Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Maiden Voyage (A Novel), Kyra Bauske

English

Maiden Voyage is an adventure story. It didn’t start out that way, but that’s what it has become. The story follows a young woman who stumbles onto her father’s secrets. Alexandra feels trapped in an 18th century English settlement on Nassau. Under her father’s protection, Alexandra is expected to marry and remain on the island. When she discovers a letter in her father’s office naming her as an “asset” she finds herself asking who her father really is. Who is the business associate who comes every month? Why does he really want her married to Lord Dewhurst? When her best …

The Wolf Is Back By Robert Priest, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Robert Priest's The Wolf is Back.

The Ethical Benefits And Challenges Of Biofiction For Children, Michael Lackey

English Publications

No abstract provided.

Three Cheers For "Freaks", Misfits And Immigrants: About Inclusiveness In Children's Books, Don Bosco

Social Space

Since 2011, I have been writing and publishing books for children though my start-up, Super Cool Books. We began with making book prototypes and story products for reluctant readers, and eventually published serialised fiction in collaboration with much more established publishing partners. The modest business growth over these years has brought many challenges. As our titles continue to reach a wider audience, it has been a practical lesson in practising inclusiveness in an active and authentic way. This is a significant creative challenge that always keeps me motivated and inspired in fresh and surprising ways.

La Variedad De Los Cráneos, Michael Wheeler

Open Access Books

La variedad de los cráneos was written and illustrated in 2018 by Michael Wheeler. The original text was edited and translated by Mackensy Asbell and Madeline Strelec. New, original illustrations were created by Rina Sato.

Un Cumpleaños Colorido, Tejas Kandharkar

Open Access Books

Un cumpleaños colorido was written and illustrated in 2018 by Tejas Kandharkar. The original text was edited and translated by Mackensy Asbell and Madeline Strelec. New, original illustrations were created by Rina Sato.

Using Dystopian Texts To Promote Social Responsibility In The Composition Classroom, Melissa Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Since the Colonial period, educational institutions in the United Stateshave been tasked with developing character as well as academic skill. Whilein earlier epochs such character education would have been explicitly tied tomorality as defined within Christian contexts, today's character educationtakes on a more secular form, focusing on developing skills related to socialresponsibility. By definition, social responsibility is "a personal investmentin the well-being of people and the planet" (Berman 15). Despite the fact thatmany feel that public schools and universities are ideal sites for this type oftraining, research has found that instructors are often reluctant to discusscontroversial issues within their classrooms …

Et Cetera, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

Sculpted From Clay, Shaped By Power: Feminine Narrative And Agency In Wonder Woman, Mikala Carpenter

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

By applying deconstructive and feminist theories to the Wonder Woman saga, this thesis develops a potential definition of feminine narrative in contrast to the normative and exclusionary patriarchal narrative that reigns supreme in popular culture and Western ideology. Though much of comics discourse functions on the assumption that superhero narratives are homogenous reflections of this ideological hero narrative, I posit that the Amazonian princess's resilience and iconicity stem from her own narrative's uniquely deconstructive nature: Where the patriarchal story would demand dominance, destruction, and violence, the feminine narrative that Diana models advocates for equality, nurturance, and emotional and rational communication. …

An Exploration Of Representations Of Race And Ethnicity In Three Transitional Series For Young Children, Sonia M. Balkaran

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis seeks to explore the related research literature surrounding representations and portrayals of protagonists of various multicultural backgrounds in series or transitional books. As teachers, it is essential to acknowledge the lack of multicultural characters in children's literature among elementary classroom bookshelves and learn how to incorporate literature featuring strong main characters of varying races and ethnicities so that children can see role models who mirror their own contexts. Prior studies, such as Gangi (2008) and Green and Hopenwasser (2017) have examined the deficiency of multicultural literature in the classroom, particularly among transitional stories, which shows the importance of …

Using Young Adult Literature To Confront Mental Health: A Culturally Relevant Approach, Briana Hendrickson

Masters Theses

This thesis highlights the need for addressing mental health in secondary school settings and argues that high school English educators can help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness using young adult (YA) literature. I discuss the benefits of using YA literature in the secondary English classroom and why YA literature is an effective tool for introducing timely topics like mental health. I analyze the limitations of popular YA novels such as Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places and argue that the mental health representation in these novels hinders students' ability to challenge the current …

Why Katniss Everdeen Is Our Favorite Feminist – An Analysis Of The Heroine Of The Hunger Games Film Saga And Her Reception By Young Female Spectators, Paula Talero Álvarez

