Today's YA Wednesday post is from a new contributor, Terri Suico. Terri is an assistant professor at St. Mary's College. Terri and I have been hanging around at the same conferences for several years. The questions she asks in the title are concepts I think about all of the time. She frames the situation quite nicely in this post. She is also conducting a study around the topic and is soliciting participants to take a survey and perhaps do an interview. Perhaps you or, if you are teaching preservice teachers, some of your students would like to participate. Terri, thanks for the thoughtful post.
“I feel like young adult literature is a misnomer. Calling it ‘literature’ gives it too much credit.”
“I don’t want to teach YA. I went into teaching so I could teach real literature.”
“I might use YA with middle schoolers, but I’d never use it with older students. It wouldn’t have anything to offer them.”
These are just a few of the very real comments I’ve heard when discussing the use of young adult literature in the English classroom. They might sound like something you would hear from a stereotypical and uncompromisingly traditional English teacher whose experience with YAL was during the era of formulaic series books. However, these remarks are from some of the teacher candidates I have worked with in different education programs. These individuals have been, to a person, thoughtful, well-read, and motivated. They’ve also shown great eagerness to teach and share their interest in literature. Their stated goals for teaching have included wanting to cultivate a love of reading in their students. Furthermore, they grew up and live during an era that YAL expert Michael Cart has called the second “golden age of young adult fiction” (CNN), with books like the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series gaining legions of readers and becoming entrenched in popular culture. These characteristics seem at odds with their vehement rejection of young adult literature and its place in the secondary English classroom. Rather than seeing YAL as being worthy of study in its own right or even viewing it as a way of getting students to enjoy reading, they see it as undeserving of serious consideration. On the other hand, I also have worked and currently work with future teachers who embrace YAL and see it as a vital and valuable part of the curriculum.
These conflicting opinions are nothing new. Indeed, they mirror the battle over young adult literature that has raged since the genre first emerged in 1942. Concerns with YAL have often addressed its quality. In a December 1956 article for NCTE’s English Journal entitled “Literature for Adolescents – Pap or Protein?”, reading specialist and education professor Frank G. Jennings obviously decided it was the former, stating that “the stuff of adolescent literature, for the most part, is mealy-mouthed, gutless, and pointless” (p.526). This sentiment (or variations of it) has echoed through the years, with detractors of YAL decrying its lack nuance or complexity.
In 2014, Slate contributor Ruth Graham caused an uproar in internet book circles when she wrote an article unambiguously entitled “Against YA: Adults Should Be Embarrassed to Read Children’s Books”. Besides perceptions of YAL’s sentimentality and simplicity, others have voiced concerns over its subversive content, such as sexuality and drug use. These concerns have led young adult books to be frequently banned and challenged according to the American Library Association.
In 2014, Slate contributor Ruth Graham caused an uproar in internet book circles when she wrote an article unambiguously entitled “Against YA: Adults Should Be Embarrassed to Read Children’s Books”. Besides perceptions of YAL’s sentimentality and simplicity, others have voiced concerns over its subversive content, such as sexuality and drug use. These concerns have led young adult books to be frequently banned and challenged according to the American Library Association.
Young adult literature also has ardent advocates. Reaction online to Graham’s article was swift, with defenders of YAL ranging from Julie Beck of The Atlantic to Mark Medley of National Post to Elisabeth Donnelly of Flavorwire decrying Graham’s contentions. Book sales also attest to YAL’s popularity; a study released in 2015 by the Association of American Publishers found that “the area of largest growth for the trade [book] category was children and young adult,” with young adult books selling over 700 million units in 2014. Beyond journalists, bloggers, and buyers, YAL has also received support from the professional and academic realms. Besides promoting for scholarship in YAL, the NCTE and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE (ALAN) champion YAL’s use in the English classroom and offer resources to help and encourage teachers to include it in the curriculum. The NCTE has reinforced this by embedding knowledge of adolescent literature into its teacher preparation standards. Books by educators and researchers, such as Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher (reviewed here), edited by Judith A. Hayn, Jeffrey S. Kaplan and Karina R. Clemmons, provide additional insight into adolescent literature’s worth when working with adolescents and further substantiate its place in the curriculum.
Considering the sometimes-heated back-and-forth between YAL’s detractors and its devoted champions brings us back to thinking about aspiring English teachers and their impressions on the books’ value as literature and place in the English curriculum. Do they, like the students quoted at the start of this post, align with Jennings and Graham? Or do they find YAL meaningful when it comes to reading and teaching? Furthermore, how did they come to form these views? What do these things mean for the future of YAL and its role in the English classroom? The research I’m doing seeks to answer these questions. Besides adding to the study and conversation on YAL, this information might also allow us to get a better sense of what the future holds for YAL, particularly in terms of its place in schools.
For those interested in participating, please visit the online survey (linked here) or contact me for more information. The survey takes around 5-10 minutes, and participants who complete it and include their contact information will be entered in a drawing for one of two $25 gift cards. In the survey, participants have the option to take part in a one-on-one interview to discuss their ideas in more depth. Those who complete the interview will receive a $15 gift card and will still be eligible for the survey drawing.
For those interested in participating, please visit the online survey (linked here) or contact me for more information. The survey takes around 5-10 minutes, and participants who complete it and include their contact information will be entered in a drawing for one of two $25 gift cards. In the survey, participants have the option to take part in a one-on-one interview to discuss their ideas in more depth. Those who complete the interview will receive a $15 gift card and will still be eligible for the survey drawing.
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