ya boundary breakers and makers

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Young Adult Literature: YA Boundary Breakers and MakersAuthor(s): Chris CroweReviewed work(s):Source: The English Journal, Vol. 91, No. 6 (Jul., 2002), pp. 116-118Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/821837 .

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Young Adul tLiteratureCHRIS CROWE, EDITOR

YABOUNDARYREAKERSNDMAKERSVincentvan Gogh. PabloPicasso. GeorgiaO'Keefe.Jackson Pollock. Andy Warhol. These painters, allincredibly famous now, were at one time on thefringe of the art world, creating their own kind ofart,work that pushed back the boundaries of artis-tic conventions, broke traditional rules, and pro-duced paintingsthat redefined "art."Theirpaintingsare so well known now that it's easy to take forgrantedthe impactthese artistshad on the artworld,but their challenges to existingstandardsand formshave had a lasting impact on modem art.

Youngadult literature has also had its shareof people who have stretched-and broken-traditional boundaries of literature for childrenand adolescents, and their contributionshave beeninstrumental in creatingand shapingwhat we todayknow as young adult literature. It would be impos-sible to mention everyone who has had a significanteffect on YA iterature,but I'm goingto review a fewof those people who are most familiar to me. Con-sider this article a starting point for a discussion orstudy of the foundations of YAliterature. Then onyour own you can fill in the gaps I've left unfilledand the names I've left unmentioned.

Though I cannot bear to read the novel, Ihave to admit thatLouisaMayAlcott'sLittle Women(1868) had animmediate andlastingeffect on booksfor young readers. Her story about the March girlsappealed to teenage readers of her day and contin-ues to interest many modern young adults. Ofcourse there were popular novels before LittleWomen, but its success alerted publishers to themarket power of books for young women. In thesame year, Horatio Alger published Ragged Dick(1868), the firstof his "rags o riches" stories.Alger'snovels would never reach the level of literary ac-ceptance of Little Women,but the sheer volume of

his work made a lastingimpression on young Amer-ican boys in the late nineteenth century and on thepublisherswho had discoveredteen boys-and theirparents-as a viable market. Near the end of thenineteenth century,EdwardStratemeyer publishedthe first of his juvenile books, and its success even-tually led to the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate,which produced hundreds of novels and seriesbooks, including the Rover Boys, Nancy Drew, TomSwift, and the Hardy Boys over the next severaldecades. The books of Alcott, Alger, and Strate-meyer rubbedagainstsome of the literarystandardsof their time, but their popularitypounded awedgeinto the wall of Literature, creating a permanentopening for writers who would follow them.The StratemeyerSyndicatechurned out nov-els popular with young readers but not with theirteachers or librarians,and these pulp novels char-acterizedmanyof the books forteenagers publishedin the earlytwentieth century.At the time, most au-thors and publishers of juvenile novels were moreinterested in selling books than in creatingworksoflasting literary quality. In 1938, however, the fieldtook a step awayfrom its pulpyfoundation withJohnR. Tunis's ron Duke. Tuniswas one of the first writ-ers for young readers to successfully combine theelements of effective storytellingwith good writing.His sportsnovels raised the literarystandardfor thewriters of juvenile novels who would follow him.It was also in the 1930s that Dora V.Smith, aprofessor at the Universityof Minnesota, launchedthe idea of separatingbooks forteenagersfrombooksforchildren. Her classes were the first adolescent lit-erature courses taught in the United States. Smith'sprotege, G. Robert Carlsen,continued the traditionof teaching adolescent literature and in 1967 pub-lished Books and the Teen-AgeReader, one of theearliestbooksto focus on the interests of youngadultreaders and the literature hat wasmost likelyto ben-efit them. Kenneth L. Donelson and Alleen PaceNilsen, both formerstudents of Carlsen,further so-lidified the study of adolescent literature with thepublication of Literaturefor Today'sAdolescentsin1980. Theirtextbook,widelyused in universityyoungadult literaturecourses,is now retitledLiteratureforToday'sYoungAdults and is in its sixth edition.S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders (1967) blewopen the field. Hinton's remarkable narrativevoicecapturedthe imaginationof millionsof teenage read-ers and helped to establish the publishing categoryof adolescent literature.This debut novel,writtenby

g JULY 2002

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ateenagerfor eenagers,s stillthe standardagainstwhichmostyoungadultnovelsarejudged,andafter1967nearlyallmajorpublishers ealized hatignor-ing teenagereaderswouldbe acostlymistake. nmyYA iterature lasses, tellmystudents hatcontem-poraryYA iteraturebeganwithTheOutsiders.

