Literature for Young Adults: Books (and More) for Contemporary Readers

by Joan L. Knickerbocker, James A. Rycik

Now in its second edition, this book explores a great variety of genres and formats of young adult literature while placing special emphasis on contemporary works with nontraditional themes, protagonists, and literary conventions that are well suited to young adult readers. It looks at the ways in which contemporary readers can access literature and share the works they're reading, and it shows teachers the resources that are available, especially online, for choosing and using good literature in the classroom and for recommending books for their students' personal reading. In addition to traditional genre chapters, this book includes chapters on literary nonfiction; poetry, short stories, and drama; and film. Graphic novels, diversity issues, and uses of technology are also included throughout the text. The book's discussion of literary language--including traditional elements as well as metafictive terms--enables readers to share in a literary conversation with their peers (and others) when communicating about books. This book is an essential resource for preservice educators to help young adults understand and appreciate the excellent literature that is available to them.

New to the second edition:



New popular authors, books, and movies with a greater focus on diversity of literature



Updated coverage of new trends, such as metafiction, a renewed focus on nonfiction, and retellings of canonical works



Increased attention to graphic novels and multimodal texts throughout the book



eResources with downloadable materials, including book lists, awards lists, and Focus Questions

354 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book mainly written for students taking an education course and meant to be a textbook but if it were to win an award, I’d say it would be for being written by a robot. The way this book is written and structured isn’t for learning or reading but to be as deadly as possible. It’s more structured for reviewing before taking a rote standardized test for shallow short term learning. It’s even more depressing that it’s about literature. Using an excuse that it’s a textbook or efferent reading is not welcome for this passionless book on literature. It’s awful to see the choppiness and lack of good writing. The story is about... is a phrase used umpteen million times in this textbook. If you want to teach teachers about teaching literature, the first rule is to write a textbook one can read and feel good about. Don’t be a passionless robot.