Young Adult Fiction Materials Format Minilesson

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Young Adult Fiction MaterialsFormat Mini-lesson

• Diane Brackman
• EDIT 6340, February 2006

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Page do not necessarily reflect the views of nor
are they endorsed by the University of Georgia or
the University System of Georgia.
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What is Young Adult Fiction (YAF)?

• Literature written with teenagers in mind
• Could include novels, books on tape, short
  stories.
• Confronts issues in which young adults are
  concerned
• Dating
• Fitting in
• Friendships
• Sex
• Drugs
• Self esteem
• School
• Relationships with parents and siblings

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Purpose of Young Adult Fiction

• Coping tool as reader connects with character
• Entertainment
• Can relate and promote schools curriculum
• Helps develop a lifelong love of reading
• Instills social responsibility and social action
  in youth

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YAF Focuses on Social IssuesIt Can Generate

• Passion
• Empathy for others
• Reflection on personal pain
• Respect for writing
• Moral development
• Empowerment

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YAF Genres and Subjects

• Abuse
• Adoption
• AIDS/all illnesses
• Alternative lifestyles
• Anger
• Apocalypse/end of world
• Christian fiction
• Classics
• Coming-of-age
• Crime
• Death
• Disabilities
• Divorce
• Drugs

• Eating disorders
• Family
• Fantasy (fairy tales)
• Friendships
• Gay and lesbian
• Heroic figures
• Historical fiction
• Horror
• Humor
• Mystery/thriller/suspense
• Politics
• Romance/love
• Science fiction
• Religious issues
• War issues

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How to Select Young Adult Fiction
YAF is the most often challenged material so
you must be careful!

• Does it relate to our community values
• Does the content match the needs/desires of our
  students
• Will it promote a love of reading among our
  students
• Will it relate to our curriculum
• Is there literary merit
• Use standard criteria from selection policy, too

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More on Selecting YAF

• Suggestions from teachers and students
• Survey student readers
• Read reviews
• Journals/titlewave.com
• Make sure collection reflects cultural diversity
  of school population

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Ideas for Attracting Teens to Books

• Display a popular magazine cover with a related
  book
• Sports Illustrated with a YA basketball book
• Time or Newsweek with a nonfiction title on the
  current topic
• Other connections fashion, film, skiing, nature
  magazines

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Ideas for Attracting Teens to Books

• Make large color posters with popular school
  athletes reading a book
• The students love to see their local hero's
  pictures and you create the image that reading is
  fun and cool, even for busy athletes
• Change the posters periodically

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Multi-Voiced Journaling Strategy to Foster
Socially-Conscious Thinking

• Process of writing has the potential to foster
  social imagination and promote understanding
• Read aloud a book
• Stop at a pre-determined spot and have students
  journal in a characters point of view
• Use a book with many characters, ideally with
  diverse points of view
• Examples of book Crossing Jordan by Adrian
  Fogelin, Naughts Crosses by Malorie Blackman

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Use YAF with Curriculum

• To introduce class to a new topic, read an
  excerpt from a book
• Example for a topic like Vietnam War, you could
  read a section from We were Soldiers OnceAnd
  Young Ia Drangthe battle that Changed the War
  in Vietnam by Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway

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Introducing Curriculum with Literature

• Introduce new curriculum by using literature
• http//www.carolhurst.com
• Lesson plans available for many subjects/themes
• Topics are fully developed with related
  children's books, and activities

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Vendors for Young Adult Fiction

• Follett Library Resources
• 1340 Ridgeview Drive, McHenry, Illinois 60050
• 1-800-435-6170
• www.follett.com
• Bound to Stay Bound
• 1880 W. Morton Avenue, Jacksonville, Illinois
  62650
• 1-800-637-6586
• www.btsb.com
• Baker and Taylor, Inc.
• 2550 West Tyvola Road, Suite 300, Charlotte, NC
  28217
• Phone [phone]
• www.btol.com

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To Find the Best of the Best YAF

• Alex Awards (adult books for YAs 12-18)
  http//www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/alex/
• Best Books for YAs (fiction and nonfiction for
  YAs 12-18) http//www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/bby
  a/
• Margaret A. Edwards Award (lifetime achievement
  for YA author) http//www.ala.org/yalsa/edwards/
• Printz Awards (fiction for YAs 12-18)
  http//www.ala.org/yalsa/printz
• For more lists http//www.seemore.mi.org/booklist
  s/fiction.html

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References

• Book Smart Network. Young adult books. Retrieved
  February 9, 2006 from http//www.bookspot.com/you
  ngadultfeature.htm
• Hipes, D. (2006). Whats new in young adult
  literature and how to use it in your program. WA
  Bureau of Education Research. pp 35, 54, 58,
  122.
• Van Orden, P. and Bishop, K. (2001). The
  collection program in schools Concepts,
  practices, and information sources, 3rd ed.
  Englewood, CA Libraries Unlimited, p. 209.
• Wasman, A. M. (1998). New steps to service.
  Chicago American Library Association. p 80.