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Chapter One

Introduction

Young Adult literature or fiction is a modern genre of fiction aimed towards post

adolescents and young adults. It is simple in style and shorter than a novel. St. Martin

Press first coined this term in 2009. The genre tends to focus on the issues prevalent in

young adults between the area of childhood and adulthood. Therefore, teachers from

fifteen years ago were reluctant to teach it, "Reading young adult literature in the

advanced placement classroom is certainly not widespread ... some teachers see it as a

waste of time, labeling it 'sub literature"' (Monseau 40). Sarah Trimmer published this

genre and introduced the terms ‘Books for Children’ and ‘Books for Young Persons’ and

these terms remain currently in use. Many years ago, the western world viewed children

and teens as miniature adults. Therefore, they published separate fiction for students. In

the sixteenth century, Young Adult literature begins in the form of oral narration. Fables,

folktales and bible stories are told in the family circles or in ballads and epics by nomadic

performers. In the seventieth century, few books published for children on the themes of

moralistic, didactic, historical and riddled with sanctions. During this period, people

mostly fear about witches. Many innocent people are accused as witchcrafts and put to

death. The books regarding witches are so popular. Some of the famous books on witches

are Melvin Burgess, Burning Issy, Julie Hearn, The Minister's Daughter, and Katherine

Sturtevant,  A True and Faithful Narrative.

In early 1800s, literature is widely controlled by religion. Although religion holds

a strong hand, cultural readings become more familiar among girls and boys. When

reading was becoming more popular with young adults, it was broken out into two parts

based on gender. Domestic stories mostly highlight the different aspects of women. Dime
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novels on the other hand speak about the adventures and other plots, which attract the

young boys. During the last part of eighteenth century, authors started to switch roles for

women to become more adventures instead of the typical homemaker. In the early

nineties authors took a turn towards sports novels for boys and girls. The roots of Young

Adult become so popular after the World War 1. The term ‘juvenile’ was first brought

into light in 1933. Seventeenth Summer, released by Maureen Daly in 1942 is considered

to be the first book written and published for teenagers. Great young adult novels during

1960s are To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper lee, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by

Roal Dahl, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, The Outsidres by S.E. Hinton and Island

of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’ell. The use of theoretical modes in these novels marks it

as the first Golden Age of Adult Literature. Culler in the Literary Theory: A Very Short

Introduction says

Three theoretical modes whose impact, since the 1960s, has been the

greatest are the wide-ranging reflection on language, representation, and

the categories of critical thought undertaken by deconstruction and

psychoanalysis (sometimes in concert, sometimes in opposition); the

analyses of the role of gender and sexuality in every aspect of literature

and criticism by feminism and then gender studies and Queer theory; and

the development of historically oriented cultural criticisms (new

historicism, post-colonial theory) studying a wide range of discursive

practices, involving many objects (the body, the family, race) not

previously thought of as having a history. (121)

The Young Adult books of the 1970s remain true capsules of the high school

experience and the dramas. When Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War was first printed
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in 1974, the new literary movement of young adult literature came in full swing. In 1980s,

different kinds of narratives appear in the literature like horror from Christopher Pike,

R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and adolescent high drama

Sweet Valley High. In 1988, the second stage of Golden Age starts with J.K Rowling’s

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. However, all of these books were more

commercial by nature than truly literary. They were enjoyable and well readable for their

young audience. Because they talked about life experiences that all adolescents deal with

in the nineteenth century.

YALSA has helped the literary category achieve and maintain its high potential.

This association started to give out awards for YAL books for their high quality. The

association has given out six literary awards since the 1990s. The Alex Awards are given

to ten books, originally written for adults that have had a special appeal to young adults.

The Michael L. Printz Award highlights the best books written for teens. The Margaret A.

Edward Award honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for

significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. The William C. Morris YA

Debut Award honors previously unpublished writers for their contribution to YAL.

