Learning from Those Who Came Before Us

Abstract

This extensive interview by Leilya Pitre with Chris Crowe is the first installment of a new feature in Study & Scrutiny, “Conversations with ALAN Elders,” which will appear in every other issue. In this far-ranging conversation, Crowe recounts his experiences as a student of Ken Donelson, one of the founders of the Assembly of Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) in 1974, his relationships with other early leaders of the organization, and with his own students. He also speaks to the purpose of this section: Keeping the roots of teaching and scholarship of young adult literature in the light. As Crowe is wont to do, he offers a metaphor to make his point: “There is a science-fiction/time-travel novel, called Timeline by Michael Crichton (1999), in which one character, a historian, says that people who don’t know history don’t know anything. It’s like being a leaf that doesn’t know it’s part of a tree. The tree of young adult literature has lots of interesting roots and branches.” This interview project led by Leilya Pitre, Terri Suico, and Crag Hill intends to surface the connections between the roots and each season’s fresh leaves.