Young Adult Literature Essay

“Of all passages, coming of age, or reaching adolescence is the purest, in that it is the loneliest. In birth one is not truly conscious; in marriage one has a partner, even death is faced with a life’s experience by one’s side,” said David Van Biema in. Throughout these “coming of age” years, young people are trying to adapt to the world around them while struggling to fit in. Young adult literature often helps students to understand and cope with social issues, pressures, and other problems relevant to their age group. Additionally, these books create an “escape” from reality for the reader. Integrating young adult literature into classrooms provides students with literature that they can easily relate to, increases the chance that students will read the material and participate in classroom discussions, and provides answers to questions or problems they may have about life, death, love, social issues, and everything in between. If one were to visit the local library, he/she would find that a variety of literature for youth is categorized as children’s and young adult literature. The term young adult literature also includes the sub-genre adolescent literature, which is often targeted to include those in junior high school. Of course this is not a universal definition and many people find it difficult …show more content…
Instead, many literary critics use the term “tweeners.” Tweener books are similar to young adult books but are often shorter, simpler, and more likely to be available in a series. Additionally, because they involve younger protagonists, the language and relationships are much more innocent, thus the book is less likely to be challenged and/or