YALSA also credits both nonfiction, with the Award for Excellence in

Nonfiction, and fiction books, with the Best Fiction List. Audio books have been granted

their own award, the Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audio book Production. Next to

all these prizes, YALSA also prints out annual lists of other remarkable young adult

fiction. The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award gives credit to the best books of children

and young adult fiction, for the Picture Book category, the Fiction and Poetry category,

and lastly Nonfiction. The Cybil Awards, the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’

Literary Awards, are given annually to children and YAL books that have been
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nominated the most by the blogger community of the Cybils and by the jury. The

Canadian Library Association also weighs in. Each year, it awards a prize to the Canadian

young adult book that has had most appeal to young adults between thirteen and eighteen

of age. The British literary association Chartered Institute of Library and Information

Professionals (CILIP) annually awards the Carnegie Medal to an outstanding British book

written for children or young adults. The British Costa Book Awards, formerly known as

the Whitbread Literary Awards, awards books in five categories as First Novel, Novel,

Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. According to its official website, the Costa Book

awards are one of the UK's most prestigious and popular literary prizes. YAL books can

be nominated for the Children’s Book category and the Book of the year.

Fiction is the most popular form of YA literature. In the twentieth century, Young

Adult Literature is divided into many sub genres such as Contemporary, Thriller Mystery,

Horror, Fantasy, Romance, Chick-Lit, Adventure, Steampunk and Science Fiction.

Contemporary romance YA novels are realistic fiction. Romance appeals especially to

young readers because many of the female classic protagonists in classic stories like

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and Emily Bronte's

Wuthering Heights are in their teens or early twenties and romance relates messages of

hope and youthfulness. It includes a love story as a focus of the plot. A contemporary

romance usually includes the full cycle of a romance and begins with the gathering of

future couple. Characters already know each other. Their relationship will be tested by

some events. These events lead a path for misunderstandings. So, the characters struggle

between life and death. When these misunderstandings are resolved, they realize their true

love. Some of the famous Contemporary romance books are This is not a test by Courtney

Summers, Cress by Marissa Meyer, The Tyrant’s Daughter by J.C Carleson.

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Mystery novels contain a mysterious death or crime that needs to be solved.

Mystery fiction originated from two independent sources, Arthur Conan Doyle’s

Sherlock Holmes series and Edgar Allan Poe’s Murderers. The protagonist is usually a

teen who manages to solve a puzzle that adults cannot. It is a mixture of false and fact.

Problem solving is a key theme in this novel. Suspense and crime are the stigmas, which

make the protagonist existing. The famous books on mystery are The Girl is Murder by

Kathryn Miller Haines, Shelter by Harlan Coben and The Silence of Murder by Dandi

Daley Mackall. The Silence of Murder is the most famous Mystery fiction, which won the

Edgar Award in 2012. The story is about the protagonist Hope Long. He always adored

her older brother, Jeremy. So she's stunned when Jeremy is accused of killing a local

baseball coach. Jeremy has not spoken a single word about the murder. He cannot explain

why he was seen near the coach's murder with a baseball bat with blood on it. Her hope

becomes a determined weapon, which proves her brother’s innocence.

The early 1990's, rather than promoting the publication of well-developed,

multicultural literature, formulaic novels publish in the form of Young Adult horror

novels. With an increase in violent crimes in the early 1990's, Cart explains one reason

for the popularity of the horror genre: "Jaded, numbed and dehumanized, viewers and

readers seem to need ever more visceral doses of violence to jump-start their numbed

emotions and sensibilities”. Thus," ... the paperback horror novel became to publishing in

the nineties what romance paperbacks had been to the eighties" (Cart 144- 45).

Two other popular genres within young adult literature are fantasy and science

fiction, which include dystopian novels. These types of novels meet an almost opposite

need than young adult romance: rather than helping teens understand their own lives,

science fiction and fantasy appeal to the need to escape the problems of their normal,
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everyday lives. Fantastic literature has long been capable of captivating the imagination

and creating worlds, characters, and situations that seem both real and radically different.

