been helpful and inspiring. I hope you enjoy his glance to the past as much as I have. Thanks Chris.
Chris claims 44 years in education and I show up right behind him with 42. The balance between high school and university is different. The bulk of my time has been public education with a total of 26 years and 16 in higher education when I count the full time graduate work.
Chris' advice has always been helpful and inspiring. I hope you enjoy his glance to the past as much as I have. Thanks Chris.
The Tale of the Syllabi
Chris Crowe
In one corner of my office sits a large, 4-drawer horizonal filing cabinet, a relic, in more ways than one, of my roots in the 20th century. It’s filled with all kinds of documents, including some long-forgotten files and manuscripts, stuff I rarely look at or think about.
The top drawer, however, is different because it contains all my notes, sample papers, photocopied articles, and syllabi related to what’s been the heart of my long (44 years!) teaching career: young adult literature.
I spent my first 10 years in a high school classroom, and initially I had only brief brushes with YA books; they most often surfaced in the quarterly reading interviews I had with each student. As a traditional undergraduate English major, I had ignored book for kids and instead did what dutiful English majors were supposed to do back in those days: I read, and tried to understand, canonical works and other literary forms that had stood the test of time.
That changed in fall semester 1982 when I enrolled in English 591, a graduate course at Arizona State University taught by Ken Donelson. My file folder from that course resides in that top drawer of my filing cabinet, and it still has Donelson’s blue-ink ditto-copied syllabus, a daunting document that outlined his expectations and the required reading for the semester. He expected us to read and write about more than 30 books.
The top drawer, however, is different because it contains all my notes, sample papers, photocopied articles, and syllabi related to what’s been the heart of my long (44 years!) teaching career: young adult literature.
I spent my first 10 years in a high school classroom, and initially I had only brief brushes with YA books; they most often surfaced in the quarterly reading interviews I had with each student. As a traditional undergraduate English major, I had ignored book for kids and instead did what dutiful English majors were supposed to do back in those days: I read, and tried to understand, canonical works and other literary forms that had stood the test of time.
That changed in fall semester 1982 when I enrolled in English 591, a graduate course at Arizona State University taught by Ken Donelson. My file folder from that course resides in that top drawer of my filing cabinet, and it still has Donelson’s blue-ink ditto-copied syllabus, a daunting document that outlined his expectations and the required reading for the semester. He expected us to read and write about more than 30 books.
 |  |
Back then, I had no idea that one day, my entire career would be tied to YA literature and that I’d be teaching classes very much like English 591. That top drawer now contains all the syllabi from the college YA literature courses I’ve taught since 1993, and I thought it might be interesting for this blog to review the reading lists in those syllabi to see how my course---and the field of YA literature---have evolved over time. I’ll start with Donelson’s 1982 course and then sample from my own course syllabi from 1993 to the present.
Donalson's English 591 The Graduate Class.
In addition to Literature for Today’s Young Adults, the textbook he co-authored with Alleen Pace Nilsen, here’s a partial list of the books Donelson required us to read back in 1982:
Football Dreams, David Guy
The People Therein, Mildred Lee
Hold Fast, Kevin Major
The Last Mission, Harry Mazer
A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich, Alice Childress
All Together Now, Sue Ellen Bridgers
A Place Apart, Paula Fox
Ordinary People, Judith Guest
Red Sky at Morning, Richard Bradford
Without a Trace, John Harris
Photographing the Frontier, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
The Huntsman, Douglas Hill
Little Britches, Ralph Moody
Steps Out of Time, Eric Houghton
Dove, Robin Lee
Edgar Allan John Neufeld
The Truth about Fathers, Mary Ann Gray
Deathwatch, Robb White
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
Killing Mr. Griffin, Lois Duncan
Deenie, Judy Blume
A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck
Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, M. E. Kerr
Lisa, Bright and Dark, John Neufeld
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon, Paul Zindel
I’ll Love You When You’re More Like Me, M. E. Kerr
The Pigman, Paul Zindel
Of these 27 books, only one, Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, has survived to the YA literature course I’m currently teaching. Twenty-three of the English 591 books were novels, and, surprisingly, four were nonfiction, suggesting that Donelson was ahead of his time in recognizing the place of nonfiction in the field. Diversity wasn’t something we talked about much in 1982, so it isn’t a big surprise that with the exception of Alice Childress, author of A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich, all the authors were white. Most of the novels we read could be described as contemporary realism or, as they were called back in those days, ‘problem novels.’ Fantasy is notably absent from the required reading list, though Donelson did require me to read three novels by British fantasy writer Peter Dickinson.
Football Dreams, David Guy
The People Therein, Mildred Lee
Hold Fast, Kevin Major
The Last Mission, Harry Mazer
A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich, Alice Childress
All Together Now, Sue Ellen Bridgers
A Place Apart, Paula Fox
Ordinary People, Judith Guest
Red Sky at Morning, Richard Bradford
Without a Trace, John Harris
Photographing the Frontier, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
The Huntsman, Douglas Hill
Little Britches, Ralph Moody
Steps Out of Time, Eric Houghton
Dove, Robin Lee
Edgar Allan John Neufeld
The Truth about Fathers, Mary Ann Gray
Deathwatch, Robb White
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
Killing Mr. Griffin, Lois Duncan
Deenie, Judy Blume
A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck
Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, M. E. Kerr
Lisa, Bright and Dark, John Neufeld
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon, Paul Zindel
I’ll Love You When You’re More Like Me, M. E. Kerr
The Pigman, Paul Zindel
Of these 27 books, only one, Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, has survived to the YA literature course I’m currently teaching. Twenty-three of the English 591 books were novels, and, surprisingly, four were nonfiction, suggesting that Donelson was ahead of his time in recognizing the place of nonfiction in the field. Diversity wasn’t something we talked about much in 1982, so it isn’t a big surprise that with the exception of Alice Childress, author of A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich, all the authors were white. Most of the novels we read could be described as contemporary realism or, as they were called back in those days, ‘problem novels.’ Fantasy is notably absent from the required reading list, though Donelson did require me to read three novels by British fantasy writer Peter Dickinson.
Crowe's first YA Course in 1993
I taught my first university level YA literature course in the winter semester of 1993 at BYU-Hawaii, a small liberal arts college that had students from more than 60 countries; the format of the course was much like Donelson’s. I used a textbook, A Guide to Literature for Young Adults, by Ruth Cline and William McBride, and in addition to the 17 novels we read in common, students had to read an additional three YA novels of their own choosing. I wasn’t sure how to gauge the right workload for undergraduate English majors, so I required my students to read only 20 books, not the 30+ expected of us in Donelson’s graduate course
| Here’s that required reading list: All Together Now, Sue Ellen Bridgers Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger Celine, Brock Cole Crazy Horse Electric Game, Chris Crutcher Dicey’s Song, Cynthia Voigt Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card Hatchet, Gary Paulsen Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson Hooper Haller, Dean Hughes My Name is Sus5an Smith; The 5 is Silent, Louise Plummer Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor The Shadow Brothers, A. E. Cannon The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier The Pigman, Paul Zindel The Moves Make the Man, Bruce Brooks Tiger Eyes, Judy Blume |  |
Three of the required books, All Together Now, The Chocolate War, and The Pigman, carried over from Donelson’s course. Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders were a nod to foundational books in our field, and the rest of the novels were relatively contemporary, including Crazy Horse Electric Game by a rising young star named Chris Crutcher. Three of the novels, The Shadow Brothers; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; and Moves Make the Man dealt with issues of race, but Roll of Thunder was the only book by an author of color. Card’s Ender’s Game was the only work of speculative fiction.
Crowe's YA Course 1994
My very next opportunity to teach an undergraduate YA literature course came the following year after I had moved to the English department at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I once again used a textbook, but this time it was a brand-new book: Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult Book and the School by Althea Reed. My reading list in 1994 was truncated because the course was being offered in a seven-week summer term. The students were required to read 7 books in common, one book for each week, and about 20 more that they chose on their own.
| Here’s the required list from my 1994 course: Bruce Brooks, The Moves Make the Man Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War Chris Crutcher, Running Loose S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Cynthia Voight, Homecoming |  |
In addition to the required reading list, for the first time, I also assigned students to read at least one YA book from each of the authors on a list of writers I thought they should be familiar with:
Judy Blume, Sue Ellen Bridgers, Virginia Hamilton, M.E. Kerr, Margaret Mahy, Norma Fox Mazer, Milton Meltzer, Walter Dean Myers, Gary Paulsen, Cynthia Rylant, and Laurence Yep.
