Teen Boys and Young Adult Lit: An Important Relationship
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In my recent post, Summer Reading Suggestions for Boys, several people responded with questions about finding adult literature for their teenage boys to read. I came up with some suggestions myself, as did others. And I stand by my position that teens can and should be introduced to adult literature! However, let’s not disregard adolescent lit altogether just yet.
Adolescent Literature: A Too Often Ignored Category
Adolescent literature is one category of lit that is often neglected. We all know about Caldecott Award-winning books for young readers, Newbury Award-winning books for elementary school-aged kids, and of course the Pulitzer or National Book Awards for adult literature. As I sat and thought, I could not think of one major award handed out to authors who have written dynamic and interesting young adult fiction.
The Specific Role of Young Adult Literature
Young adult literature plays an important, specific role. The teenage years are unique. Suddenly, young men are inundated with hormones, responsibilities, and knowledge that they never had before. They are in a precarious holding pattern: not quite adult, but not really a kid anymore.
- Acquiring more mature social skills.
- Achieving a masculine or feminine sex role.
- Accepting the changes in one's body, using the body effectively, and accepting one's physique.
- Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults.
- Preparing for sex, marriage, and parenthood.
- Selecting and preparing for an occupation.
- Developing a personal ideology and ethical standards.
- Assuming membership in the larger community.
Bridging the Gap Between Youth and Adulthood
In the seventies, eighties, and nineties, a bulk of YA lit tended to be “coming of age stories” geared toward a female teen audience. Boys’ interests were left in the dust. Things have definitely turned around. Publishers are recognizing that boys, too, need books that they can relate to. There are now more and more titles with teen male protagonists who are struggling and facing issues that are directed at the adolescent male teen audience.
- List of Male Coming of Age Stories
- Guysread.com’s picks for “older guys”
- Childrensliteraturenetwork.org’s top YA picks for teen boys
- Cool Books for Tough Guys: 50 Books Out of the Mainstream of Adolescent Literature That Will Appeal to Males Who Do Not Enjoy Reading from the Alan Review (includes non-fiction and fiction.)
- Boy Meets Book: Best Boy Reads from Readingrants.org
Question for Discussion:
Do you have a favorite YA book directed at male teens? Why is it your favorite? Do you think YA lit has a place in the classroom?
Australian author Christopher J. Holcroft has written two books specifically to encourage boys to read and be more adventurous outdoors.
The books are Only The Brave Dare and CANYON and are aimed at boys aged 11-18.
The third book in the trilogy is A Rite Of Passage and will be published by Christmas 2009.
The trilogy centres around a Venturer Scout (teen aged 14-18) who becomes the hero a nation wants but something the teen never expected. It deals with the emotions of adventure, being scared, taking risks and looking after your mates.
The first two books were published by Poseidon Books and can be found at www.poseidonbooks.com/
The books are ripping yarns teens and adults wll read over and over again.
Christopher J. Holcroft
Sydney
Australia
Holly, The Michael L. Printz Award is sponsored by the ALA and given to the best book written for Young Adults each year. It is, I think considered to be a very prestigious award. Also, the Margaret A. Edwards Award is given as a life-time achievement award to an author of Young Adult literature and their works.
Thank you for your comment, Martha. I didn't say that there weren't any awards for YA Lit, just that I couldn't think of any, as I can't think of any for other genre literature, such as fantasy, science fiction, romance... though I'm know there are plenty. These awards are obscure to those who are not in the publishing industry or who are not librarians who keep up with these things. While Caldecott authors receive accolades, YA authors have, in the past, been basically ignored. This is most likely changing thanks to the popularity of series like Harry Potter and Twilight, but generally, YA awards are just not as widely known as awards given to mainstream literature and children's literature.
Actually the Printz award is quite a biggie these days. Another place that YA enthusist can look is on their state book site. Most states have state awards in different catagories-informational, childrens, YA... I live in Utah and we have the Beehive Awards. Our high school is in on the action of voting for the YA award. I am sure you would be pleased to know that Hunger Games is in the top 10 (and my personal favorite). Several others that are worth mentioning: Unwind by Neal Shusterman - (If you like Hunger Games, you will love it) It is about a futuristic society that has banished abortion. BUT...between the ages of 12-18 your parents can have you unwound. Basically this means you are used for body parts. Great lessons in humanity, survival of the fittest, friendship.....Another one that is fun is Beastly-a retelling of beauty and the beast, told in modern day New York, from the beast's point of view.
A couple of other favorites for boys at our high school are : The Eragon series, The Immortals Trilogy (City of Bones,..of Glass, ..of Fire), The Compound (a truely freaky survival of the fittest) and I do agree about Walter Dean Myers. His books are great. The Hazelwood High Trilogy by Sharon Draper flies off the shelf as well.
Please keep up the good work and let us know of more for this age as you hear of them. With budgets so tight, it is great to get recommends on books before spending the money. We are trying to beef up the Non Fiction for the boys as well. Left for Dead by Pete Nelson and Scott Hunter is great!
Oh, and don't forget Calvin and Hobbes! They love it!
I totally agree with you.
I have given my boys this book by Hinton, "The Outsiders", and they became really fond of it. I have downloaded it from http://www.picktorrent.com torrent search engine
The novel took place in at least the year 1964. Susan Eloise Hinton was 14 when she started writing it. After about two years of writing the novel, Hinton realized that her work would continue after graduation. Finally, The Outsiders was published about a year and half later while she was in college. In the movie adaption of the book, released in 1983, SE Hinton was the consultant on the film, and she and the director, Francis Ford Coppola made sure the year was evident. The two movies playing on the outdoor theater, Muscle Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo, were made in 1964 and 1965, respectively.
As a publisher of y-a books(Brown Barn Books),I heartily applaud your web site, and immodestly, would like to recommend three books we've published in the past couple of years. All three have had great reviews (from SLJ, et al), but also from boys, from about 10 up.
THICK by Colin Neenan is an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and is an edgy, sometimes violent novel about a very good kid in major trouble.
BAXTER MOON, GALACTIC SCOUT by John Zakour (a sometime writer for Nickolodeon as well as the comic strip "Marmaduke," is a very funny, quirky sci-fi.
And LAST CHANCE FOR FIRST, by Tom Hazuka, is about a high school soccer star coping with the sturm und drang of high school.
I realize this is a barefaced plug for our books, but they're also pretty valuable. Please take a look at our online catalog (http://www.brownbarnbooks.com) for more information about these and our other books.
Hey holly I have read your article and it seems quite interesting to me as there is a huge difference between the age of teenager and adult.So they may be behaving in different way.
Thanks for the article.
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The Outsiders was published about a year and half later while she was in college. In the movie adaption of the book, released in 1983, SE Hinton was the consultant on the film, and she and the director, Francis Ford Coppola made sure the year was evident.Custom Leather Jackets The two movies playing on the outdoor theater, Muscle Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo, were made in 1964 and 1965, respectively.
I think considered to be a very prestigious award. Also, the Margaret A. Edwards Award is given health insurance guide as a life-time achievement award to an author of Young Adult literature and their works.
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Literature on relationships is as needed as dogs need dog tags for dogs.
#1
For young males, I suggest a recent release by Eloquent Books/AEG Publishing in New York entitled Dangerous Days: The Autobiography of a Photojournalist by J. William Turner. It consists of four full-length stories. The main characters are three teen boys who face all sorts of adventures and dangers together over an eleven month period.