Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism by Loretta M. Gaffney

Abstract

Reviewed by: Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism by Loretta M. Gaffney Nadia Clifton (bio) Young Adult Literature, Libraries, and Conservative Activism. By Loretta M. Gaffney. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. In this book, Loretta M. Gaffney explores young adult literature as a cultural and political phenomenon. By considering critiques and defenses of this literature and detailing the history and importance of librarians in shaping its canon, Gaffney jumps into a lively and strongly opinionated discussion on the relevance, importance, and role of young adult literature in the lives of teenagers. Each chapter includes historical background to bring the reader into the long conversation about adolescent literature, providing context for its ongoing discussion. By exploring the politics and power relationships in the act of reading, Gaffney puts forward a vision of these texts’ extensive impact. As she writes, “YA Literature is not simply a collection of books: it is an idea about the value of youthful perspectives, the importance of forging identities and communities, and the power and possibility of public reading” (54). [End Page 118] In the introductory chapter, Gaffney lays the groundwork for productive ways of reading young adult novels. First, she defines adolescent literature in a way that goes beyond the age of protagonist or reader. She encourages a focus on literature that is more political, literature with young protagonists that explores and critiques society as well as books focused on the teenage perspective of what she calls “the eternal present,” a description of the teenager’s ability to “live in the heat of the moment” (6; orig. emphasis). She continues by outlining the history of the form, its foundational novels, and its slow yet steady rise in academia. Finally, she introduces the three main concepts that she proposes should be used for reading adolescent literature and its criticism: aesthetics, pedagogy, and pleasure. Each of these reading strategies is given its own space for further exploration in chapters 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 2 addresses the intended audience of adolescent literature: teenagers. The reigning narrative is that teens are “reluctant” readers. Concern about youth reading, especially recreational reading, is not new, dating back at least to the dime novels of the nineteenth century. The perpetuation of this narrative, however, leads to an image of teenage readers that Gaffney argues is limiting. Since teens engage in a combination of print and digital literacies, she advocates that a new definition of reading be constructed and applied when observing teen reading practices today. This combination of print and digital literacies creates a situation where rather than simply being passive consumers of information, adolescent readers are also active creators, especially online. Traditional stereotypes and theories influence how we construct these readers, and we often forget to take them at face value. A qualitative analysis is more productive than a quantitative one, especially the realization that they read for pleasure rather than information. We must also remember to take into account the actual reading practices of teenagers, not those that we impose upon them. Chapter 3 discusses aesthetics, the first of Gaffney’s three strategies for reading young adult literature. A historical context reveals that librarians were the first group to insist on books for young people that were not just pedagogically useful, but aesthetically pleasing as well. In this way, librarians play an integral part in creating and growing the adolescent literary canon. This gatekeeper role, however, is criticized by those who argue about the merits of realistic versus fantasy literature within the canon. Today, Gaffney calls for an interrogation of the basis of defense for books: “If we elect to use literary quality or the canon as an answer to critics, the criteria for determining such quality must not go unexamined” (50). She also claims a role for librarians as the defenders of teens’ freedom to read. Although librarians must choose books that embody both literary quality and appeal, they also tend to recognize the importance of reader choice because the reader is the one who makes meaning from the text. Chapter 4 examines Gaffney’s second strategy, pedagogy, by addressing bibliotherapy and the problem novel. [End Page 119] Young adult literature tends to be viewed as books that...