So what changed in 1994? I still had a blind spot for fantasy and speculative fiction, but the required author list brought a much-needed update to my course, an update that included a nonfiction writer (Milton Meltzer), a New Zealand author (Margaret Mahy), and award-winning BIPOC authors Virginia Hamilton, Mildred D. Taylor, and Laurence Yep.
Judy Blume, Sue Ellen Bridgers, Virginia Hamilton, M.E. Kerr, Margaret Mahy, Norma Fox Mazer, Milton Meltzer, Walter Dean Myers, Gary Paulsen, Cynthia Rylant, and Laurence Yep.
So what changed in 1994? I still had a blind spot for fantasy and speculative fiction, but the required author list brought a much-needed update to my course, an update that included a nonfiction writer (Milton Meltzer), a New Zealand author (Margaret Mahy), and award-winning BIPOC authors Virginia Hamilton, Mildred D. Taylor, and Laurence Yep.
Crowe's YA Course 1999
The next syllabus I pulled from my filing cabinet is from my YA literature course in fall semester 1999. I was still using a textbook then, but this semester it was Donelson and Nilsen’s 5th edition of Literature for Today’s Young Adults.
| Here’s the required reading list for that semester: Bruce Brooks, The Moves Make the Man Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War Chris Crowe, ed., From the Outside Looking In Chris Crutcher, Running Loose Peter Dickinson, The Lion Tamer’s Daughter and Other Stories S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders Lois Lowry, The Giver Victor Martinez, Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida Walter Dean Myers, Somewhere in Darkness Han Nolan, Send Me Down a Miracle Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved Gary Paulsen, Nightjohn Graham Salisbury, Blue Skin of the Sea Robert Peck, A Day No Pigs Would Die Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade |  |
And in addition to these required books, students also had to read one book by each of the following authors:
Judy Blume, M. E. Kerr, Angela Johnson, Chris Lynch, Lurlene McDaniels, and Cynthia Rylant
A pattern of recurring required books begins to emerge in 1999. The Moves Make the Man, The Chocolate War, The Outsiders, Jacob Have I Loved, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry appeared in previous syllabi. Chris Crutcher and Gary Paulsen are also on previous required reading lists but in 1999 are represented by different novels. This list is more varied than in previous years and includes a notable fantasy writer (Peter Dickinson), a short story collection (From the Outside Looking In), a dystopian novel (The Giver), three BIPOC authors (Martinez, Myers, and Taylor), and a novel in verse (Make Lemonade). The list of required authors is shorter (I have no idea why) and includes three carry-overs (Blume, Kerr, and Rylant) from previous years, another author of color (Johnson), a rising contemporary realistic novelist (Lynch), and a make-you-cry novelist (McDaniels). The 1999 syllabus shows a greater awareness of genre and ethnic/cultural diversity, due, most likely, to a growing discussion of diversity in conferences like NCTE and ALAN and in professional journals and to a greater offering of various genre and books by BIPOC.
Judy Blume, M. E. Kerr, Angela Johnson, Chris Lynch, Lurlene McDaniels, and Cynthia Rylant
A pattern of recurring required books begins to emerge in 1999. The Moves Make the Man, The Chocolate War, The Outsiders, Jacob Have I Loved, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry appeared in previous syllabi. Chris Crutcher and Gary Paulsen are also on previous required reading lists but in 1999 are represented by different novels. This list is more varied than in previous years and includes a notable fantasy writer (Peter Dickinson), a short story collection (From the Outside Looking In), a dystopian novel (The Giver), three BIPOC authors (Martinez, Myers, and Taylor), and a novel in verse (Make Lemonade). The list of required authors is shorter (I have no idea why) and includes three carry-overs (Blume, Kerr, and Rylant) from previous years, another author of color (Johnson), a rising contemporary realistic novelist (Lynch), and a make-you-cry novelist (McDaniels). The 1999 syllabus shows a greater awareness of genre and ethnic/cultural diversity, due, most likely, to a growing discussion of diversity in conferences like NCTE and ALAN and in professional journals and to a greater offering of various genre and books by BIPOC.
