English Language and Literature Commons^™

Book Review: The Bletchley Riddle, Tiffany Bills

The Utah English Journal

Protagonist Lizzie Novis has many labels: half-Jewish, half-American, half-Polish-British, and precocious little sister. One label she refuses to adopt is orphan. The news of her mother’s presumed death upon Hitler’s invasion of Poland reaches her in 1939 London, but she refuses to let it reach her heart. She can’t believe her vibrant, independent mother Willa is not returning from an embassy assignment in Warsaw. She is determined to find out what happened to her, whether or not her older brother Jakob, busy with a mysterious new job, will help or not. But perhaps Jakob isn’t as clueless about Willa’s disappearance …

The Utah English Journal, Volume 54, 2026: Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: From The Editor, Jace Brown

The Utah English Journal

As I have worked with the reviewers on this edition of the Utah English Journal, I have found myself thinking often about community. I grew up in what was once a small town in central Utah, then moved to Ohio to pursue my PhD in Education. After graduating, I was beyond thrilled to accept a teaching position at Weber State University and return to my Utah community. It was with this perspective—of leaving, returning, and re-entering—that I began reflecting on the many communities in our lives: the communities where we grow up, the communities where we work, and the communities …

Book Review: A Most Perilous World: The True Story Of The Young Abolitionists And Their Crusade Against Slavery, Mercedes Allen

The Utah English Journal

A Most Perilous World brings the reader into the chaotic, tumultuous, and important days leading into the Civil War, during the war itself, and the Reconstruction Period (1854–1872). The book follows four lesser-known but vital historical figures: Lucy McKim, daughter of generational abolitionists; Lewis Douglass, the son of Frederick Douglass; George Garrison, son of abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison; and Charlotte Forten, daughter of free Blacks living in the north helping slaves to freedom. Though history remembers their parents more clearly, these young people prove that anyone, regardless of age, can make a difference—even when it seems hopeless.

Book Review: When We Ride, Madalynn Belliston

The Utah English Journal

What do you do when someone you love makes choices that can harm your future? This is the challenge for Diego Benevides in Rex Ogle’s novel in verse, When We Ride. Nicknamed by his best friend Lawson, he goes by Benny to everyone but mom. The novel opens with Benny’s life flashing before his eyes as a gun is pointed directly at him.

Book Review: The Ballerina Of Auschwitz, Kourtney Amodio

The Utah English Journal

Dr. Edith Eger’s young adult memoir, The Ballerina of Auschwitz, is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of choosing how we respond to life’s darkest moments. As a sixteen-year-old Jewish ballerina, Edith was torn from her home in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz, where she endured unimaginable horrors, including being forced to dance for Josef Mengele on the night her parents were sent to the gas chambers. Yet this harrowing beginning is only part of her story. Edith’s journey from concentration camp survivor to renowned psychologist offers readers profound insights into trauma, …

Book Review: The Other Side Of Tomorrow, Adam Hellewell

The Utah English Journal

Yunho and Myunghee, the young protagonists of The Other Side of Tomorrow, written in verse by Tina Cho and illustrated by Deb JJ Lee, have not experienced a traditional happy childhood. For them, North Korea is the backdrop of their impoverished, lonely, and brutal adolescence.

Book Review: Pursuing Language And Metalinguistics In K-12 Classrooms: A Framework For Critical Engagement, Leah Day

The Utah English Journal

The linguistic diversity that exists in many classrooms in the United States, and Utah more specifically, creates the perfect opportunity for teachers and students to discuss the intersection between power, language, and identity. As the number of multilingual learners in our classrooms increases, the need for these talks grows more and more urgent. This book offers extensive professional development for practitioners hoping to incorporate more discussions of language and linguistic awareness in their classrooms with their students. It is an overview of a wide variety of research as well as practical applications in a teaching context. Throughout, there is an …

Book Review: Under The Same Stars, Sara Tesch

The Utah English Journal

On the front of the hardcover edition, acclaimed YA author Libba Bray intrigues the reader with three simple, telegraphic sentences: “Three rebels. Two murders. A century of secrets.” Using three distinct timelines, Bray creates a young adult novel perfect for fans of historical fiction and mysteries. Elements of young adult realism are also present within Bray’s 2025 novel, a Good Morning America Young Adult Book Club pick. Under the Same Stars brings the reader on a journey of self-discovery, mystery, and sacrifice in 1940s Germany, 1980s West Germany, and 2020 New York, stricken with COVID-19.

Book Review: J Vs. K, Miranda Folau

The Utah English Journal

J Vs. K is an engaging story about two fifth-grade boys who find themselves in a rivalry over the school competition to create the “best story”. The story begins when K, a new student, gains attention for his natural writing abilities. This is a threat to J, who dislikes reading and writing, but loves to draw. J has been so excited to enter the storytelling contest at school and has been dreaming of his year to shine and win, bringing fame to the fifth-grade class. The boys quickly find themselves in competition, and become very self-conscious as outside acknowledgements of …

Beyond The Book Report: Finding Student Voice Through Podcasting, Gaby Dawson, Johnny Allred

