Critical Foundations in Young Adult Literature: Challenging Genres

Antero Garcia

Sense Publishers, Oct 11, 2013 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 164 pages

 Young Adult literature, from The Outsiders to Harry Potter, has helped shape the cultural landscape for adolescents perhaps more than any other form of consumable media in the twentieth and twenty-first century. With the rise of mega blockbuster films based on these books in recent years, the young adult genre is being co-opted by curious adult readers and by Hollywood producers. However, while the genre may be getting more readers than ever before, Young Adult literature remains exclusionary and problematic: few titles feature historically marginalized individuals, the books present heteronormative perspectives, and gender stereotypes continue to persist.

Taking a critical approach, Young Adult Literature: Challenging Genres offers educators, youth librarians, and students a set of strategies for unpacking, challenging, and transforming the assumptions of some of the genre's most popular titles. Pushing the genre forward, Antero Garcia builds on his experiences as a former high school teacher to offer strategies for integrating Young Adult literature in a contemporary critical pedagogy through the use of participatory media.

Contents

• Just Who Exactly Is Young Adult: 1
• The Harry Potter Effect: 13
• Race Multiculturalism and YA: 37
• Exclusion and PostColonial Theory: 59
• Constructions of Identity and Gender: 77
• Critical Pedagogy: 95
• Dont Forget to Be Awesome: 109
• Looking Ahead at the Genre: 129
• References: 135
• Index: 141

About the author

 Antero Garcia is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Colorado State University. Prior to moving to Colorado, Antero was an English teacher at a public high school in South Central Los Angeles. Antero completed his Ph.D. in the Urban Schooling division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, Antero's research focuses on developing critical literacies and civic identity through the use of participatory media and gameplay in formal learning environments. Antero's research has appeared in numerous journals including The Harvard Educational Review, English Journal, and Rethinking Schools.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Critical Foundations in Young Adult Literature: Challenging Genres; Volume 4 of Critical Literacy Teaching Series; Volume 4 of Critical literacy teaching series, challenging authors and genre
• Author: Antero Garcia
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Sense Publishers, 2013
• ISBN: 9462093962, 9789462093966
• Length: 164 pages
• Subjects: Education / Administration / Elementary & Secondary; Education / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Literacy; Literary Criticism / Children's Literature; Philosophy / Movements / Critical Theory