Crowe's YA Course 2004
Jumping ahead to the winter semester 2004 syllabus, the first obvious change is the lack of a textbook. At some point around the turn of the century, it became apparent to me that my students were not paying close attention to the textbook. At first, that ticked me off, but then I started considering how I wanted my students to spend their precious reading time (and their precious book-buying budget). I realized that I wanted my students to read YA literature, not read about YA literature, so the textbook went away
| The required reading list also underwent some changes: Jennifer Armstrong, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Bruce Brooks, The Moves Make the Man Chris Crowe, ed., From the Outside Looking In Chris Crutcher, Running Loose Paul Fleischman, Whirligig Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders Lois Lowry, The Giver Walter Dean Myers, Monster Louis Sachar, Holes Graham Salisbury, Blue Skin of the Sea Gary Soto, Buried Onions Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade |  |
A nonfiction book leads the list! After a decade of teaching YA literature to undergraduate English majors, I recognized their (and my own) inherent bias against nonfiction. Russell Freedman and Milton Meltzer had been the stalwarts in YA nonfiction for a couple decades, but by 2004, NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for nonfiction had been around for almost 15 years and the ALA’s Sibert Medal for informational had been established in 2001, and publishers, librarians, and some teachers had become enthusiastic promoters of nonfiction. Armstrong’s book was a great way to introduce my fiction-phile English majors to terrific narrative nonfiction.
Seven books roll-over into the 2004 required list, but that year’s list also includes new books that show an awareness of alternate forms: Whirligig’s non-linear story, Hesse’s lavish novel in verse, Myers’ multi-genre novel, Sachar’s threaded parallel plot, and Salisbury’s short story cycle/coming of age story. One of Gary Soto’s few YA novels, Buried Onions added a fine LatinX novel to the syllabus.
Once again, the list of choose-one-by-these-authors is shorter than I remember (and I still don’t know why), but it contains three repeat authors and three authors new to the list: Hobbs, Mazer, and British author Westall:
Will Hobbs, Angela Johnson, Lurlene McDaniel, Norma Fox Mazer, Cynthia Rylant, and
Robert Westall
Seven books roll-over into the 2004 required list, but that year’s list also includes new books that show an awareness of alternate forms: Whirligig’s non-linear story, Hesse’s lavish novel in verse, Myers’ multi-genre novel, Sachar’s threaded parallel plot, and Salisbury’s short story cycle/coming of age story. One of Gary Soto’s few YA novels, Buried Onions added a fine LatinX novel to the syllabus.
Once again, the list of choose-one-by-these-authors is shorter than I remember (and I still don’t know why), but it contains three repeat authors and three authors new to the list: Hobbs, Mazer, and British author Westall:
Will Hobbs, Angela Johnson, Lurlene McDaniel, Norma Fox Mazer, Cynthia Rylant, and
Robert Westall
Crowe's YA Course 2008
Four years later, my winter 2008 syllabus shows the more stability (or redundancy?) of any previous syllabus. Ten books repeat from the fall 2004 syllabus. Ann Basum’s Muckrackers doubled the amount of required nonfiction books on my reading list. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon added a high-end YA story about a neurodiverse character. Howl’s Moving Castle, a novel by an established British fantasy writer established a foothold for fantasy fiction in the reading list, and Gene Yang’s award-winning graphic novel, American Born Chinese landed as the first required graphic novel in my required reading.
| Here’s the full required list from winter 2008: Jennifer Armstrong, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Ann Bausum, Muckrackers Chris Crutcher, Running Loose Paul Fleischman, Whirligig Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders Walter Dean Myers, Monster Graham Salisbury, Blue Skin of the Sea Gary Soto, Buried Onions Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle Yang, Gene, American Born Chinese |  |
While the required reading list showed unprecedented stability, the required author list showed unprecedented change with only Lurlene McDaniels being carried over from previous semesters.
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Kevin Brooks, Lurlene McDaniels, Gary Paulsen, Paul Volponi, Jacqueline Woodson
By 2008, Laurie Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Paulsen, and Woodson had established impressive records in the field. Though hardly newcomers to YA literature, Brooks and Volponi were, in my opinion at the time, rising stars worth reading.