This makes fantasy a perfect genre for the female hero. I have chosen to concentrate on

specifically young adult fantasy for a variety of reasons. Firstly, modern fantasy is in

many ways the descendant of the romantic and epic traditions, in which we find the most

famous and memorable examples of heroes in Western culture. Heroes exhibit the

greatnesses of their societies, showing by example an admirable way to behave and

honorably act.

Hero stories and the motifs that have evolved from them are more than simply

entertaining adventures, and many modern fantasy authors are not only aware of the rich

tradition into which they are entering, but often reference it directly. Along with

inheriting the tradition of the hero as a character in a narrative, modern fantasy has also

inherited the world attached to that tradition. Much of the quest-oriented fantastic

literature for young adults (and adults) is set in a world or worlds that resemble a

European medieval or early modern setting, additionally leading to its association with

the romance and epic traditions prevalent in those periods.

As books like Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and Stephanie Meyers'

Twilight became popular, publishers took their popularity as a sign of new trends and

publish more books like it. When the Twilight novels became popular, publishers chose

to print more books about vampires. Books like the Vampire Academy series by Rachelle

Mead and the House of Night series by P.C. Cast were published after the Twilight series

but it gained prominence. Science fiction and fantasy are two distinct genres within young

adult fiction that are constantly associated with one another. Science fiction is often

imagined as aliens and spaceships, but that is only one of the many subjects and plots
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within the science fiction genre. Science fiction questions ‘What if. .. ?’ offering different

perspectives about the reality of life or humanity's possible future and has some basis in

science. In other words, in order for a book to be classified as science fiction it must be

possible either in the present or in the future, and incorporates advanced technologies.

Where science fiction is grounded in science, not all fantasy novels have to be

scientifically possible. Authors of young adult fantasy can create entire worlds and

situations with magic, enchantments, wizards, and anything else the author conjures in his

or her mind.

Historical fiction is a genre of novel that is set in the past. Most of the characters

are fictional. This genre must recognize that the story cannot have been set in any other

time or place in history to make sense. Historical fiction novels must be set in the past,

but not directly tied to specific historical characters or events. It directly relates to actual

historical events, or be a mixture of historical and fictional. Some themes of historical

fiction include clashes of cultures, wars and conflict, quest for freedom, overcoming

adversity, and surviving the challenges of everyday life. Some quality examples of

historical fiction are Out of the Dust (Hesse), In the Time of the Butterflies (Alvarez),

Fever 1793 (Anderson), Chains (Anderson), and The Astonishing Life of Octavian

Nothing (M. Anderson).

Another popular trend in young adult fiction is teen chick literature. Teen chick lit

novels are books about real-life issues such as boys, friendship, family, fitting in, and

growing up. Middle-aged women have been enjoying chick lit for years and it is

spreading to a younger crowd. The typical audience for teen chick lit is girls aged 12-14

years old with the typical setting being high school. Some credit classic authors, such as

Judy Blume, for introducing the teen chick lit phenomenon to younger readers while
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others credit novels, Young Adult Literature such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, for pulling in

the older crowd of women, who then passed down the love of chick lit to the younger

generation. The term “chick lit” is offensive to some authors. Teen chick lit is broken

down into sub-genres. Leading the way in privileged chick lit is the Gossip Girl series by

Cecily von Ziegesar, Lisi Harrison’s The Clique, and Zoey Dean’s The A-List. Privileged

chick lit provides an escape and opportunity for teen girls to fantasize about the

glamorous lifestyle seen only on television.

The Christian Young Adult genre is the unique form of YA literature. It slowly

makes its way into the YA market as Christian Young Adult. Even with some recent

success, the market for YA Christian fiction is tough. The genre faces challenges that the

mainstream YA genres do not generally face, such as where the books belong on the

shelves. Booksellers do not want to place the books with the adult inspirational books,

however they are reluctant to put them next to some of the controversial YA books.

