Young Adult Literature

…it’s not just for dessert any more!

OR

Using YA literature as the

“Main Course” across the curriculum!

"I think when you read a good first line it's like falling in love with somebody…Your heart starts pounding… it opens up all the possibilities." -Nancy Pearl, librarian and author of Book Lust.

Battle of the BeginningsThe “Classics” vs. YA Lit

• Identify the title and author

• Which “first lines” were more appealing?

• Differences between the “classics” and the YA titles?

“How Classics Create an Alliterate Society” by Donald R. Gallo

“A classic is a book that ‘requires a teacher to figure out a glimmer of what it says.’”

“The books I read on my own, you never want to put them down; the ones assigned, you never want to pick up.”

“My experience in high school with the classics was similar to dissecting a frog: it was tedious and it stunk.”

“Required literature has nothing to do with me…(literature is) keeping in touch with the dead.”

The Challenge - Overcoming the “Snob Appeal” of the

“Classics”Can we teach the reading and analytical

skills with the “less challenging literary works”?

Like the classics, contemporary YA books “have plots that can be charted, settings that play significant roles, characters whose personalities, actions, and interactions can be analyzed…figurative language, foreshadowing, irony, symbolism, other literary elements…”

Activity #1 - Judging YA LitIs your YA novel a “classic”? Is it…Artistic…expresses “life, truth, beauty.”Lasting…stands the “test of time.”Universal…“Themes of love, hate, death, life,

and faith touch upon some of our most basic emotional responses.”

Part of a continuum of great works. “You can study a classic and discover influences from other writers and other great works of literature.”

Lombardi, Esther. “Literature: Classics.” About.Com http://classiclit.about.com/

Activity #2: YA Novels that Parallel the Classics -

“Read-a Likes”Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the

Classics ed. by Joan F. Kaywell

From Hinton to Hamlet:Building Bridges Between Young Adult Literature and the

Classicsby Sarah K.Herz and Donald R. Gallo

Pairing Young Adult Literature with the Classics

by Jennifer Elizabeth Polidoro

Why read parallel YA novels?

Motivate disengaged studentsGive students access to timeless themesDemonstrate relevanceHelps provide background information.Enhance their appreciationEncourage their love of reading!

Parallel Plots & ThemesRomeo and Juliet

Romiette and Julio by Sharon DraperScribbler of Dreams by Mary PearsonIf You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

Julius CaesarScorpions by Walter Dean Myers

The Scarlet Letter - HawthorneWaiting for June by Joyce SweeneyAnnie’s Baby ed. by Beatrice SparksSomeone Like You by Sarah Dessen

More Parallel Plots & ThemesDracula - Bram Stoker

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

Lord of the Flies - GoldingThe Goats by Brock Cole

1984 - George OrwellThe Giver by Lois LowryThe Chocolate War by Robert CormierFeed by M.T. AndersonEnder’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Even More Parallel Plots & Themes…

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Twain47 by Walter Mosley

Moby Dick - MelvilleLeaving Protection by Will Hobbs

Cyrano DeBergerac - RostandUglies by Scott Westerfield

An example… The Odyssey - Journey/Quest Hero Motif

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/hero.htmlStudents select and read a parallel YA novel.

East by Edith PattouLooking for Alaska by John GreenMaximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James

PattersonSo Yesterday by Scott WesterfieldHole in My Life by Jack GantosEragon by Christopher PaoliniI am the Messenger by Markus ZusakNeverwhere by Neil Gaiman13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Select from a menu of projects.

Activity #3: YA Novels with Academic Topics, Themes

Interdisciplinary project using YA Novels with scientific topics, themesCode Orange by Caroline B. CooneyCalifornia Blue by David KlassDouble Helix by Nancy WerlinMy Sister’s Keeper by Jodi PicoultFade to Black by Alex FlinnKissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer HesserStuck in Neutral by Terry TruemanCut by Patricia McCormick

After reading the novel, students research the topic and create a brochure answering an essential question.

Activity #4: Using Historical Novels

All Quiet on the Western Front - RemarqueKipling’s Choice by Geert Spillebeen

Night - WeiselBriar Rose by Jane YolenMilkweed by Jerry SpinelliThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Things They CarriedFallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

The Grapes of Wrath - SteinbeckOut of the Dust by Karen HesseBud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

I will tell you something about stories,

[he said]They aren’t just entertainment.

Don’t be fooled.They are all we have, you see,

all we have to fight offillness and death

 You don’t have anythingif you don’t have stories.

From Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

And now - what you REALLY came for…

…the Handouts!

http://teacherweb.com/FL/AtlanticTechnicalCenterTechnicalHS/MrsRohrbach

You can access:

• This PowerPoint

• Classroom Activities

• Bibliographies of Online

and Print Resources

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