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Kevin Brooks, Lurlene McDaniels, Gary Paulsen, Paul Volponi, Jacqueline Woodson
By 2008, Laurie Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Paulsen, and Woodson had established impressive records in the field. Though hardly newcomers to YA literature, Brooks and Volponi were, in my opinion at the time, rising stars worth reading.
Crowe's YA Course 2012
Winter semester, 2012: stability (or stagnation?) continues in the required reading list. There are 10 roll-overs, 11 if you count the reappearance of Robert Cormier (I had decided that Cormier was more than just The Chocolate War, so I started reading Cormier in literature circles. Students had to choose one of six of his novels to read and discuss with classmates).
The 2012 newcomers including nonfiction writer Bartoletti, also as a literature circle. She made the list for two reasons: first, she’s a terrific writer of nonfiction, but also because she was going to visit my class that semester. Heiligman’s Charles and Emma pushed the required nonfiction books to three (!), and Schusterman’s Unwind added a fresh dystopian story in the era of blockbuster dystopian novel series, and Kate Thompson’s Irish fantasy stretched my students’ understanding of fantasy fiction
The 2012 newcomers including nonfiction writer Bartoletti, also as a literature circle. She made the list for two reasons: first, she’s a terrific writer of nonfiction, but also because she was going to visit my class that semester. Heiligman’s Charles and Emma pushed the required nonfiction books to three (!), and Schusterman’s Unwind added a fresh dystopian story in the era of blockbuster dystopian novel series, and Kate Thompson’s Irish fantasy stretched my students’ understanding of fantasy fiction
| Here’s the 2012 list: Jennifer Armstrong, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Susan Campbell Bartoletti (one of 5) Robert Cormier (one of six) Chris Crutcher, Running Loose Paul Fleischman, Whirligig Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders Walter Dean Myers, Monster Neal Schusterman, Unwind Kate Thompson, The New Policeman Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese |  |
The 2012 author reading list increased from seven to eight and added four new-comers: Cabot, Famer, Schmidt, and Jones. I wanted to make sure my students were aware of an extremely popular romance writer (Cabot), an important but not prolific fantasy writer (Farmer), a gifted historical novelist for younger YAs (Schmidt), and a sophisticated and creative Canadian author of various types of fiction (Jones). Here’s the 2012 author list:
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, Nancy Farmer, Gary Paulsen, Gary D. Schmidt, Jacqueline Woodson, Tim Wynne Jones
Looking over the 2012 syllabus suggests that I had tuned in to a wide range of genre but had overlooked ethnic/cultural diversity. There are only 4 BIPOC on the required reading and required authors list.
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, Nancy Farmer, Gary Paulsen, Gary D. Schmidt, Jacqueline Woodson, Tim Wynne Jones
Looking over the 2012 syllabus suggests that I had tuned in to a wide range of genre but had overlooked ethnic/cultural diversity. There are only 4 BIPOC on the required reading and required authors list.
Crowe's YA Course 2017
Are you still with me? I’m going to look at just two more syllabi.
Fall semester 2017: The required reading list contains reflects a stability that suggests I’ve either really hit my stride, or that I’ve settled on some books that really work well with students in the context of my course, or that I’ve become lazy. Whatever the reason, ten of the 15 required books, eleven if you count Crutcher (after years of using Running Loose, his first novel, as the prototypical Crutcher story, I switched to Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, a novel my students have loved), are carry-overs from previous semesters. Jack Gantos’ memoir added a fresh look at YA nonfiction; Garth Nix was a fantasy writer unfamiliar to many of my students, including the big fantasy readers; Francisco Stork was a new and talented LatinX voice; and Steve Sheinkin, well, he had emerged as the new grandmaster of YA nonfiction.
