Young Adult literature

Remember that there is not much difference between children's literature and YA literature as a classification. If you can't find what you are looking for below, check out the Children's literature or travel to the link for teachers and/or graduate research

Click here to enter the Young Adult Discussion Board

Lists of Books for Young Adults, authors, journals and other material

• Young Adult Literature Course--complete with Reading Responses and links to many YA books
• List of books I have recommended for Young Adults, very brief summaries, some with links to Amazon.com
• Historical and Multicultural books in Young Adult literature

• Young Adult: Middle and Secondary: a new source for teachers
• Some very good books for Young Adults--suitable for the classroom
• Mythology for use in the YA classroom--Icarus and Daedalus
• Mythman's Homework Help--a guide to all kinds of mythology
• Using the short story in the YA classroom--from ALAN
• Biography and Autobiography Resources for the study of Young adult literature
• YALSA Lists of books for Young Adults
• An article from ALAN that discusses Young Adult books specifically for reluctant male readers
• Lists of Teen Books from Teen Services Berkeley
• SJSU library links to periodicals and indexes about Young Adult Readings
• What's Good to Read for Young Adults?--a great directory
• YA Virtual Library (links to all sorts of sources)
• American Library Association Young Adult Series--YALSA's multiple lists of books
  • An article from ALAN discussing YA books focusing on the medieval period
• YA Sites with full e-texts available
• Young Adult suggestions: A definitive collection of net links
• Themed Reviews of Books for Young Adults: some different and very engaging books

Discussion groups and library links for YAs

• Study Questions for YA books
• Study Questiions for Books taught in Children's lit and YA lit courses
• Educational link to discussion groups
• A really good listing of ebooks for Young Readers from University of Virginia
• Trends in Young Adult Literature
• YA books linked according to theme and topic
• Viewpoint: On Book Lists and Articles about Young Adult Literature
• A search engine for finding discussion groups, list serves, etc in a specific area of interest
• How-to page for joining and finding information on the Child-lit listserve
• YA--Virtual Library, main page
• One Librarian's links to K-12 libraries
• Library teen links
• New York Public Library's Teen Links
• Young Adult Librarian's help page
• Guide for Educators:a comprehensive link source
• Odysseus--a project by Graham Patten, from Massachusetts for a unit on The Odyssey

Specific Books for the Young Adult Classroom

A short story to be discussed the first day of class:"Flowers" by Alice Walker

Catcher in the Rye

• Catcher in the Rye--a summary of important issues--see also YA Lit
  • Catcher in the Rye --study questions
  • Three different versions of Robert Burns's "Comin' thro the rye"
  • Glossary for Burns's works
  • Richard Cartoni's RR to Catcher in the Rye
  • Grant Maher's RR to Catcher in the Rye
  • Allison Moss-Fritch's RR
  • Patricia Erisson Johnson's RR
  • A sample theme from Writing Themes about Literature on Catcher in the Rye
• J. D. Salinger Link
  • J. D. Salinger home page
  • Page Index to Catcher: includes wonderful notes
  • a Photographic album to enhance Catcher
  • Censorship of a new sort: Salinger and the Web
  • The Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye
  • Lesson Plans, Anticipation Guide, and many helpful hints for reading the book
• Review of Real Boys by Jay M. Dunlap--information that relates to our study of Holden

Jumping the Nail

• Study Questions for Jumping the Nail
• Eve Bunting: Teacher Resources
• a talk with Eve Bunting--interesting although not about JTN
• Various Articles about Peer Pressure
• A Peer Pressure Unit for Seventh Grade
• Reading Response from Spring 2000
• Another RR from Spring 2000

Holes

• Brief Biography of Louis Sachar
• The life of Louis Sachar
• Meet the author: Louis Sachar
• Teacher Resource Page
• Activity Guide from Nancy Polette
• A brief quotation from Alice in Wonderland
• the Absurd in connection with Sisyphus--consider in connection with Stanley Yelnats.
• Post-structuralism and Structuralism--definitions
• A complete and thorough discussion of Post-Structuralism

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Other discussion questions for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:( even though this is not the book under discussion, it is the first book in the series) Discussion guide written by Kylene Beers and Teri Lesesne at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. **TM & © 1997-99 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.

