Constructing the Adolescent Reader in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction

by Elisabeth Gruner

This book examines the way young adult readers are constructed in a variety of contemporary young adult fictions, arguing that contemporary young adult novels depict readers as agents. Reading, these novels suggest, is neither an unalloyed good nor a dangerous ploy, but rather an essential, occasionally fraught, by turns escapist and instrumental, deeply pleasurable, and highly contentious activity that has value far beyond the classroom skills or the specific content it conveys. After an introductory chapter that examines the state of reading and young adult fiction today, the book examines novels that depict reading in school, gendered and racialized reading, reading magical and religious books, and reading as a means to developing civic agency. These examinations reveal that books for teens depict teen readers as doers, and suggest that their ability to read deeply, critically, and communally is crucial to the development of adolescent agency.

Genres: Nonfiction

203 pages, Hardcover

Published June 4, 2019

Reviews

[Jude]

This book is extremely useful and insightful for anyone interested in YA fiction. I found it fascinating, fairly easy to read, an very well-written in a reader-friendly style that inserts observations on the author's own childhood reading. Highly recommended.

[Caroline]

Such a smart take on contemporary YA, beautifully grounded in the author's own childhood and teenage reading life. It's inspired me to add more books to my reading list!