Thematic Guide to Young Adult Literature

Focusing primarily on fiction, this guide provides an overview of the young adult literature. It includes 32 chapters on particular themes of significance to young adults, including Abuse, Sexual Violence, and Healing; Families, Traditional and Redefined; Imagined Futures; Supernatural and Alien Beings: Confronting the Other; and War's Impact. Contemporary young adult literature is a relatively new genre. This guide provides an overview of the burgeoning field, focusing primarily on fiction. Each of the 32 chapters is devoted to a theme of special significance to young adults, and provides brief critical discussions of several related literary works. Chapters close with lists of fiction for further reading. An appendix groups works according to additional themes, and a selected bibliography cites relevant critical studies.