Young+Adult+Literature+Since+1960

According to Gerhardt (1975) young adult literature, originally labeled juvenile and later adolescent literature, can trace its roots as a distinct genre to the early 1960’s, and it has since, through a somewhat circuitous route, found its way into the classroom. Throughout the 1960’s and through most of the 1970’s, young adult literature had little to no effect on the curricula of schools and language arts classes. Most of the references to YA literature came in the form of references from Library Journal to YA booklists and recommendations for students as independent reading as opposed to texts that were meant for serious consideration as part of a curriculum. During the early 1980’s, the first concerted effort to help instructors find appropriate YA literature for the classroom came in the form of evaluation tools and checklists of the type provided by Agee (1980) and Munat (1981) meant to help instructors sift through the body of YA literature in search of YA texts of “literary merit”. Additionally, YA literature began to find its way into critical and theoretical studies and discussions such as Probst (1986) by the mid-1980’s. This was an important movement because the formal study of YA literature a more credible academic weight that allowed it to be taken more seriously as a possibility for the classroom. Moreover, the issues represented in young adult lives and literature began to be part of the discussion which further illuminated the education power and potential of YA literature. By the 1990’s YA literature became a regular part of school curricula, with a great deal of energy development devoted to effectively incorporating YA literature texts. Sacco (1991) provided teachers with a set of nineteen guidelines for writing rationales to include YA literature in their classrooms. Actions such as this indicate the increasing desire among educators to incorporate YA literature into the education of their students even as they grappled with the theoretical, educational, and practical issues involved in so doing. The mid 1990’s saw YA literature come to embrace the multi-cultural movements of the 1990’s. Garter (1995) prepared an annotated bibliography specifically designed to provide multi-cultural selections that teachers could use in class The 2000’s saw YA literature finally achieve considerable to full acceptance as acceptable and fruitful text for the language arts classroom. Pope and Kaywell (2001) provided excellent tips and ideas on preparing pre-service teachers and teaching programs on YA literature instruction, dealing in a comprehensive way with all of the issues that had been engaged with piecemeal in the preceding decades. By the mid 2000’s YA literature had transitioned from being a somewhat monolithic genre to a huge and robust variety of texts, styles, and narratives that appealed to and were often targeted at specific gender, racial, cultural, religious, economic, and other sub-groups within adolescent populations. Hillberg (2006) even went so far as to suggest the use of YA literature in school-wide anti-bullying programs, moving the genre beyond the walls of the language arts classroom and into the realm of the school community in general. References: Agee, H. (1980). Hackneyed, Acned, or Just Plain Good: Perceiving Quality in Young Adult Fiction. Berger, P. (1986). Suicide in Young Adult Literature. //The High School Journal//, 70(1), 14-19. Combined Book Exhibit, I. Y. (1970). //Red, White and Black (and Brown and Yellow): Minorities in America. A Bibliography//. Gartenberg, D. (1995). //Stories about People of Mixed Ethnicity. An Annotated Bibliography//. Gerhardt, L. N. (1975). Still Alive: 15 Years of “Best Books for Young Adults”. //School Library Journal//, //22//(2), 82. Hillsberg, C., & Spak, H. (2006). Young Adult Literature as the Centerpiece of an Anti-Bullying Program in Middle School. //Middle School Journal//, //38//(2), 23-28. Munat, F. (1981). A Checklist for High/Low Books for Young Adults. //School Library Journal//, //27//(8), 23. Pope, C. and Kaywell, J (2001). Conversations from the Commissions: Preparing Teachers to Teach Young Adult Literature. //English Education//, 33(4), 323-327. Probst, R. (1986). Mom, Wolfgang, and Me: Adolescent Literature, Critical Theory, and the English Classroom. //The English Journal//, 75(6), 33-39. Sacco, M. T. (1991). //Writing Rationales for Using Young Adult Literature in the Classroom//.