Young adult literature

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Young adult (YA) literature is literature written for, published for, or marketed to young adults. Many have a young adult protagonist. The American Library Association identifies young adults as ages 12-18. The boundaries between children's literature, adult literature, and YA literature are often flexible and loosely defined.

In recent years, YA literature has been increasingly treated as an object of serious study by children's literature critics.

Contents

[edit] History of YA

[edit] Nineteenth century

The first identification of young adults as a group that needed to be addressed and taught was by Sarah Trimmer in 1802, who described "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. However, nineteenth century publishers didn't specifically market to young readers, and adolescent culture didn't exist in a modern sense. Nonetheless, there were certainly books published in the nineteenth century that were extremely popular to readers in the 14-21 age group, such as Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857) and Treasure Island (1883).

[edit] Late 20th century

Shortly before the advent of modern publishing for the teen market, in 1954 two books were published for adults which had substantial impact on adolescent readers in the United States: The Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye. From the 1950s through the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, authors, publishers, and librarians began to recognize teens as an untapped market of readers with different literary needs than either adults or children. Teens were seen as confronting social problems inherent in adolesence, and books appeared which focused on controversial issues, particularly issues of sexuality. From Beverly Cleary's tame 1956 romance Fifteen, YA literature developed until there could be Judy Blume's controversial Forever (1975), about a teen's first sexual encounter. As sexual mores have changed, so have the boundaries of YA literature: Forever gave way in 1982 to Annie on My Mind, about two high school girls who fall in love, which paved the way for the 2004 National Book Award finalist Luna, about a girl who has a transgendered brother. Not all YA books are about sex, of course, though many do deal with issues of personal or social upheaval such as drugs, gangs, illness, crime, violence, peer pressure, or divorce. As related by Cat Yampbell:

The subject matter of a YA book is different depending on whether the book is intended for a thirteen-year-old or a seventeen-year-old. Despite intended age determinations for these books, liberals and conservatives continue to battle over the age appropriateness of subjects such as relationships, sex, drugs, and death. Judy Blume, an author of books for young readers, caused a scandal in 1975 with Forever, which is commonly considered the first YA book to deal with teen love and teen pregnancy. Although Bradbury Press infuriated Blume by advertising the book as Blume's first adult book, Forever is a Young Adult novel; it soon made its way into the teen audience (Foerstal 107). Sharyn November, senior editor at Puffin and Viking Children's Books, said "Gatekeepers often underestimate what teens can handle. [Teens] know a lot. They self-censor when they read--they skip over what they don't understand and focus on what makes sense to them at that point in their lives" (qtd. in Maughan, "Making").
Young Adult publishers are journeying into new and potentially dangerous subjects. One YA editor notes, "As more and more edgy fiction is being published, the books are dealing with issues that hadn't been dealt with before: oral sex, male rape, incest. There seem to be no boundaries any more" (qtd. in Milliot et al. 39). In 2004, bookstores were filled with YA books that addressed edgy subjects: Cynthia Voigt's When She Hollers (1994) and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (rape) (1999); Sarah Dessen's Dreamland (2000) and Alex Flinn's Breathing Underwater (2001) (emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive relationships); Patricia McCormick's Cut (2001), Shelley Stoehr's Crosses (1991), and Alice Hoffman's Green Angel (2003) (self-mutilation); Margaret Bechard's Hanging on to Max (2002) and Angela Johnson's The First Part Last (2003) (teen fatherhood); and Linda Glovach's Beauty Queen (1998) (most of the aforementioned issues as well as teenage exotic dancing, threesomes, and heroin addiction). Amazon.com enables teens to find particular issue books by clicking on "Teen Books," then "Social Issues," which provides headings such as "Dating and Intimacy," "Drug Use and Abuse," "Pregnancy," "Suicide," and "Violence." A search box allows users to enter one's own issue. Young Adult Literature has broken nearly every boundary of acceptable subject matter in trying to address real-life problems and intrigue teen readers.
"Judging a Book by Its Cover:  Publishing Trends in Young Adult Literature," by Cat Yampbell, The Lion and the Unicorn; Sep 2005; 29:3; Children's Module, The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp348-372, at p350-351.

The modern classification of young adult as a genre originated in libraries, in the 1950s and 1960s. As publishers increased their level of marketing to the emerging adolescent market, U.S. librarians began setting aside works which were expected to appeal to young adults in separate sections of libraries; both librarians and publishers began identifying this as a market distinct from either children's literature or books written for adults.

[edit] YA as genre

A loose definition of the term includes all works which are written for, published for, marketed to, or consumed by young adults, or books with themes that young adults might find interesting. In the mid 20th century, the term Juvenile fiction was used as the category essentially covering the same readership. There is a subtle difference between the old "juvenile" category and today's Young Adult, in that juveniles most notably avoided the "adult" themes characteristic of today's YA. However, the categories today are so overlapping that the novels published as juvenile fifty years ago now fit seamlessly into the YA category today. The term "juvenile" is now considered obsolete (and slightly insulting) by most writers in the field, although it is still seen in libraries and on the spines of many older books.

A more strict definition of the term defines young adult literature as that literature which deals with issues of adolescence, coming of age, and maturation into an adult. Occasionally the entire genre is stigmatized as problem novels, those books which focus on a child coping with an issue of concern to society or teens, such as eating disorders, sexuality, or drugs.

Examples of books that predate the classification of young adult, but are now frequently shelved in YA sections of libraries are The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Salinger's novel, with its troubled teenage protagonist, has been very influential on YA literature. Unlike most recent works classified as YA literature, these works were originally written with an adult audience in mind. [FitzGerald 2004, p. 62]

Graphic novels are especially popular with young adults and are being included in some public and school library collections. Diana Tixier Herald analyzed YA fiction genres in her book Teen Genreflecting (1997). She gives background on teen genre fiction and recommends specific authors and titles in dozens of categories, e.g. fantasy, mystery fiction, and romance novels. Some of the more unexpected subcategories are cyberpunk, splatterpunk, techno-thrillers, problem novels, and contemporary Christian fiction.

[edit] Publishing market

The blooming of YA literature in the U.S. in the late 1960s may be attributed, at least in part, to the availability of Title II funds for school libraries under the 1965 Elementary and Secondary School Educational Act. However, these funds diminished to a trickle in the 1980s; since then, YA literature in the U.S. has been mostly market-driven. [FitzGerald 2004, p. 66-67]

At present about 400 titles a year are published by major U.S. publishers that are considered to fall under the heading of YA literature. [FitzGerald 2004, p. 63] Well-known pioneers of YA fiction as a distinct category include Judy Blume, S.E. Hinton. Well-known authors of fiction for adults who have written at least one work for this genre include Michael Chabon (Summerland), Joyce Carol Oates (Big Mouth & Ugly Girl), and Francine Prose (After).

[edit] Awards

Since 1966, the ALA has put out an annual list of Best Books for Young Adults. The ALA also annually gives the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. Each year ALA and School Library Journal also recognize an author for his/her lifetime contributions to popular young adult literature with the Margaret A. Edwards Award. Past winners are S.E. Hinton (1988; no award 1989), Richard Peck (1990), Robert Cormier (1991), Lois Duncan (1992), M.E. Kerr (1993), Walter Dean Myers (1994), Cynthia Voigt (1995), Judy Blume (1996), Gary Paulsen (1997), Madeleine L'Engle (1998), Anne McCaffrey (1999), Chris Crutcher (2000), Robert Lipsyte (2001), Paul Zindel (2002), Nancy Garden (2003), Ursula K. Le Guin (2004), Francesca Lia Block (2005), and Jacqueline Woodson (2006).

[edit] References

  • Eccleshare, Julia [1996]. “Teenage Fiction: Realism, romances, contemporary problem novels”, Peter Hunt, ed.: International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. London: Routledge, 387-396.
  • Egoff, Sheila [1980]. “The Problem Novel”, Shiela Egoff, ed.: Only Connect: readings on children's literature, 2nd, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 356-369.
  • Frances FitzGerald, "The Influence of Anxiety" in Harper's, September 2004, p. 62-70
  • Nilsen, Alleen Pace (April 1994). "That Was Then ... This Is Now". School Library Journal 40 (4): 62-70.
  • Michael L. Printz Award
  • Margaret A. Edwards Award
  • Diana Tixier Herald. (1997) Teen Genreflecting. Libraries Unlimited.

[edit] Additional resources

[edit] Other publications

  • Authors and Artists for Young Adults, serial publication (Gale, 1989+) with bio-bibliographies of novelists, poets, dramatists, filmmakers, cartoonists, painters, architects, and photographers which appeal to teenagers. Entries typically are six to twelve pages in length, have a black & white photo of the author/artist and other illustrations. Recent volumes include a sidebar recommending similar books/works the reader might like also.
  • Books for the Teen Age, annual book list selected by teens for teens, sponsored by the New York Public Library [1]
  • Outstanding Books for the College Bound, put out by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), professional organization for librarians serving teens in either public libraries or school library/media centers; a division of ALA. [2]
  • Quick Picks, also by ALA/YALSA

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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