Beyond Relevance to Literary Merit: Young Adult Literature as “Literature”

W hen Melanie Hundley, on behalf of the new editors of The ALAN Review—Steven Bickmore, Melanie Hundley, and Jacqueline Bach—asked us (Anna and Sean) to write a column for their first issue of the The ALAN Review on the theme, “Young Adult Literature Gaining Stature at the High School,” we responded with a resounding “Yes!” Anna’s work in promoting the literary qualities of young adult literature and her seminars with middle and high school teachers on the application of a platter of critical approaches to a wide range of young adult novels, speaks to outgoing editors Jim Blasingame and Lori Goodson’s assertion that young adult literature is “quality” literature (3). Likewise, Sean’s work with aspiring teachers among the college juniors and seniors who take his required introductory course in young adult literature focuses on a similar attribute. We take the stand in this column that young adult literature has already come of age in terms of its relevance to adolescents. We also believe that the time is ripe for us, and for The ALAN Review, to push for its acceptance as “Literature” by high school teachers. We have found, both in our teaching and in our personal reading, that a considerable body of young adult literature can withstand the test of close literary scrutiny. We consequently argue that the next move is to engage those who might otherwise question young adult literature’s literary merit in what Peter Elbow describes as a “believing game” (1), thereby helping them become more receptive to the possibility that young adult literature is not only about subjects and themes that are relevant to adolescent readers, but that its treatment of those subjects and themes reflects a level of sophistication that invites serious interrogation on the part of readers eager for a marriage of intellectual and affective engagement (cf. Soter, Faust, and Rogers). We support our assertion with two vignettes, the first drawn from Sean’s teaching at The Ohio State University. For the past few years, Sean has taught a course that is designed to introduce undergraduates interested in pursuing a career in secondary education to the field of young adult literature. During We take the stand in this