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Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature

Nancy Thalia Reynolds

Mixed-heritage people are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States, yet culturally they have been largely invisible, especially in young adult literature. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature is a critical exploration of how mixed-heritage characters (those of mixed race, ethnicity, religion, and/or adoption) and real-life people have been portrayed in young adult fiction and nonfiction.

This is the first in-depth, broad-scope critical exploration of this subgenre of multicultural literature. Following an introduction to the topic, author Nancy Thalia Reynolds examines the portrayal of mixed-heritage characters in literary classics by James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, and Zora Neale Hurston—staples of today's high school English curriculum—along with other important authors. It opens up the discussion of young-adult racial and ethnic identity in literature to recognize—and focus on—those whose heritage straddles boundaries. In this book teachers will find new tools to approach race, ethnicity, and family heritage in literature and in the classroom. This book also helps librarians find new criteria with which to evaluate young adult fiction and nonfiction with mixed-heritage characters.

Scarecrow Press

Pages: 272 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-8108-5969-2 • Hardback • March 2009 • $83.00 • (£64.00)

978-0-8108-6710-9 • eBook • March 2009 • $78.50 • (£60.00)

Series: Studies in Young Adult Literature

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Children's & Young Adult Literature, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General

Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Mixed-heritage people are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States, yet culturally they have been largely invisible, especially in young adult literature. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature is a critical exploration of how mixed-heritage characters (those of mixed race, ethnicity, religion, and/or adoption) and real-life people have been portrayed in young adult fiction and nonfiction.

This is the first in-depth, broad-scope critical exploration of this subgenre of multicultural literature. Following an introduction to the topic, author Nancy Thalia Reynolds examines the portrayal of mixed-heritage characters in literary classics by James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, and Zora Neale Hurston—staples of today's high school English curriculum—along with other important authors. It opens up the discussion of young-adult racial and ethnic identity in literature to recognize—and focus on—those whose heritage straddles boundaries. In this book teachers will find new tools to approach race, ethnicity, and family heritage in literature and in the classroom. This book also helps librarians find new criteria with which to evaluate young adult fiction and nonfiction with mixed-heritage characters.

Details

Scarecrow Press

Pages: 272 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-8108-5969-2 • Hardback • March 2009 • $83.00 • (£64.00)

978-0-8108-6710-9 • eBook • March 2009 • $78.50 • (£60.00)

Series: Studies in Young Adult Literature

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Children's & Young Adult Literature, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General

Author

Nancy Thalia Reynolds is the author of numerous articles and books on parenting, education, culture, and travel, including Adopting Your Child (1993).

Reviews

Superb....This work is highly recommended for curriculum labs and public and college and university libraries.
— American Reference Books Annual, May 2009

Reynold's work is a critical investigation of the often-unexamined topic of mixed heritage characters in adolescent literature....Broad in scope, Reynold's analysis covers a variety of 'multiculti' categories and offers an array of texts to support her claims. She clearly takes young adult literature seriously and seems personally invested in the serious study of the multivariate topics and texts included here....Reynold's work is thorough, important, and highly usable.
— VOYA, June / July 2009

Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature

Nancy Thalia Reynolds

Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature

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