Fall semester 2017: The required reading list contains reflects a stability that suggests I’ve either really hit my stride, or that I’ve settled on some books that really work well with students in the context of my course, or that I’ve become lazy. Whatever the reason, ten of the 15 required books, eleven if you count Crutcher (after years of using Running Loose, his first novel, as the prototypical Crutcher story, I switched to Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, a novel my students have loved), are carry-overs from previous semesters. Jack Gantos’ memoir added a fresh look at YA nonfiction; Garth Nix was a fantasy writer unfamiliar to many of my students, including the big fantasy readers; Francisco Stork was a new and talented LatinX voice; and Steve Sheinkin, well, he had emerged as the new grandmaster of YA nonfiction.
| Jennifer Armstrong, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Robert Cormier (one of six) Chris Crutcher, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Paul Fleischman, Whirligig Jack Gantos, Hole in My Life Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders Walter Dean Myers, Monster Garth Nix, Sabriel Neal Schusterman, Unwind Steve Sheinkin, Bomb Francisco X. Stork, Marcelo in the Real World Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese |  |
2017 required authors:
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, Matt de la Peña, Nancy Farmer, Martine Leavitt (one of five), Kekla Magoon, Gary Paulsen, Jacqueline Woodson
The 2017 syllabus shows a better awareness of diversity and of a sort of YAL canonicity. Seven of the 24 authors are BIPOC and many of the required books/authors were well established in the field and had made widely-recognized significant contributions to YAL. Even the four ‘new’ names on the required authors list were already noteworthy authors of award-winning books. Martine Leavitt added a new and engaging opportunity for literature circles, circles that enhanced her later visit to our class. Overall, I felt that the 2017 syllabus did a pretty good job of providing my students with a solid and long-view foundation of YA literature, from The Outsiders (1967) to How It Went Down (2015).
Laurie Halse Anderson, M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, Matt de la Peña, Nancy Farmer, Martine Leavitt (one of five), Kekla Magoon, Gary Paulsen, Jacqueline Woodson
The 2017 syllabus shows a better awareness of diversity and of a sort of YAL canonicity. Seven of the 24 authors are BIPOC and many of the required books/authors were well established in the field and had made widely-recognized significant contributions to YAL. Even the four ‘new’ names on the required authors list were already noteworthy authors of award-winning books. Martine Leavitt added a new and engaging opportunity for literature circles, circles that enhanced her later visit to our class. Overall, I felt that the 2017 syllabus did a pretty good job of providing my students with a solid and long-view foundation of YA literature, from The Outsiders (1967) to How It Went Down (2015).
Crowe's YA Course 2021
OK, that was then; this is now, the current semester, Winter 2021 syllabus!
The 2021 syllabus shows a nice balance between diversity and tradition. Ten of the required 15 books appeared on previous syllabi, but only three of the nine required authors were carry-overs. It’s no surprise that Acevedo’s verse novel made the list and that it has been such a hit with students. Anderson’s Speak was a frequent selection by students in previous semesters when Anderson was a required author, but in the time of the #metoo movement, Speak is more relevant and important than ever. John Lewis’ richly and deservedly awarded graphic novel, March, Book 3, brings a lot to my glass. It’s a contemporary graphic novel, but it’s also a memoir of a civil rights icon that helps my young students learn important background about a historical period many know little about. Sandler’s National Book Award 1919 also connected my students to a pivotal year in American history, a year that eerily parallels 2020. All American Boys introduces my students to Jason Reynolds, one of the field’s biggest stars right now, but his co-authored novel also connects in powerful ways with the Black Lives Matter movement and the social issues that make such a movement necessary. And the final ‘new’ book to my syllabus, Jeff Zenter’s Serpent King lands with my students like a powerful and contemporary Chris Crutcher novel.
Five of the 15 required books are new to the list, but six of the nine required authors are new, and I’ve learned in recent years that the author list has been a way to keep my students’ reading recent and relevant while still allowing them to read essential, nearly canonical books in YAL as part of their required reading.
The 2021 syllabus shows a nice balance between diversity and tradition. Ten of the required 15 books appeared on previous syllabi, but only three of the nine required authors were carry-overs. It’s no surprise that Acevedo’s verse novel made the list and that it has been such a hit with students. Anderson’s Speak was a frequent selection by students in previous semesters when Anderson was a required author, but in the time of the #metoo movement, Speak is more relevant and important than ever. John Lewis’ richly and deservedly awarded graphic novel, March, Book 3, brings a lot to my glass. It’s a contemporary graphic novel, but it’s also a memoir of a civil rights icon that helps my young students learn important background about a historical period many know little about. Sandler’s National Book Award 1919 also connected my students to a pivotal year in American history, a year that eerily parallels 2020. All American Boys introduces my students to Jason Reynolds, one of the field’s biggest stars right now, but his co-authored novel also connects in powerful ways with the Black Lives Matter movement and the social issues that make such a movement necessary. And the final ‘new’ book to my syllabus, Jeff Zenter’s Serpent King lands with my students like a powerful and contemporary Chris Crutcher novel.
