Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Instigators And Partners: Young Adult Literature’S Role In Readers’ Identity Formation, Cammie Jo Lawton

Doctoral Dissertations

This instrumental case study explored self-identified YA readers’ formative experiences with YAL and how their reading experiences contributed to their holistic identity. Using reader response theory, conceptualizations and varying layers of social imagination, and identity as theoretical foundations, the purpose of this dissertation is to inquire into YA readers’ experiences and determine how they describe YAL’s role in their sense of self over the course of their lives. The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What types of transactions with YA texts have occurred with self-identified YA readers? Why have these transactions proved meaningful for the reader?
2. In …