Review of Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction

Gabriel Duckels

doi:10.24877/ijyal.25

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract: If the so-called Golden Age of children’s literature has been successfully calcified into the canon, as decades of scholarship might attest, then the merit, breadth, and possibility of young adult literature continues to be underplayed and overlooked. <em>Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction</em> goes some way in remedying that and makes me wonder whether we are today in a Golden Age of YA, of sorts.

Highlights

If the so-called Golden Age of children’s literature has been successfully calcified into the canon, as decades of scholarship might attest, the merit, breadth, and possibility of young adult literature continues to be underplayed and overlooked
As Rebekah Fitzsimmons and Casey Alane Wilson note in their introduction, in the twenty-first century YA “has become increasingly popular; both the YA fan base and YA publishing imprints have continued to grow at a time when many other subsets of book publishing are shrinking” (ix)
This explosion of interest in YA is frequently conflated with the global domination of a handful of novels-cum-franchises, such as The Hunger Games and Twilight, which blur the connotations of the humble YA novel with those of an entire media industry

Summary

Introduction

If the so-called Golden Age of children’s literature has been successfully calcified into the canon, as decades of scholarship might attest, the merit, breadth, and possibility of young adult literature continues to be underplayed and overlooked. Beyond the Blockbusters: Themes and Trends in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction goes some way in remedying that and makes me wonder whether we are today in a Golden Age of YA, of sorts.

Results

Conclusion