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.
Normal People has been adapted for the BBC. It follows the love story of Connell and Marianne as they navigate love, class and the tricky journey into adulthood.
BBC/Element Pictures/Hulu
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.
Tackling tough topics from racism and bullying to Indigenous identity and the holocaust, young adult fiction can challenge stereotypes and encourage critical thinking. Pictured here, an illustration from ‘Skim’ by Mariko Tamaki, the fictional diary of a depressed Japanese-Canadian girl.
Handout.
Five novels for young adults that boldly tackle tough issues - from racism, to Indigenous identity and the Holocaust - to cultivate critical thinking in the classroom and at home.
Young adult literature is starting to explore death in depth.
Lionsgate
Death used to happen off the page in kids’ books, but not anymore. They kill each other in The Hunger Games, and 13 Reasons Why graphically describes the impact of teen suicide.
Platform 9 and ¾, the portal to Harry Potter’s magical world, at Kings Cross in London.
Harry Potter image from www.shutterstock.com
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first in the phenomenally successful series, turns 20 this month. Despite criticism of their status as ‘literature’, the books remain a magical experience for children.
The ‘sky in silver lace’ is Vivienne’s euphemistic metaphor for the encroaching hard times.
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The Melling sisters — like Alcott’s March sisters and Austen’s Bennetts — are four girls who become women during the course of Robin Klein’s trilogy of novels. The Sky in Silver Lace is the most bittersweet of the three.
The young adult novel “Eleanor & Park” is a frequent target for book challengers. But swears and sex aside, there’s something deeply subversive – and important – about this controversial book.
Young adult fiction has been having a much needed conversation around diversity. In 2015 we saw this discussion bear fruit, as a new crop of diverse, absorbing and powerful stories sprang up.
Can learning to write about sex help young people navigate their love lives?
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‘I knew and counted Terry among my friends, and I watched Alzheimer’s slowly and insidiously strip him of attributes and faculty.’ So what can we make of his final Discworld novel, published posthumously?
There is renewed debate around the lack of honest representations of diversity in Young Adult books.
Melanie Holtsman
Debate about the lack of diversity in young adult literature isn’t new, but thanks to recent campaigns such as We Need Diverse Books, there’s renewed focus on why diversity in literature is crucial.
The burden of creating a more inclusive, fairer and more tolerant society is carried by the younger generation.
Hadi Zaher/Flickr
There are many similarities between blockbusting young adult novels such as The Hunger Games series and Australian books such as Taronga – but there are also clear differences in their messages for the young.
Author Melina Marchetta is a guest at this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival.
AAP Image/Penguin Group
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the English syllabus was made up of books that students love?” Australian author Melina Marchetta’s novels have won her many devoted fans and she’s passionate about engaging young people with literature.
Young adult dystopian characters like Insurgent’s Tris are inspiring their female fans to shatter the glass ceiling.
Lionsgate Films