• Articles from the NYTimes on Harry Potter
• "The Dark Underbelly of Writing Children's books" from NYTimes, July 8, 2000
• J. K. Rowling at Scholastic --a great site from the US publisher
• Muggles for Harry Potter
• Childhood friend of Rowling provided original concept of Harry
  • Harry Potter in the News--January 26, 2000
  • A new Children/YA site from UK: view to find out more about Rowling
  • one of the best Harry Potter sites
    • an interview by Scholastic with J. K. Rowling
    • an interview by Amazon with J. K. Rowling
    • a newspaper column by Joanne Jacobs---rational comments about censoring the Potter series
      • Salon.com site: Harry Potter
      • Harry Potter and Girl Trouble: The feminist article discussed in class March 13
• Reading Response on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--Francesca Ferracuti
• Reading Response on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--William Brown
• A new Children/YA site from UK: view to find out more about Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Other discussion questions for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:( even though this is not the book under discussion, it is the first book in the series) Discussion guide written by Kylene Beers and Teri Lesesne at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. **TM & © 1997-99 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Articles from the NYTimes on Harry Potter
  • "The Dark Underbelly of Writing Children's books" from NYTimes, July 8, 2000
  • J. K. Rowling at Scholastic --a great site from the US publisher
  • Muggles for Harry Potter
  • Childhood friend of Rowling provided original concept of Harry
    • Harry Potter in the News--January 26, 2000
    • A new Children/YA site from UK: view to find out more about Rowling
    • one of the best Harry Potter sites
      • an interview by Scholastic with J. K. Rowling
      • an interview by Amazon with J. K. Rowling
      • a newspaper column by Joanne Jacobs---rational comments about censoring the Potter series
        • Salon.com site: Harry Potter
        • Harry Potter and Girl Trouble: The feminist article discussed in class March 13
• Reading Response on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--Francesca Ferracuti
• Reading Response on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--William Brown
• A new Children/YA site from UK: view to find out more about Rowling

Briar Rose

• Briar Rose study questions
• Holocaust Resources for discussion of Briar Rose
• Political Manipulations of the Sleeping BeautyFairy Tale
• Numerous Variants of the Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tale
• Teen Books about the Holocaust
• Japanese Internment in the US
• Amazon's list of Teen books about the Holocaust
• YA Books about the Japanese Internment in the US
• Close Reading of No Pretty Pictures

A Lesson Before Dying

• Reading Groups regarding ALBD
  • More reading group guides
• High School Teachers' Guide to A Lesson Before Dying
• About A Lesson Before Dying and Ernest Gaines
• Real Books: Chapter 1 from A Lesson Before Dying
• chapter summaries and questions
• Comments from Greensboro Library
• National Book Circle Critics Award and commentary--a quite complete entry
• Jim Crow Laws--a complete lesson plan from Yale
• A Civil Rights Time Line, including links to other issues related to the novel
• Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech
• Virtual Tour of the National Civil Rights Museum
• the Depression--applicable to Gaines's book and Hesse's Out of the Dust
  • Lecture on the American Depression
• Exploring Prejudice in Young Adult literature--with discussion of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• "The Day the Fifties Became the Sixties" by John Kenny Crane, a short story

Lovely Bones

• Lovely Bones: Reading Guide

Specific Unit Lesson Plans for Middle & High School English Classes

• A list of e-texts for use in High School
• Shakespeare: free Study Questions to his plays--a great place to start
• A great assignment for Odysseus--written by Graham Patten
• Lesson Plans for Romeo and Juliet
• To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Questions for To Kill Mockingbird: from Bell High School
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • To Kill a Mockingbird: a Unit plan, complete
  • Harper Lee site
• The Giver teaching ideas
• The Giver: lesson Plans
• Belle Prater's Boy: lesson plans
• Steinbeck, John Of Mice and Men
  • Carlisle Floyd's opera, Of Mice and Men
  • John Steinbeck: Indiana University collection of valuable information
  • John Steinbeck's Page

Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens) Huckleberry Finn: Problems and issues

• On-line version
• Teaching Huck Finn: a guide to online sources
• Culture Shock: Huck Finn in Context
• Is Huck Finn a racist book?
• Teacher's Guide
  • Score Teachers' guide--temporarily unavailable, but keep checking
  • Huck Finn--trivia challenge, an on-line quiz
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: a summary
• A Reader's Guide and Discussion Questions
• Literary Interpretation and C.Perkins Gillman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Articles

• An essay about "Science Fiction as a Genre in Adolescent Literature" by Ken Keesee
• Melanie Klein: some basic differences from Freud, insights in the female psyche
• New article from December issue of Discover Magazine regarding the concept of time. This article may revolutionize the way we think out ourselves, the past, present, and future.
• "Hiding it from the Kids": Gerald Graff and Andrew Hoberek, College English November 1999
• Article about Film and the young adult novel
• article about a current YA controversy
• Illusion and Reality: excerpts from Virgina Hamilton's Newbery Acceptance speech--for better understanding of African American Young Adult literature
• A graduate course syllabus in Children's literature with critical readings
• Readings about Young Adult Literature from Kay Vandergrift's Rutgers University' web site
• article about challenging the canon
• a controversy about literature that concerns all English studies, Literature Lost: a review by Frank Kermode on Professor John Ellis's controversial book.

Short Stories and Poetry

• "Arturo's Flight"-- an inner-city ethnic short story from Island Like You by Judith Cofer
• "On the Sidewalk Bleeding" by Evan Hunter (a powerful short story that works well as an "into" for The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet
• The Day the Fifties Became the Sixties" by John Kenny Crane
• Excerpts from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• Young Adult Poetry: an excellent list of anthologies for poetry meant for Young Adults
• YA poems--a few multicultural ones
• A good listing of anthologies of poetry for YAs
• A listing of available short stories on the web

Don't You Dare Read This Mrs. Dumphrey: Explication

Number the Stars: Explication

• Check out this page for proper format regarding papers
• Having trouble writing a good thesis statement?
• Common Grammatical Errors to Avoid

These sites are also informative.