Another issue facing the genre is marketing. Christian YA publishers must market the

books to not only the teenage population, but also the parents.

Dystopian fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy within both young

adult and adult literature. Dystopian fiction is by no means a new genre, though it is often

categorized as science fiction or fantasy instead of as dystopian fiction. This genre is most

often associated with science fiction because many dystopian novels involve technology

and events that could conceivably happen in the future. Joseph Campbell, a psychology

professor at the University of Illinois, identifies the difference between these two very

similar genres by categorizing the genres by their value. Young adult dystopia and young

adult science fiction are distinct genres because "Science fiction for young adults has its

use-value in clearly demonstrating the concept of othering to the adolescent; dystopian

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fiction for adolescents has its use-value in requiring the young adult to question the

ideological apparatuses of the culture being critiqued" (Campbell). A science fiction

novel might show a society situated many years in the future or in a completely different

universe, but it is not dystopian unless the society is being critiqued. Dystopian fiction has

the same problem when it is categorized as fantasy. Though the characteristics might be

similar, the purpose of the novel is different in a fantasy novel as opposed to a dystopian

novel. Ultimately, young adult dystopia is a hybrid genre or a combination of many genre

and many dystopian novels have elements of both science fiction and fantasy. Some

popular dystopian classics include Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, George Orwell's

1984, and Lois Lowry's The Giver, but of the three of these, only The Giver can really be

classified as a young adult novel. There was not a real boom in young adult dystopian

fiction until more recently after the publication of The Hunger Games by Suzanne

Collins. The Hunger Games was on the New York Bestseller's list for three years.

Nonfiction is a genre of specific information that is direct and true. Nonfiction can

be about religion, science, health, the arts, sports, history, real adventures, or growing up

as a teenager. The biggest benefit of teaching using nonfiction works is that teachers can

establish a purpose for reading for the young adults. Adolescents can develop reading

skills, increase vocabulary, and read about current information in an interesting format.

Good young adult nonfiction novels include: They called themselves the KKK. The

famous nonfiction books are The Birth of an American Terrorist Group (Bartoletti), Sex:

A Book for Teens: An Uncensored Guide to Your Body, Sex, and Safety (Hasler), The

Good, the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll’s History and Her Impact on Us (Stone), and The

Smart Aleck’s Guide to American History (Selzer).

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The realistic fiction genre relates to the issues of modern teens. This genre began

in the 1970s and remains strong (Koss 563). Realistic fiction novels tell matter-of-fact

stories about real and flawed teenaged characters. In a study completed by the Journal of

Adolescent and Adult Literacy, researchers found that 85% of the award winning and

well-liked books were fiction, and of those books, the most popular style was realistic

fiction. The most frequent theme found in realistic fiction was that of teens fitting-in with

the adolescent crowds. Realistic fiction is edgy and revolves around the sometimes dark

nature of becoming an adult. Situations in these novels are not comfortable for the reader,

and the language is reflective of teen peer interaction. Teens today have no patience with

staged conversations or fake situations in realistic fiction

Memoir is modern genre of Young Adult literature. There are a large number of

memoirs about a young person’s experience by adult writers. These include texts write as

well as those produced specifically for a younger readership. It provides a means for the

author to share information about the past. Some of the memoirs include very confronting

material. Brent Runyon’s intense The Burn Journals (2004), published when he was

twenty-seven. He imagines how he set himself on fire when he was 14 years old. The

focus of the book is on his recovery over the following year, but this is in itself difficult

and painful. Runyon undergoes not only excruciating burn care and skin grafts, but also

arduous physical and psychological therapy. The voice of the narrative is another

important aspect of the young adult memoir. This examination focuses on first person

narratives.

Young adults are not the only people reading these dystopian novels but it appeals to

a wide range of readers. People that are young, adult, male, female, and from vastly

different places and situations enjoy dystopian novels. The novels appeal to both genders'
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emotions with strong lead character like Katniss in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games series is set in the United States after a future war. The President and

the Capital control the twelve (formerly thirteen) districts. In order to remember the war

and what was lost, each year a boy and a girl from each district are chosen in a drawing to

fight to the death in an arena controlled by people in the capital. The main character,

Katniss takes her sister's place when Prim is chosen. The other tribute chosen from

District Twelve is Peeta, who Katniss later finds out is in love with her. They are forced

to act as if they are a couple in the arena as a way to get sponsors that can help them

survive in the arena. Meanwhile, Katniss' friend from District Twelve is also in love with

her. The characters are relatable and have realistic flaws and problems. Though many of

them live in corrupt or controlling societies, they have more normal and relatable

problems like navigating romantic relationships. Perhaps the strongest argument for their

popularity that Gander mentions is that dystopian novels demonstrate the reality of human

struggle. No matter the situation, many people can relate to different struggles shown in

young adult dystopia whether the issue is depression, the loss of a friend or family

member, or something else entirely. Boys must construct their own version of masculinity

in every major social situation they enter. They must make choices from competing, often

opposed styles of masculinity and they must make these choices within the framework of

hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity refers to that form of masculinity

dominant within a society. Psychic essentialism in its popular form maintains that the

core of masculinity is contained in cultural memory and repressed personality. This

theory exists within a very narrow framework. lt posits the existence, and therefore the

possible attainment of, an ideal of masculinity, free of conflict and with universal cultural

application. It makes no allowance for individual constructions of masculinity that exist

within a dialogue of change. Biological essentialist arguments use evidence from

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scientific studies of sex differences, structure and functioning of the brain and theories

about testosterone and biologically based aggression. Research on specific aspects of

biological sex differences is appropriated by popular writers and leads to statements,

which often find their way into media representations of common sense knowledge about

basic differences between men and women. The politics of gender represented in

videogames is not just one of the he-man heroes, but is also present in the depiction of

women as sex-objects, either female warriors or maidens in distress.

In 2012, Bowker Market Research reported that adults were purchasing 55% percent

of all young adult (YA) novels sold (“55%” Publishers Weekly). YA, ostensibly a

category designed for and marketed to teenage readers saw more than half of its sales

going to an unanticipated readership. The number might not be that surprising,

considering the remarkable visibility of YA literature in the twenty-first century. YA

novels are prominently featured in bookstores and frequently adapted into movies and TV

shows, and a handful of highly grossing movie franchises began as YA novels, for

example, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Twilight Saga. Websites such as

Forever Young Adult and Epic Reads have also originated to target the growing interest

in YA, and to create digital spaces for discussing these books online. This category of

literature has experienced both an increase in sales as well an increase in critical and pop.

Any study of young adult literature must take into consideration its ephemerality and

its ability to respond to readers living in a contemporary social, political, and cultural

context. YA authors have commented frequently on the short publication schedule that

this category necessitates. In order to stay relevant to teenage readers, they have to

publish, and publish often. Authors such as Emery Lord, Morgan Matson, Stephanie

Perkins, Patrick Ness, Andrew Smith, and Matthew Quick publish a book a year (and
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sometimes two). YA is a lucrative category for publishers in the twenty-first century, who

help to facilitate a consistent publication schedule for some authors. YA is also a category

that is increasingly flexible and malleable, and its shape is changed and altered by all

members of the publishing chain.

The themes used in Young Adult novels mostly view the insight of teens. Problem or

issue-based young adult novels are not new occurrences. From John Green’s Fault in Our

Stars (2012) to Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), books aimed to show adult’s

suffering due to cancer in the young age. S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders (1967), sometimes

considered the first young adult novel, dealt with the darker side of adolescent life

showing the violence of America’s gang culture. The main character of almost all young

adult novels is also a young adult. Young adults are relatively selfish. The world revolves

around them and what is happening in life are directly affects them. Teenagers do not

want to read about a thirty-year-old character and the problems that character faces.

