Course Overview

This course serves as an introduction to the world of Young Adult creative literature. All of the works read in this course are fiction and the majority are classified as Young Adult or Middle grade children’s novels. The fictional works are almost entirely in the fantasy realm, with magic and special abilities playing a role in quite a few of them.

This course also leans heavily towards Young Adult novels that adapt some type of source material. Where that be a body of collected classical mythology from a specific group, an individual work of classical literature of performance, histories of colonialism, imperialism, or racism, or an individual’s own story. The common thread throughout all the texts is that they feature young people in their pages.

By the end of this course, students will gain an appreciation for Young Adult literature and be able to discuss its value as a collection of tools with which youth can use to build their identities. This can include personal, academic, and professional identities - i.e. what their values are, what they might study in school if they pursue higher education, what career they might choose, et cetera.

No background in Young Adult literature is required for this course. It is designed for undergraduate students interested in studies in English.