Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues

by Mingshui Cai

There is much discussion of multiculturalism in education. This is especially true of multicultural literature for children and young adults. The rise of multicultural literature is a political rather than a literary movement; it is a movement to claim space in literature and in education for historically marginalized social groups rather than one to renovate the craft of literature itself. Multicultural literature has been closely bound with the cause of multiculturalism in general and thus has been confronted with resistance from conservatives. This book discusses many of the controversial issues surrounding multicultural literature for children and young adults.



The volume begins with a look at some of the foundational and theoretical issues related to multicultural literature. The second part of the book addresses issues related to the creation and critique of multicultural literature, including the authorship of such works and the role of the reader in determining whether or not a work is multicultural. The third looks at the place of multicultural literature in the education of children and young adults. Throughout its discussion, the book makes extensive references to a large body of multicultural fiction and provides a thorough review of research on this important topic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theory

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2002

Reviews

[Molly]

I read this for my "Multicultural Literature for Children" course in library school. I remember it being pretty good.

[Ricki]

This is an important book for all researchers and educators interested in the field of multicultural literature. It is incredibly informative.

[Elyce]

Textbook - I did not enjoy this even as a textbook because Cai contradicts his every thought in the following paragraph. He asks a million question and we never get an idea of what might be the correct answer.

[Karla]

Essential.