Five of the 15 required books are new to the list, but six of the nine required authors are new, and I’ve learned in recent years that the author list has been a way to keep my students’ reading recent and relevant while still allowing them to read essential, nearly canonical books in YAL as part of their required reading.
| Here’s the 2021 list: Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak Jennifer Armstrong, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Robert Cormier (one of five) Chris Crutcher, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders John Lewis, March, Book 3 Reynolds & Kiely, All American Boys Martin Sandler, 1919: The Year That Changed America Neal Schusterman, Unwind Steve Sheinkin, Bomb Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Francisco X. Stork, Marcelo in the Real World Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King |  |
And here are the 2021 required authors:
M. T. Anderson, Kelly Barnhill, Sarah Dessen, Margarita Engle, David Levithan, Gary Paulsen, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Elizabeth Wein, and Jacqueline Woodson
I like the diversity of form, genre, and ethnic and cultural diversity represented in my 2021 syllabus, elements that have come a long way since their first iteration.
M. T. Anderson, Kelly Barnhill, Sarah Dessen, Margarita Engle, David Levithan, Gary Paulsen, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Elizabeth Wein, and Jacqueline Woodson
I like the diversity of form, genre, and ethnic and cultural diversity represented in my 2021 syllabus, elements that have come a long way since their first iteration.
 |  |  |
Conclusion
So what have I learned from pouring over these relics of my YAL teaching? First, that this is nothing like a comprehensive, scientific meta-analysis of my YAL course. I’ve not been able to discuss the evolution of assignments over the years, what I’ve kept and what I’ve jettisoned over the years, why I’ve done that, and what those revisions have yielded. I’ve not been able to share my students’ ratings of the books they’ve read each semester. I’ve not been able to share the development of course outcomes over the years. What I have learned---or at least been reminded of---is this: it has been a blessing to be involved in this dynamic, creative, meaningful field. My syllabi have reminded me that I still haven’t figured out the best way of teaching YA literature to English majors, but that with revision, I can at least keep improving the course.
I’ve also been reminded that sometimes I pity my English department colleagues who specialize in studying one (dead) author or in one (historic) era; they are brilliant scholars who have a locked case to work with. They know there will be no new texts to study, and that means that much of their work involves coming up with new, innovative ways to look at old texts and dead authors.
The dynamic nature of YA literature allows people like me to admire and be surprised by a constant flow of new texts while still trying to find new and exciting ways to look at new (and old) texts and living (and dead) authors. The files and the books that fill my office are reminders of a career that I have loved, and these relics---syllabi, books, files---are old and new friends.
All are pleasant reminders of my career in YA lit.
I’ve also been reminded that sometimes I pity my English department colleagues who specialize in studying one (dead) author or in one (historic) era; they are brilliant scholars who have a locked case to work with. They know there will be no new texts to study, and that means that much of their work involves coming up with new, innovative ways to look at old texts and dead authors.
The dynamic nature of YA literature allows people like me to admire and be surprised by a constant flow of new texts while still trying to find new and exciting ways to look at new (and old) texts and living (and dead) authors. The files and the books that fill my office are reminders of a career that I have loved, and these relics---syllabi, books, files---are old and new friends.
All are pleasant reminders of my career in YA lit.
| A former high school English teacher, Chris Crowe is now a Professor of English at Brigham Young University where he teaches courses in YA literature, English education, and creative writing. A long-time member of ALAN, he has also served on its board of directors and as its president in 2001-2002. He has published books and articles about YA literature, including Presenting Mildred D. Taylor, and has published fiction and nonfiction for young adult readers, including the novel Mississippi Trial, 1955 and the nonfiction book Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case. |  |
Until next week.
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