Essentials of Young Adult Literature [Paperback]

Essentials of Young Adult Literature, 2/e

Based on a genre approach to literature, Essentials of Young Adult Literature offers students and instructors a well-organized, clearly-written overview of young adult literature.  The text includes extensive recommended book lists organized by genre and topic and annotated for ease of selection. The text includes clearly stated positions on resistant readers, censorship, the literary canon, accountability, and technology.

Written by well-known authors Carl Tomlinson and Carol Lynch-Brown, this text places emphasis on having students read a wide variety of young adult literature while addressing all types and formats of literature including novels, short stories, graphic novels, and picture books for older readers. It will prepare pre-service teachers to integrate literature into the middle-grade and high school curricula and help them to find reading materials of interest to their students. Multicultural and international literature are integrated throughout the text and treated fully in a separate chapter. Additionally, notable authors are featured in each genre chapter.

KEY FEATURES

• Succinct yet comprehensive coverage of subject matter appropriate for beginning and advanced students of young adult literature which provides instructors with basic information and allows them to tailor their courses to suit their own preferences.
• Logical, well-organized structure and clear writing to help students comprehend and retain the content.
• Thorough treatment of important issues including censorship, accountability as influenced by the major current reports on the status of reading in the United States, the classics, and technology.
• Extensive lists of recommended books in each genre chapter organized by topic; annotated for ease of selection; and complete with recommended age levels.
• In-depth coverage of multicultural and international YA literature, graphic novels, and picture books for older readers.
• Separate chapter devoted to addressing the needs of resistant readers to provide middle-grade and high school teachers’ strategies for addressing common obstacles to reading and for motivating students to read.
• Useful charts and tables in each genre chapter presenting milestone books, history, and notable young adult authors specific to that genre.
• Extensive use of charts, tables, and bulleted lists to present information in an easily-read and understandable format.
• Handy appendix of awards recognizing distinguished young adult literature with listings of the winning titles.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Carl M. Tomlinson taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children’s literature and language arts at Northern Illinois University. As an elementary school teacher, he packed his classroom with good children’s books and read aloud to his students every day. His research interests are literature-based reading and international children’s literature. In addition to Essentials of Young Adult Literature, he has co-authored Essentials of Children’s Literature (Allyn and Bacon) and is the editor of Children’s Books from Other Countries (Scarecrow/USBBY).

Carol Lynch-Brown taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children’s and young adult literature, reading, and language arts education at Florida State University.  She was a teacher in elementary school, grades 1, 2, and 4, and in middle school, grades 6 to 8, in St. Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools. She also taught English to young adults in French public schools. Literature was the foundation of her instruction in all these classroom situations. She is currently raising a teenaged grandson and seeing, once again, the benefits of literature in a young person’s life.