Coming of age brings new challenges for central characters who are discovering their own sexuality.
Chris Hackett via Getty Images
A scholar of young adult fiction presents a fresh list of LGBTQ ‘must-reads’ for the summer of 2023.
A coffin made to resemble a mermaid at a Ga funeral. The Ga people live along the southeast coast of Ghana.
Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
These literary works ask readers to rethink the histories of these half-human sea creatures and their role in society today.
Reading diverse books can help young adults understand conversations around race better.
Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision
While teachers are under increased pressure to tread carefully in the classroom on issues of race, books that deal with themes of racism can offer a way forward.
JOEL CARRETT/AAP
Books can play a role in activism and change. Here are five books that will help young people build their racial literacy.
Shutterstock
The texts in this shortlist demonstrate how young characters have coped with trauma and uncertainty.
Shutterstock
2020 has been a tumultuous year. Here are some books your kids can lose themselves in this summer.
Robert Anasch/Unsplash
Sci-fi, fantasy and rom-coms: books with LGBTQIA+ characters are as diverse as their readers.
Kailey Schwerman/Netflix
First published in 1986, and selling 180 million books, how does The Baby-Sitters Club look for a new generation?
Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010).
AAP/Paramount Pictures
Young adult post-disaster fiction is more concerned with how we survive than understanding the causes of disaster. We can read it to explore our fears, responses and our capacity to adapt.
Summer is a great time to catch up on some reading.
from shutterstock.com
A children’s literature professor recommends some of her favourite books for high school kids.
It is important for young people to read literature that reflects their own life and also expands their experiences of the world.
from shutterstock.com
Reading texts by and about diverse Australians will change the ways all young people see themselves and their communities. Here are five such books.
Nataliia Budianska via Shutterstock
Here’s a bumper crop of thought-provoking and engaging novels for enquiring minds.
Young adult fiction books on display at an independent bookstore.
Andrew Cline/www.shutterstock.com
An English professor says educators should use “Speak” – an often banned novel about sexual assault – to engage young people about the topic.
Zoey Deutch in the film Vampire Academy (2014).
Angry Films, Kintop Pictures, Preger Entertainment
Gothic fiction has become the ideal genre for exploring the grotesque, frightening aspects of coming of age. And disruptive girls with supernatural powers have replaced the passive heroines of old.
Female protagonists are forging a new way in contemporary young adult fiction.
Workman Publishing
Female protagonists in young adult fiction are unlikely heroines who embrace their flaws. But when it comes to diversity, they are still largely white and middle class.
Whichwood is one of five great reads for teens that highlight authentic experiences, marginalized voices and critical thinking.
(Dutton Books)
Here are five great book recommendations for teens that promote critical thinking, authentic voices, diversity and good conversations.