This article discusses the representation of Roma-Sinti ("gypsy") characters in young adult literature about the Holocaust. It analyzes three primary texts: Jerry Spinelli's "Milkweed" (2003), Erich Hackl's "Farewell Sidonia" (1991), and Alexander Ramati's "And the Violins Stopped Playing"…

Katniss Everdeen, the narrator and protagonist of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy, survives the grueling ordeal of forced participation in two games to the death through both physical prowess and mental agility. Both within and outside of the Games, she demonstrates information and media literacies. By becoming adept at interpreting and…

Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" Saga has achieved extraordinary popularity and scholars have interrogated the nature of its appeal from a variety of perspectives. Its popularity raises questions because in many ways it mirrors romantic fictions from the 1960s and 1970s. Such fictions have been read by critics as expressions of female…

Laurie Halse Anderson's young adult novel "Speak" concerns the rape and subsequent silence of ninth grade protagonist Melinda Sordino. By relying on extensive literary allusions involving trees, rape, silence, and transformation, Anderson creates a young adult problem novel that is both of the moment and timeless in its themes. The…

The position of authors of fiction in relation to critical discussion of their work is an unsettled one. While recognized as having knowledge and expertise regarding their texts, they are typically regarded as unreliable sources when it comes to critical analysis, and as partial witnesses whose personal association with the text is liable to…

This paper explores the representation of magic and madness in Justine Larbalestier's "Magic or Madness" trilogy (2005-2007). Throughout the series, magic is constructed as an abject and disabling force that threatens to disable magic-wielders, either through madness or death. Despite being represented as a ubiquitous force, the…

This paper examines two Canadian (Quebecois) novels for young adults, translated from French to English in Canada: "The Road to Chlifa" by Michele Marineau, and "Pieces of Me" by Charlotte Gingras. We examine the representation of adolescent bodies in space and movement, and how these coming of age narratives play out in relation to discourses…

This study identifies patterns in 11 English language young adult novels from the past three decades (1981-2011) which depict undocumented migration between Mexico and the United States. The increase in YA novels on this topic demonstrates rising public concern. These books offer sympathetic identification with border crossing youth. Eight of the…

This literary analysis examines constructions of normalcy and disability within contemporary young adult literature, including "Jerk," "California" (Friesen, 2008), "Marcelo in the Real World" (Stork, 2009), and "Five Flavors of Dumb" (John, 2010). As recent winners of the Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association, these…

This article explores four adolescent novels published between 1999 and 2010 specifically for the intersections of Christian faith and lesbian and gay sexual identities. Using cultural, queer, and ideological theories, the piece makes distinctions between progressive and traditional depictions of both Christianity and LGBTQ teen protagonists in…

Though portrayals of bullying in children's books stretch back to Victorian public school stories, this article sees a new subgenre about bullying in young adult novels emerging in the post-Columbine years. Selected works by Jerry Spinelli, Walter Dean Myers, Jaime Adoff, Carol Plum-Ucci and Rita Williams-Garcia are examined, although the article…

Combining feminist and narratological perspectives, this paper examines the construction of subjectivity in two young adult novels with a range of narratorial positions. The investigation is grounded in Robyn McCallum's work on intersubjectivity, in which interrelationships affecting subjectivity are only possible when the narrative permits a…

When critics consider young people's practices within cyberspace, the focus is often on negative aspects, namely cyber-bullying, obsessive behaviour, and the lack of a balanced life. Such analyses, however, may miss the agency and empowerment young people experience not only to make decisions but to have some degree of control over their lives…

Since the publication of the first young adult novel to deal with issues of sexual identity, John Donovan's ("1969") "I'll Get There, It Better Be Worth the Trip", over 200 novels have been published centered around gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) characters and conflicts (Cart and Jenkins, "2006", "The Heart has…

On September 16, 2009, the Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) released a statement revising their eligibility guidelines for the Lambda Literary Award, the most prestigious citation offered for LGBT books and authors. This criteria, which demands that an author must self-identify as a member of the LGBT family of writers, has been met with…