New Perspectives in Young Adult Literature

our ability to read everything about a subject we love—young adult literature—is impossible at best. Too often, we give a cursory glance to that we favor, hoping someday, we will have the time and the inclination to read all that we missed, and then some. The purpose of this column—The Research Connection—is to help alleviate this very concern. True, you want to read every young adult novel that crosses your path and every article about young adult literature that is left unread on your desk and coffee table, but time just does not permit. And, even if you did, would it not be good to have someone else digest the latest about young adult literature for your own reading pleasure? That is the purpose of this column. The ALAN Review Research Connection is designed to inform readers about what is new in the study of young adult literature, and what still needs to be said. As the field of young adult literature grows, more and more teachers are beginning to incorporate young adult short stories and novels into their classroom lessons. Today, it is not as unusual to hear about a novel by Chris Crutcher, for example, appearing along side a classic by Twain or Dickens. Indeed, my daughter read Crutcher’s Chinese Handcuffs (Laurel Leaf, 1996) the very same year that she read Romeo and Juliet. I was pleased that her eleventh grade English teacher made time for both. And the fact that she did only underlines how far we have come as active leaders in the dissemination of young adult literature as a vital and engaging part of today’s standard middle and high school English curriculum. It means we are doing something “right.” That said, here is a summary and review of some of the more recent and prominent articles concerning the field of young adult literature: