On the Shoulders of Giants

Celebrating African American Authors of Young Adult Literature

Edited by Steven T. Bickmore and Shanetia P. Clark PhD

This first book in a three volume series celebrates and examines the work of four African American authors of young adult literature. They are Virginia Hamilton, Julius Lester, Walter Dean Myers, and Mildred D. Taylor; they serve as the foundation of young adult literature and provide robust stories that center and illuminate African American youth. In addition, this volume also examines the role of the Coretta Scott King Award in promoting access and visibility to authors and illustrators who shine a spotlight on African American youth and society. The chapter authors--librarians and established and emerging scholars in the field of young adult literature--survey the work of Hamilton, Lester, Myers, or Taylor; their accolades; and how audiences initially responded to their work. Each chapter highlights a single work and discusses how it might be taught, providing pre, during, and post reading activities or, in some cases, individual, small group, or whole class activities. This volume is a resource for classroom teachers, teacher educators, reading specialists, librarians, and other educators who study, research, and read young adult literature. This first volume supplements studies in the foundations of African American authors of young adult literature and explorations of critical works by these authors.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 144 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4758-4352-1 • Hardback • December 2019 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-4758-4353-8 • Paperback • December 2019 • $28.00 • (£21.99)

978-1-4758-4354-5 • eBook • December 2019 • $26.50 • (£19.99)

Series: African American Authors of Young Adult Literature: A Three Volume Series

Subjects: Education / Multicultural Education, Literary Collections / American / African American, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Young Adult Fiction / Diversity & Multicultural

On the Shoulders of Giants

Celebrating African American Authors of Young Adult Literature

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

This first book in a three volume series celebrates and examines the work of four African American authors of young adult literature. They are Virginia Hamilton, Julius Lester, Walter Dean Myers, and Mildred D. Taylor; they serve as the foundation of young adult literature and provide robust stories that center and illuminate African American youth. In addition, this volume also examines the role of the Coretta Scott King Award in promoting access and visibility to authors and illustrators who shine a spotlight on African American youth and society. The chapter authors--librarians and established and emerging scholars in the field of young adult literature--survey the work of Hamilton, Lester, Myers, or Taylor; their accolades; and how audiences initially responded to their work. Each chapter highlights a single work and discusses how it might be taught, providing pre, during, and post reading activities or, in some cases, individual, small group, or whole class activities. This volume is a resource for classroom teachers, teacher educators, reading specialists, librarians, and other educators who study, research, and read young adult literature. This first volume supplements studies in the foundations of African American authors of young adult literature and explorations of critical works by these authors.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 144 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4758-4352-1 • Hardback • December 2019 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

978-1-4758-4353-8 • Paperback • December 2019 • $28.00 • (£21.99)

978-1-4758-4354-5 • eBook • December 2019 • $26.50 • (£19.99)

Series: African American Authors of Young Adult Literature: A Three Volume Series

Subjects: Education / Multicultural Education, Literary Collections / American / African American, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Young Adult Fiction / Diversity & Multicultural

Author

Steven T. Bickmore is an Associate professor of English Education at UNLV and maintains a weekly academic blog on YA literature (http://www.yawednesday.com/). He is a past editor of The ALAN Review (2009-2014) and a founding editor of Study and Scrutiny: Research in Young Adult Literature.

Shanetia P. Clark, Ph.D. is an associate professor of literacy in the Department of Early and Elementary Education at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland. Her interests include young adult and children's literature, the exploration of aesthetic experiences within reading and writing classrooms, and writing pedagogy.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction - Steven T. Bickmore

PART I: CRITICAL FOUNDATION, ESTABLISHED THEMES, AND RECEPTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AUTHORS

Chapter 1: Looking back to move forward: A Retrospective of the Coretta Scott King Award Deborah Taylor

Chapter 2: Themes and Critical Foundations of Early African American Authors of Young Adult Literature

Shanetia P. Clark

PART II: FOUNDING AUTHORS AND THEIR EARLY INTRODUCTION

Chapter 3: Walter Dean Myers: A Lifetime of Stories

Ngozi Onuora

Chapter 4: Virginia Hamilton, Liberation, and Bluish: Generating Acceptance and Empathy

Shanetia P. Clark and Steven T. Bickmore

Chapter 5: These Tears Are Real: Historical Representations in Julius Lester’s Day of Tears

Ruth McKoy Lowery and Cheryl Logan

Chapter 6: The Early Reception of Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Chris Crowe

PART III: FOUNDING AUTHORS, CURRENT REPUTATIONS, AND THEIR CONTINUED PRESENCE

Chapter 7: Poet of Harlem: The Truth, Text, and Legacy of Walter Dean Myers

M. Cathrene Connery

Chapter 8: Reading, Learning, and Telling Folklore through Virginia Hamilton’s Zeely

Nancy D. Tolson

Chapter 9: Julius Lester’s Nonfiction Presentation of Slavery in To Be a Slave

Steven T. Bickmore

Chapter 10: Racialized Constructions in the Stories by Mildred Taylor

Wanda Brooks and Desiree Cueto

About the Authors

Reviews

A brilliant tribute to the evolution of African American Young Adult Literature with practical resources! An essential read for every culturally relevant educator!
— Shimikqua Ellis, graduate instructor, University of Mississippi

Bickmore and Clark’s offer a comprehensive and pragmatic guide for teachers who want to make their classroom libraries and their classroom ELA instruction more inclusive. Specifically, this edited volume engages the teaching of African American young adult literature in our classrooms in ways that celebrate difference and that challenge students to consider how race has shaped American society! I can think of no better contemporary text for teachers that introduces the world of African American young adult literature.
— Ernest Morrell, Coyle professor, Department of English, University of Notre Dame

Bickmore and Clark have assembled chapters that focus on the purpose and longevity of the Coretta Scott King Award which makes books like the ones discussed visible; examine important themes in AAYA; discussing how Hamilton, Myers, Lester, and Taylor produced work that “liberated” readers.
— KaaVonia Hinton, Old Dominion University, co-editor, Racial Dimensions of Life Writing

Bickmore and Clark celebrate African American writers who trail blazed a literary path for adolescent readers. Their instructional activities for individuals, groups, and whole-class instruction, invite teachers and scholars to be critical readers. With 23 years of classroom teaching and as a National Writing Project director, I can’t wait to promote the authors in this book in my University classes, our summer institute, and with professional development workshops in K-12 schools. We need more resources like this!
— Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall, Associate Professor; Director of the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University