It was also in the 1930s that DoraV. Smith, a professor at the

University of Minnesota, launchedthe idea of separating books for

teenagers from books for children.AfterHintonhelpedto draw he boundariesof the YA iterature ield, a number of importantbooksfollowed hatexpanded hoseboundariesbyintroducinggenres adaptedto youngadults. Thesuccess of StephenDunning's ditedcollectionofpoetry orteenagers,Reflectionsn a GiftofWater-melon Pickle (1967), establisheda long-overdueniche for YApoetry.R. R. Knudson'sZanballer(1972)was the firstmodemrnookforteenagers hatfeatureda femaleathleteasaprotagonist.n 1974,SandraScoppetonepublishedTryingHard oHearYou,a YAproblemnovel thatdealtfranklywithho-mophobia. Beauty (1978), Robin McKinley's e-tellingof "Beauty ndthe Beast,"openedthe doorfor aterYA evisions fclassicfairy ales.DonaldR.GallopushedYAshortfiction nto the spotlight n1984withhisSixteen: hortStoriesby OutstandingWritersfor YoungAdults. n 1986,ArtSpiegelman'sMaus:A Survivor'sStoryintroducedmanyyoungadultsandtheirteachers o graphicnovels.RussellFreedman's incoln:APhotobiography1987),wonthe 1988NewberyMedalandreminded eachers,librarians,ndreadershatnonfiction s alegitimateliterary orm.Nonfictionor YoungAdults:FromDelight to Wisdom(1990) by Betty CarterandRichardAbrahamsonurtherjustified he placeofnonfictionn secondary choolcurriculabymakingit clear hatteenagers ead-and enjoy-nonfiction.JonScieszkaandLane Smith'sTheStinkyCheeseManand OtherFairly StupidTales 1993)pushed

the YAboundariesa little widerby demonstratingthatsophisticated ndcreativepicturebooksaren'tjustforchildren.The boundariesof a YAnovel's ormhavealsobeen redefined nrecentyears.VirginiaEuwerWolff'sMakeLemonade 1993)breaks he linesofthe textinto a formthat resemblespoetry,and it isfrequently alledpoetry, venthough t'snot.Wolffwent againstprose narrative raditionwhen shechose to presentthe lines in a waythatmimickedthe rhythmof her narrator'soice. KarenHesse'sOut ofthe Dust (1997),winnerof the 1998NewberyMedal,s aYAnovelwrittenn freeverse,effectivelychallengingheliteraryraditionhatdefinesnovelsasprosenarratives.WalterDean Myers'sMonster(1999),winneroftheAmericanLibrary ssociation'sfirst PrintzAward n 2000, pushedboundariesofthe YAnovel formeven further.Myers'storyusesa multigenreblend of two prose forms,the per-sonaljournalandthe screenplay, o tell the storyof ayoungmaninvolved n a murder rial.Finally,J.K.Rowling's34-pageHarry Potterand the Gob-let of Fire (2000),movedYAbooks into a new di-mension.Theheretoforeunimaginableuccessofallof Rowling's otterbookshas,ofcourse,broughtunprecedented ttention o booksforchildrenandteenagers,but Gobletof Firewill certainly hangethe viewpublishers ndwritershavehad of the ap-propriateength-around200pages-for asuccess-ful YAnovel.

There havebeen otherboundarybreakersand makers.Rudolfo Anaya'sBless Me, Ultinma(1972)brought powerful,iteraryHispanic oicetoyoung adult readers. With M. C. Higgins the Great(1974),VirginiaHamiltonwon the 1975 NewberyMedal,becoming he firstAfricanAmerican o doso. AsianAmericaniteraturehadfrequentlybeenneglected, but Laurence Yep's 1976 NewberyHonorBook,Dragonwings 1975)createdoppor-tunities orAsianAmerican uthors nYAiterature.MichaelDorris'sMorningGirl(1992)is animpor-tantYAnovel because it iswrittenby a NativeAmer-ican about Native Americans and because it was sowidely read by Americanteenagers.

