Instructor

Shana Youngdahl

Class Type 

Literature

Course Description

This course will examine Classic Young Adult and Middle Grade Literature with an eye toward ever present questions of writing for children including, how do authors balance engaging children with telling and important moral or historical stories? What is the role of morality in children’s literature? How has children’s literature been influenced by social movements? How does children’s literature work to empower and engage children? We will probe questions of what stands the test of time, genre in children’s literature, trends in culture and publishing including updating the canon to recent popular forms such as the graphic novel. A major focus of the course will be on what the modern creative writer can learn from examining the history of these genres. Critical discussion will be complemented by creative responses to master texts. Authors examined may include Lois Lowry, Madeline L’Engle, Penelope Farmer, Judy Blume, Lewis Carroll and S. E Hinton and others. 

Textbook

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle 

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor 

Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Judy Blume 

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babett 

The Outsiders S.E Hinton 

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding 

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden: 978-1449479602