Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism

Loretta M. Gaffney has taught courses on intellectual freedom, reading research, young adult literature, and youth services librarianship for nearly a decade. A former middle school librarian at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, she defended her dissertation, "Intellectual Freedom and the Politics of Reading" in 2012. Loretta's current research projects include the politics of young adult literature, Common Core, and school librarians’ knowledge. She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Independent scholar Gaffney looks at how teachers, librarians, and literary critics have engaged with complex issues and the various censorship challenges surrounding teen reading and literature. Acknowledging young adult literature's great impact on the field of conservative activism, the author deftly analyzes how history and critical viewpoints have shaped these conversations. Delving into complex topics that pit aesthetics against reading for pleasure or instruction, Gaffney offers an analysis of how a professional view of readers' needs influences one's whole approach to books. The commentary provides insight into the myriad conversations among proponents of social movements and political perspectives that are shaping the field, and emphasizes how young adult literature is a cultural force that not only shapes the lives of readers but also defines the way librarians and teachers go about their work. Strongly connecting with the classics in the field—Margaret Edwards, Michael Cart, Alleen Nilson, Kenneth Donnelson, and others—Gaffney's vision of why teen reading matters is engaging and thoughtfully presented, and she takes the conversation about young-adult literature to thought-provoking new heights.Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.

• Chapter One: How to Read a Young Adult Novel: An IntroductionWhat Is Young Adult Literature?Golden Age or Dark Age? Histories of Young Adult LiteratureEarly and Foundational Young Adult NovelsYA Goes to School: Young Adult Literature in the AcademyThe Politics of Reading: How to Read YA (And This Book)Chapter Two: Constructing the Teenaged Reader“These Kids Today”: Myths and Stereotypes about Contemporary TeenagersReading in TheoryReading in Decline or Reading on the Rise?Print and Digital LiteraciesThe Politics of Research: Teens and Reading in the Cultural CrossfireChapter Three: Tending the Fair Garden: Canon Formation and Aesthetic Approaches to Young Adult LiteratureYouth Services Librarianship and Literary AestheticsDefending the Canon: Realism v. FantasyThe Rise of YA Librarianship: Defending Teens’ Freedom to ReadChapter Four: Bibliotherapy and the Problem Novel: Pedagogical Approaches to YA LiteratureThe Rise of the New RealismThe Problem with Probl