Overall Trends in YA Literature

Considering the corpus of books overall, results indicated that current YA literature is predominantly fiction, most often contemporary realistic fiction. The characters are primarily white European American, and there is a significant lack of focal multicultural characters, especially a lack of books that are culturally specific (Sims Bishop, 1992) in their content. Although relatively few GLBTQ characters and characters with disabilities were portrayed overall, more appeared than were anticipated. There were higher than expected instances of international settings and Cartier Replica characters represented, although the majority of international countries and characters portrayed were white and European.

Overall trends in subject matter included a shift away from coming-of-age stories to a focus on books with themes of fitting in, finding oneself, and dealing with major life changes.

This shift in focus from coming-of-age novels to teen issues such as finding oneself, fitting in, and bullying perhaps reflects changes occurring in today's teen world. More than ever before, teens are bombarded with information on what's hot, what's not, and what it means to be cool. Along with the rise of television and new media specifically directed at teens (including teen dramas and constant exposure to the lifestyles of the rich and famous) come more examples of teen lives and products. Teens today need to discover who they are in relation to these new media— do they accept them or reject them As their lives become more complicated, so too does the literature written for them that reflects their lives.

Young adult literature provides rich literary material for exploring issues and dilemmas of the human experience as perceived by Cartier Pasha Replica Watches the young.... There are many young adult books...that deal with...young people sorting through and confronting the issue of being "different," of finding their place in a sometimes confusing and diverse world. (Bontempo, 1995, p. 31)

Reading allows teens to play with their identities in a safe and controlled manner, and to explore who they want to be in this ever-changing world. According to Block (1995), "if what we read influences our identity in the world, the ways we are able to imagine and live in the world, then there is some responsibility to address these various texts, their readers and possible reading experiences" (p. 199).