John R. Tunis set an early standardfor liter-aryquality in books for juveniles; the standard wasraised by Robert Cormier in 1974 with The Choco-late War Cormier's deft prose, complex plot, anddark realism elevated his book to something morethan the standard problem novel. Bruce Brooks's1985 Newbery Honor Book, The Moves Make the

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Man(1984)reinforcedCormier'sliterary tandardwitha story hat bothrewards ndchallengesgoodYAreaders.AndFrancescaLiaBlock'sWeetzieBat(1989) ntroducedacompressed yricquality o YAprose.These aren't he onlyfine writers n the YAbusiness,but their first novelsin the field showedreadersandother writers he positiveeffects thatcareful,polished, sophisticatedwritinghave on agood story.Like adult iterature,YA iteraturewillcon-tinue to evolve andimprove,butregardless f howthe fielddevelops nthe future, t willalways we adebt of gratitudeo the influenceprovidedby theearlyboundarymakers ndboundary reakers f lit-erature orteenagers.Discoveries: New or Overlooked YABooksWorth ReadingBecoming oe DiMaggio,MariaTesta(Candlewick2002).Intwenty-fourinkedpoems, hisversenoveltells the storyof ayoungItalianAmericanboy,JoePaul,growingup in the years mmediatelybeforeandafterWorldWar I.Joe DiMaggio ndJoePaul'sgrandfather rovide teadyrole modelsfor him.Before Wings, Beth Goobie (OrcaBooks2001).Fifteen-year-old drianhassurvived brainaneurysm ut is nowemotionally urdenedbythekeenawareness f herown,perhapsmminent,mor-tality.n an effort obreakher free fromherdepres-sion,herparents end Adrian o workat her aunt'ssummercamp,whereshe discoversoveandsomesecretsabouther aunt.This s apoignant oming-of-agenovelwith a touchof fantasy.TheBooksofFell,M.E.Kerr(HarperCollins2001).HereareKerr'shreewonderfulFellmysterynovels n asinglevolume.JohnFellisateenageprepschool studentturned amateurdetectivein theselivelyandthoroughlyntertainingYAmysteries.TheDollmage,MartineLeavitt(Red DeerPress2001).Inthisfantasy ovel, hewisepersonofthe community s calledthe Dollmage,a womanwhois able to influenceandprotect he lives ofvil-lagersthroughher dolls.YoungAnnakeywants tobe the nextDollmage,but someoneelse has beenchosen. When theirvillageis threatenedby out-siders, t'scrucial hat he correctdecisionbe made.

FifthQuarter:TheScrimmage fa FootballCoach'sDaughter, enniferAllen(RandomHouse2000).Allen'sengagingmemoiraboutherlife astheonly daughterof famous football coach GeorgeAllenwasn'twritten orateenageaudience,but YAmalesand femaleswill relateto the tensions andlongings hatgrewout of her difficultrelationshipwith herfather.

TheGiftofReading,DavidBouchardOrcaBooks2001).Thisbook sonethat eachers fyoungadults houldread.Bouchard, former eacherandnow full-timewriter,had been a nonreaderas achild, but, thanks o his eighthgradestudents,hebecame an avid readerandan activepromoterofreading.This book presentsBouchard'spersonaljourney from nonreader to reader and providesplentyof suggestions n how topromotereading.Martyn Pig, Kevin Brooks(The ChickenHouse/Scholastic2002). When fifteen-year-oldMartynPig'sabusive,alcoholic father dies acci-dentally,Martyndecides,with the help of a good-lookingneighborgirl,to concealhis father'sdeathrather hanbe sentto live withadreadful unt.Thetwisting, urprising lotis adelight.SavingJasey, Diane Tullson(OrcaBooks2002).Becauseof hisrottenhome ife,Gavinspendsmost of his time with the familyof his best friend,Trist.Severalmembersof Trist'sfamily uffer romHuntington'sdisease, with tragic results.WhenJasey,Trist's ldersisterand heobjectof Gavin's f-fection,begins ofear hatshemighthave nheritedthedisease, hebegins oactout ndestructiveways.Streets of Gold, Marie Raphael (PerseaBooks2001). In 1901, the Bolinshifamily eavesPoland or whattheyexpectwillbe a betterlife inAmerica.Whentheyarriveat EllisIsland, he fam-ily'syoungest daughter s denied entrance to theUnitedStates, o she andherparents eturn o Eu-rope, eavingMarisia ndher olderbrother,Stefan,to start heir ives n New York lone.This Side of Paradise, Steven L. Layne(NorthStarBooks2001). In this YAversionof TheStepfordWives,JackBarrettsmoved romhis real-worldjuniorhigh ife to a "perfect" orporate om-munityowned by Eden Corporation,his father'semployer.OnceJackands nParadise, e discoversthat evil lies beneathEden'sperfectsurface.

*l JULY 2002


ya boundary breakers and makers

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