Why YA Literature?

Today I visited (virtually, of course) an English Methods at Sonoma State University taught by Assistant Professor Fawn Canady, a former doctoral student at UNLV. It was great to have free rein to talk about reasons to use YA Literature in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classes. For the life of me, I don't understand why this is still a question. Yet, I think it goes to show how embedded traditionally structured English course are within schools. We still depend on "tried and true" texts that are already in book rooms and are familiar to teachers. 

Granted, it is expensive and difficult to acquire enough new copies of a book or of several books to provide more options in the classroom. But, if we do have the funds to score, let's say two hundred copies of To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, or of A Separate Peace, is that the best use of the funds for a school with a highly diverse population. I do like all of these books, I enjoyed teaching them, and many of my students read them multiple times. At the same time, all of these books promote a white dominate cultural narrative. While informative, they do not represent the needs of many of the students in today's classroom. 

It might be a better idea to 20 copies of 10 YA titles and implement a variety of Literature Circle strategies and let students have some choice. If you can buy 400 copies then buy 20 YA titles, and if you can buy 600 buy 30 YA titles. You see where this is going. Now imagine the range of titles, topics, and genres that you can include. What if you enhance this project by include the Librarians and have schools districts support libraries and media centers? 

I would like to cover some of the points I made in Fawn's class today. Some of the traditional complaints against YA Literature include:

1. YA isn't quality literature. 
2. The YA classification isn't the classics and don't students need to know them and have a flow of literary history?
3. We have standards to meet.
4. We don't have the books and we have to teach what we have?

I will briefly discuss each point. Today, I will discuss the first one and the others in subsequent weeks. 

YA isn't quality literature. ​

The debate on this topic should be over. The first article I published in 2005 dealt with this issue. I discussed how Joesph Bruchac creates a novel, The Heart of a Chief,  that uses symbolic language, strong character development, and a dynamic plot to demonstrate that quality literature exists within the YA classification. I realized that all of my training as an English major could be used to demonstrate the literary quality of many novels in the classification. I probably could have written paper after paper analyzing and explicating quality YA literature, Instead, I turned a bit more attention to encouraging preservice and in-service teachers to use these books.

Sure, many novels within the classification are not of high literary quality. Many are just pulp fiction. It has always existed since the Ragged Dick novels and the abundance of serial novels that brought us Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and  the Sue Barton Nurse novels. However, the ones that of high literary quality are worth reading, sharing, and celebrating.

While it is true with YA literature it as always been true of adult fiction. For every William Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy, we have 20 to 30 writers who might spin a decent story like Ludlum, Grisham, Patterson, Clancy and others. Some adults with National Book Award (and other awards) and many don't.  Just has some YA fiction win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature (and other awards0 and many don't. It doesn't mean they aren't fun or worthy reading. Take Twilight, for example. it is a fun read with a twist on vampire mythology, but should it be the focus of curriculum unit? (Not automatically, but I would even argue that combined with a collection of other materials, It might be the center of a curriculum unit.)

If you are looking for literary quality, look closely at Neal Schusterman's Scythe.  It is another book that takes a spin on another myth, the myth of the grim reaper. At the same time, the difference in literary quality between Scythe and Twilight is significant. No one would question the monetary success and popularity of Twilight, but it wasn't a Printz Honor book. If don't believe me read them both and apply your English major analytical skills and see how it plays out. 

Be careful, I am not saying that Twilight isn't fun, enjoyable, and compelling, yet Scythe is several steps above in literary quality and equally fun, enjoyable, and compelling.

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If you want YA with literary quality. I think you have to read widely, look at the long and short lists of the all of the awards, and follow the advice of scholars, teachers, librarians, and readers that you come to trust. I think that the Weekend Picks in this blog are often a good place to start. In addition, many of the books highlighted in the blog post have staying power and literary quality. Mind you, this isn't always true, sometime we overestimate the quality and staying power of a book. Most of the books discussed here are in the clear discussion of literary quality. Many will stand the test of time some will fall short, but in reality they won't fall too far from it pedestal. They aren't pulp, but what if they were? I learned a lot about plot, character, and setting reading the pulp fiction of Louis L'Amour before I realized that How the West Was Won or Sitka were a step above many of the others. Then I found the western novels of A. B. Guthrie Jr.-The Big Sky, The Way West and These Thousand Hills, Walter Van Tilburg Clark-The Ox-bow Incident, and Owen Wister- The Virginian and I discover a whole new group of Westerns with an elevated level of literary quality.  

Below is a collection of recent YA novels that I believe are of high literary quality and will stand the test of time. And no, I won't pick a favorite. In fact, I know their should be a few more. Put a few of them on you to be read list. Try them out and let me know, Maybe you will have a blog post for me in a few months.

Until next week.