Young Adult Novels - Usage in Education

Usage in Education

Research suggests young adult literature can be advantageous to reluctant student readers by addressing their needs. Authors who write young adult literature have an adolescent’s age and interests in mind. The language and plots of young adult literature are similar to what students are accustomed to finding in reality, television, movies, and popular culture (Bucher, Manning, 328-332).

The following are criteria that researchers have come up with to evaluate the effectiveness of young adult literature in the classroom (Bucher and Manning, 9-10).

• The subject matter should reflect age and development by addressing their interest levels, reading and thinking levels.
• The content should deal with contemporary issues and experiences with characters adolescents can relate.
• Subjects can relate to dealing with parents and adults, illness and death, peer pressure with regards to drugs, sex, and the complications of addiction and pregnancy.
• The content should consider existing global concerns such as cultural, social, and gender diversity; environmental and political issues as it relates to adolescents.

Young Adult Literature has been integrated into classrooms in order to increase student interest in reading. Research has been performed on what type of impact the introduction YA Literature has on students, particularly adolescent males and struggling readers: "Researchers have shown that introducing YA Literature to males improves their reading ability. YA Literature, because of its range of authors and story types, is an appropriate literature for every adolescent male who needs compelling material that speaks to him" (Gill). Research shows that not only adolescent males have been labeled as reluctant readers, struggling readers use reluctance as a coping mechanism. Young Adult Literature has been used to open up the door of reading literature to these readers as well: "When voluntary reading declines, the problems of struggling readers are only aggravated. By allowing adolescents to read good young adult literature, educators are able to encourage independent reading, which will, in turn, help adolescents develop the skills necessary to succeed." (Bucher and Manning)

Another reason that Young Adult Literature has been incorporated into classrooms is to be paired with classic texts that are traditionally read in classrooms, and required by many schools curricula. Using YA Lit alongside a canonical piece of text can increase a students comprehension of the common themes the various texts have, and make reading a classic text more enjoyable: "Young adult literature can spark interest in the classics and vice versa. Although it's clear that young adult literature is more accessible, that doesn't warrant denying the classics to struggling readers. The classics shouldn't be reserved for exceptional students, and Young Adult Literature shouldn't be reserved for at-risk readers. (Cole 513).