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Despite the growing presence of trauma and abuse narratives in young adult literature (YAL), adolescent traumatic memory has largely been left out of the conversation. To better understand how contemporary memory scholarship is manifested in YAL, the following essay will offer a close reading of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (1993) by Chris Crutcher and Speak (1999) by Laurie Halse Anderson in conjunction with adolescent memory research. The accuracy of traumatic memory representation in these novels confirms the value of YAL as a means for youth to interact with and learn about traumatic memory, its processes, and its effects.

Since the success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the young adult text has functioned as a potential gold mine both in publishing and in commercial film. Within the YA realm, a trend has surfaced which features a formulaic narrative located within a dystopian society. This research closely analyzes two popular works of the YA dystopian boom, The Hunger Games and the Divergent series, in order to outline the vast appeal of such a trend. Once examined, it becomes evident that the trend is one consistently tied to neoliberal ideals of individual achievement. Using neoliberalism as a lens of investigation, broader connections to youth culture within the contemporary cultural landscape are revealed. Investigating two mainstream favorites of the young adult dystopia has uncovered the notion of individualism that feeds the logic of consumer capitalism. Exploring a range of topics from the role of romance to government intervention, this work highlights the ways in which the trend reinforces the importance of the individual and her freedoms.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is a difference in the way male and female authors of contemporary realistic fiction for young adults portray decision making by their male or female protagonists. Questions asked in the study were: (1) Do female writers of contemporary young adult realistic fiction employ an ethic of justice or an ethic of care for male protagonists involved in moral decision making? (2) Do female writers of contemporary young adult realistic fiction employ an ethic of justice or an ethic of care for female protagonists involved in moral decision making? (3) Do male writers of contemporary young adult realistic fiction employ an ethic of justice or an ethic of care for male protagonists involved in moral decision making? and (4) Do male writers of contemporary young adult realistic fiction employ an ethic of justice or an ethic of care for female protagonists involved in moral decision making? Content analysis was used as the method of collecting data. The sample consisted of 194 novels written from 1989 to 1998, 53 of which contained a moral dilemma. A discussion of the novels included examples of moral dilemmas, alternative solutions, dilemma resolutions, and resolutions based upon care or justice. Analysis of the data revealed: (1) Female writers employ an ethic of care and an ethic of justice for male protagonists involved in moral decision making. (2) Female writers prefer an ethic of care for female protagonists involved in moral decision making. (3) Male writers prefer an ethic of justice for male protagonists involved in moral decision making. (4) Male writers prefer an ethic of justice for female protagonists involved in moral decision making.

Master of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to examine the adolescent novels that were awarded in Greece from 1985 till 2005 by four major organizations. The primary focus was to outline the main characteristics of the awarded adolescent novel that developed during the last 20 years in Greece and secondly, to examine the main characteristics of those awarded novels so as to understand the importance of this newly formed genre and the important role it can play in the development of the adolescent. In the first part of the study we outlined the development and the main characteristics of the adolescent novel while we focused on the different criteria that are used by the four major organizations that award and promote this literary genre in Greece. The second part of the study analyzes the various stages of the buildingsroman as it’s seen through the themes of the novels, while a major component of it deals with the way the Greek identity is portrayed and promoted as well as the model of the adolescent hero. The study suggested that adolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood, during which the adolescent changes both biologically and psychologically and those changes are directly related to his/her future personality. The study also indicates that the adolescent novel describes that period that coincides with the final stages of the maturation of the teenager. Therefore, the adolescent readers identify themselves with the heroes, their emotions, and the various problems with references to the surrounding environment and the every day life. It was also suggested that the adolescent reader can discover a role model in the novel’s heroes and heroines which could lead to a self evaluation and an evaluation of the others around him, while at the same time he/she can enjoy the entertainment and aesthetic values of the novel.

