Reviving Young Adult Literature

Throughout most of my life I have always been a voracious reader. I can remember as far back as my early childhood years perusing the bookshelves at the public library for Freddy the Pig or books by Beverly Cleary which were among my favorites. At most points throughout my life I am usually enmeshed in some form of reading material. The remnants of my teenage years are now boxes filled with comic books and Mad magazines, and old travel companions like Don Quixote, which accompanied me as an undergrad in Spain, sit patiently on my book shelf. The PRABE experience has not had much effect on my regular reading habits, though I did appreciate having an excuse to break away from heavy doses of CAL and educational philosophy from time to time. What this assignment did allow me to do was to reconnect with young adult literature, which is something I had wanted to do for some time now. When I taught high school students at an English program in south Thailand several years ago I resorted to tried and true adolescent-friendly books, albeit shortened versions of Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe. However, more contemporary works have proven more elusive to my interests. The first book I had read for the PRABE assignment was The Hunger Games – a book I had seen many students reading here in the U.S. – but a book I would have never picked up on my own. This assignment gave me an opportunity to examine these books and evaluate their literary value in the context of a secondary level ELA class. In doing so I was able to contemplate future lesson plans and strategies for teaching these books, which is just something I might not have gotten around to doing for some time. This assignment not only benefited me as an educator, but has instilled in me a newfound appreciation for young adult literature and I plan to continue reading these books for pleasure beyond this course.