Theses and Dissertations

THROUGH THE FIGURE OF FICTIONAL CHARACTER KATNISS EVERDEEN, THIS DISSERTATION STUDIES HOW THE FILM INDUSTRY SIMULTANEOUSLY ENTRENCHES AND DISRUPTS GENDER, SEXUAL, AND RACIAL NORMATIVITIES. THE PROJECT USES TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND PARTICIPANT RESEARCH TO ANALYZE HOW THE FILMS AND NOVELS OF THE HUNGER GAMES SAGA ENCAPSULATE BOTH DOMINANT AND ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS RELATED TO FEMININITY, MASCULINITY, WOMANHOOD, AND MOTHERHOOD. IT ALSO EXPLORES IF AND HOW THE FEMALE HEROINE CAN BE READ AS FEMINIST AND PRODUCES A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. I CONCLUDE THAT ALTHOUGH THE INDUSTRY IS PRODUCING NEW MODELS OF WOMANHOOD THAT CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES, IT STILL PERPETUATES ROMANTIC IDEALS AND …

The Pedagogy Of Intertextuality, Genre, And Adaptation: Young Adult Literary Adaptations In The Classroom, Brooke L. Poeschl

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Tracing Writer/Reader Identity In, And In Response To, Queer Latinx Autohistoria-Teorìa, Corrina Wells

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project examines how diverse representation changes the discourse around queer latinx identities. This project extends theories of representation that show how a text changes the imaginary of the reader through a two-part methodology. First, through explicating Spit & Passion and A Cup of Water Under My Bed, this project examines how these texts construct a readers’ imaginary. Then, through a corresponding qualitative assessment on readers’ responses to the texts, this project identifies the extent to which the texts change the beliefs and understandings of a small group of students. Articulating an ecology of identity using the texts under examination, …

Playing And Learning Through Text And Images: Examining Features Of Adolescent Literacy And The Potential Of Graphic Novels As A Supportive Tool, Emily Ann Bushta

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Graphic novels have been making their way into the classroom steadily during the past two decades. Whether their use is for a pedagogical purpose or pleasure, graphic novels are grabbing the attention of adults and youth alike. As general interest arises surrounding graphic novels, increased scholarship discussing their purpose, structure, and use has appeared across a variety of disciplines. Educators, especially those with younger students, are drawn to the genre. Their interest has produced a growing body of literature; however, these publications often lack quantitative data and typically offer qualitative conclusions about the benefits of graphic novels in classroom contexts. …

Adapting Intertextuality: The Case Of Nursery Rhyme Characters In Creating New Canons In Children’S Culture, Catalina Millán Scheiding

Faculty Works

The increasingly common use of English nursery rhymes intertextually has impacted upon their transfer into target cultures: entire nursery rhymes, fragments and characters are now found in translational situations. Most of these situations are adaptations of nursery rhymes into other media; and one of the most evident is the use of nursery rhyme characters found in a different context, frequently portrayed visually. Through a reception case study with Spanish students, this report intends to address issues about the relevance of intertextuality in translation, as well as the child’s assumptions in relation to discourse and visual input. Through a qualitative mixed-method …

Empire Of The Imagination: Imperialism And The Child Reader Of Victorian And Neo-Victorian Children's Literature, Megan Hicks

Master’s Theses

My thesis explores the depiction of the British Empire in Victorian and Neo-Victorian children’s fiction. Though scholars may expect to find simplistic imperial triumphalism in texts written in the late Victorian period and incisive critiques of empire in contemporary texts, my work demonstrates that the ideology of empire is much more contradictory, unstable, and incohesive than one might assume. By looking at the instability of imperial ideology through the lens of children’s fiction, I examine the ways in which that ideology is contested in the text rather than a stable site of ideological transference from adult to child. Thus, my …

A Steady Journey - Critical And Self-Analysis, Ashley Gonzalez

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Analysis of the composition of A Steady Journey, a young adult fantasy novel featuring a disabled protagonist by Ashley Gonzalez.

Depression And Anxiety In Current Middle Grade Fiction: Finding Quality, Authentic Portrayals For Use In Bibliotherapy, Tonia Sandersfeld-Miller

Graduate Research Papers

Young adults need a safe environment to learn about mental illness, and librarians must ensure that books being recommended authentically and realistically portray mental illness. The purpose of this study is to analyze the authenticity of fiction titles for middle school students that include content related to depression and anxiety to support recommendations to school counselors for bibliotherapy. The research questions this study sought to address included the following: Do the plots and characters of young adult novels written for middle school students realistically and authentically portray mental illness, and what criteria can be used to determine a novel's quality …

Seeing The Human Face: Refugee And Asylum Seeker Narratives And An Ethics Of Care In Recent Australian Picture Books, Debra Dudek

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

While working on the final stages of this essay, I went to a local children’s bookstore to look for a retelling of The Tempest to assist the eleven-year-old in my life with a drama audition. The audition required him to memorize the monologue in which Trinculo finds Caliban on the beach and asks, “What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive?” (2.2.24–25). The owner of the shop—who knows my field of research and advises me when new books arrive that she thinks would interest me—asked whether I had seen the latest Armin Greder book, The Mediterranean, …