This thesis is a reader-centred investigation of Australian young adult selfdefined 'keen readers' of novels for pleasure, and considerations regarding audiencels by writers and publishers. It is predicated on the understanding that adult power operates at every level of young adults' lives, including the publishing, promotion and availability of their literature. The complexity of defining 'young adult' and 'Young Adult literature' and therefore publishing and promoting for this nominal audience is recognised as being dependent on the varying adult constructs of the terms and, therefore, is at the basis of decisions made in this adult-oriented industry. Historical and commercial aspects of Australian publishing (nominally) for this group of readers provide a context for this grounded theory-based qualitative study. Analysis of transcripts from focus group discussions with self-defined young adult 'keen readers of novels for pleasure' demonstrates that these participants had a sophisticated understanding of their leisure reading experiences regarding what they liked reading, how they found out about books, what made them choose one book over another, and where they obtained them. The insights gained from these 34 participants informed the analysis of comments by Australian adult 'creators' - writers and publishing staff - regarding audience, commercial pressures, promotional aspects and other factors influencing what is published and made available to young adult keen readers for pleasure. That these 34 participants were active buyers and promoters as well as borrowers of books indicates the need for the industry to recognise their expertise and value as a distinct and influential audience niche - the 'neo-consumers' of the future. The research provides a starting point into analysis of the influence of the group of adults I have termed 'gatekeepers', whose (largely institutional) roles enable them to either connect young adult readers with books and creators, or to separate them.

This study uses content analysis to examine the portrayal of eating disorders in young adult novels published from 1981-2005. Fifteen books were evaluated to determine if the portrayal of eating disorders was accurate according to documented psychological profiles of the causes and risk factors for eating disorders. Additionally, the books were evaluated to see if the portrayal of eating disorders over time had changed to correspond with evolving information on eating disorders. This study concludes that while eating disorders are being portrayed accurately and realistically in young adult literature, there is no change in the portrayals over time to complement evolving research on the risk factors and causes of eating disorders.

Master of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to examine the adolescent novels that were awarded in Greece from 1985 till 2005 by four major organizations. The primary focus was to outline the main characteristics of the awarded adolescent novel that developed during the last 20 years in Greece and secondly, to examine the main characteristics of those awarded novels so as to understand the importance of this newly formed genre and the important role it can play in the development of the adolescent. In the first part of the study we outlined the development and the main characteristics of the adolescent novel while we focused on the different criteria that are used by the four major organizations that award and promote this literary genre in Greece. The second part of the study analyzes the various stages of the buildingsroman as it’s seen through the themes of the novels, while a major component of it deals with the way the Greek identity is portrayed and promoted as well as the model of the adolescent hero. The study suggested that adolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood, during which the adolescent changes both biologically and psychologically and those changes are directly related to his/her future personality. The study also indicates that the adolescent novel describes that period that coincides with the final stages of the maturation of the teenager. Therefore, the adolescent readers identify themselves with the heroes, their emotions, and the various problems with references to the surrounding environment and the every day life. It was also suggested that the adolescent reader can discover a role model in the novel’s heroes and heroines which could lead to a self evaluation and an evaluation of the others around him, while at the same time he/she can enjoy the entertainment and aesthetic values of the novel.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-288).

The aim of this diploma thesis called Three significant trends in young adult literature is to analyse this literary category in the Czech Republic; to describe the publishing houses focusing on this type of literature and to determine, if there are any trends - and if so to describe them. The first chapter states different definitions of so called YA literature and its understanding abroad and in the Czech Republic among the publishers. In the next chapter I characterise the main trends in YA literature that already exist and also those that could emerge, according to literary agents and publishers. In the next part of this thesis I describe three chosen genres: urban fantasy, fairy tale retellings and dystopian novels and I analyse four series determined as typical for respective genres: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Each analysis is followed by the description of media response to the chosen series. The thesis also includes the interviews with editors from chosen publishing houses focusing on YA literature: Tereza Pecáková from CooBoo, Jakub Šedivý from Fragment, Lucie Kučová from Egmont and Eva Sedláčková and Jiří Štěpán from Host. This practical part is preceded by a theoretical...