Academic Catalog

Is a critical study of literature intended for adolescent and pre-adolescent readers. Themes include coming of age, formation of identity, community and society, the journey, and other common themes in YA literature. Students become familiar with a variety of YA genres, which may include dystopian fiction, sci fi and fantasy literature, contemporary realistic fiction, non-fiction, and multimodal texts. Attention is given to issues of censorship of YA literature and pedagogical resources for the use of YA literature in the classroom and how the identity formation process is affected when adolescents encounter people from different racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and/or economic backgrounds. Prerequisite: ENGL 121.