The Utah English Journal

“Mrs. Dawson, I never want to write another essay again,” a student groaned after class, clearly worn out by the end-of-term pileup of assignments. As a student teacher in a ninth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, Gaby could relate to her student’s fatigue— she only had one last reading unit to plan and teach before the end of the semester. However, with thoughts of winter break at the forefront of her students’ minds, Gaby noticed it was getting increasingly difficult to keep them engaged. To finish the semester strong, she needed a high-interest project and summative assessment that could reenergize …

Madness In The Mixtape: Gothic Literature And Pop Music, Nicholas Dertinger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In Gothic literature, madness has often been connected to the outliers of what is considered socially normal. This dissertation explores the enduring theme of madness, particularly the figure of the “madwoman,” in both women’s literature and in its “afterlife”—or continuing conversation with—contemporary pop music. Through a comparative analysis of songs including Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” (1978), Beyoncé’s “Hold Up” (2016), Lady Gaga’s “Plastic Doll” (2020), Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” (2021), Billie Eilish’ “What Was I Made For?” (2023), Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” (2024), Taylor Swift’s “mad woman” (2020) and Florence + the Machine’s “Dream Girl Evil” …

Mythcon 54 - Get Your Fantasy Kicks On Route 66!, The Mythopoeic Society

Mythcon Programs

Theme: Get Your Fantasy Kicks on Route 66

As part of the Route 66 centennial events that will be occurring across Oklahoma throughout 2026, Mythcon 54, a three-day conference, will add literary discussions to the festivities with the theme Get Your Fantasy Kicks on Route 66that encourages attendees to register for conference and to join us in discussions of fantasy literature that include:

• urban or epic fantasy about the adventures of travels on the road
• fantasy literature from or inspired by native American oral, written, or historic traditions
• the MythSoc archive, located on Route 66, and the role of …

Songs Of The Sea: Reading The Archival Waters Of Afrodiasporic Literary Worlds, Charlee Thacker

Senior Honors and Award-Winning Theses

No abstract provided.

"For What Do You Hunger?": Metaphors Of Consumption And The Gothic Female Experience, Olivia G. Wychock

Master’s Theses

“For what do you hunger?”: Metaphors of Consumption and the Gothic Female Experience offers a feminist-forward analysis on the female experience in Gothic literature, specifically through the lens of metaphors of consumption. This thesis examines how, from the Gothic’s inception, women have been the victims of sexual violence and misconduct, rendering them disposable by patriarchal agents. As the Gothic begins to change over the course of the nineteenth century, female protagonists gain agency and move from being completely victimized to playing the villain and, eventually in post-nineteenth-century Gothic, becoming the victor. That is to say that the Gothic both reinforces …

Speculating Queer Dystopia: Tentacle’S Uninhabitable Now, Isabella Otimia Sanchez

Student Papers (English)

This project positions Rita Indiana’s speculative novel Tentacle as a critical site for examining queer temporalities. Its embodied system of time travel literalizes the frameworks of “temporal drag” and “queer futurity” proposed by Elizabeth Freeman and José Esteban Muñoz, demonstrating the material consequences of time on the queer body. Further, my argument is staked in disrupting the myth of a progressive future, tracing how oppressive structures do not resolve over time but rather complicate. This framing can be observed both textually and metatextually, lending to Jack Halberstam’s concept of “queer failure.”   Overall, I suggest that Indiana’s queer dystopia offers a …

Look, Make, Play: The Natural Order In Children’S Books, Claire M. Lloyd

Children's Book Writing and Illustrating (MFA) Theses

This paper will examine conceptualizations of nature through environmentally themed picture books. While environmentalism is not a new topic for children’s book, recent works reveal changing attitudes toward the impact of human agency on the natural world. These texts provide a microcosmic view of the shift toward “green” kidlit and shows literary depictions of human interactions with nonhuman nature through an ecocritical lens. Specifically, I will look at three approaches to how humans conceive of, impact, and interact with the natural world depicted in children’s literature: observation (as the observable “other”), creation (as a communal resource), and recreation (as urban …

Ztc Sls 302: Medieval/Early Modern Cultures, Nicolette Guida

Open Educational Resources

This course explores the depiction of gender, race, and social class in Shakespeare’s plays, with a focus on how his works engage with and challenge the norms of early modern society. In this course, we will study two of Shakespeare’s comedies: Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew; as well as two of his tragedies: Romeo and Juliet and Othello in relation to the culture of early modern England. Through an in-depth study of these texts, students will examine the complexities of these social categories as portrayed in the plays and how they continue to resonate in …

Helena María Viramontes’ Under The Feet Of Jesus And Sandra Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street: An Exploratory Analysis Of Female Friendship In The Chicana Feminist Bildungsroman, Patrice Donnelly

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This exploratory analysis examines female friendships presented in two mid-twentieth century Chicana feminist Bildungsroman, each between a Chicana protagonist and a female friend as foil. One friendship in Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena María Viramontes, is interracial; the other, in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is Chicana. Both friendships interrogate the boundaries within mainstream feminism, particularly its monolithic views and complicity with power. Each friendship offers a Chicana feminist perspective centering family and cultural community. The theoretical foundation includes classical and contemporary understandings of Bildungsroman as literary form, Toni Morrison’s American Africanism, …

Oedipus Tyrannus: A New Performance Translation, Maura Giles-Watson

English: Faculty Scholarship

A new performance translation (to colloquial Modern English) of Sophokles' tragedy Oedipus Tyrannus (c 429 BCE) for the Old Globe/USD Shiley Graduate Theatre MFA Program.