Rather, young adults enjoy reading about characters that are similar to them.

The unique characteristics of YA literature are interesting. “In young adult

literature, the protagonists are almost always fully developed, while the minor characters

are flat” (Bushman, 1997). Young adult readers look at the interactions between the

characters and to see whether or not the characters respond realistically, especially as they

would in the same situation. Events or problems in the characters life need to be similar to

those that would affect a young adult, as well. Being fired from a corporate job or raising

children are not issues that would generally interest an adolescent, mostly because they

are unable to directly relate. Four plot types in young adult literature exist as protagonist

against self, protagonist against society, protagonist against another person, and

protagonist against nature” (Bushman, 1997).

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The ending of a young adult novel also determines its quality. All young adult

readers want to keep guessing throughout the book and want everything to be okay at the

end of the story. “Another important characteristic of young adult literature is the style in

which the book was written” (Bushman, 1997). It is crucial that the dialogue is

comparable to the language spoken by young adults. The point of view of the story and

main character is generally similar to the point of view a young adult would have.

Omniscient point of view is the most widely used style in young adult novels. Readers are

able to get the full story about each character. First person point of view is limiting.

However, the reader can really empathize and understand the events and characters

through one characters eye. While readers cannot get into the minds of the other

characters, they are able to get to know the main character very well. For this reason, first

person point of view is very popular in young adult literature.

Youth studies sit across many disciplines including sociology, political science,

social work, education and psychology. Studies of youth or adolescence have emerged

from distinct disciplines, epistemological positions and theoretical traditions. Influenced

by psychology and developmental sociology, the traditional approach has historically

viewed ‘youth’ as a universal, biological stage, focused on identifying and promoting

normative pathways to ‘adulthood’. This has shaped policy that creates pathologies of

difference and promotes interventions that target the behaviour of individuals and groups.

However, by the 1960s, studies on young people’s experiences of social reproduction and

transformation challenged the essentialist and deterministic assumptions of the

functionalist approach on the basis that youth experience is shaped by social structures.

Youth literature is defined and understood in relation to structures, processes and social

conventions including the notion of ‘adulthood’. It says that, youth is a relational concept

and that young people are often positioned as ‘becoming’, rather than ‘being’, as deficient
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rather than sufficient, as needing protection or protection from. These two approaches to

youth the ‘developmental’ and the ‘contextual’ currently have the greatest influence over

academic inquiry and policy development. A third theoretical approach, less prominent in

policy and practitioner literature, is the subjectivist approach which privileges agency

over structure in its analysis of youth experience. Since 1980’s this approach to the study

of youth has emerged It argues that youth experience is primarily the performance of the

acceptance, resistance or transformation of dominant discourses on youth and related

concepts.

“Young adults love to truly connect with the main character” (Bushman, 1997).

Profanity in young adult literature is criticized, however when the author does not use the

same language as young adults use in reality. Many other literary elements make for a

quality young adult novel. Alliteration is used frequently, but not too important. It

generally peaks the reader’s interest to use in the title or important parts of the story. It

also helps to keep the story flowing and therefore, motivates young adults to continue

reading. Metaphors and similes are found in young adult literature to help readers

understand better a situation or idea by comparing it to something familiar. Flashbacks

are found in many young adult novels. Flashbacks are a memory or retelling of past event

that has importance to the immediate storyline is very effective when done correctly.

Most of the time, small sections of books are written in flashback, rather than the entire

plot. Foreshadowing keeps young adult readers on their feet. It is an author’s technique

for giving clues or hints to the reader about forthcoming action. Effective beginnings are

crucial to a successful young adult novel. Often, young adults will put down a book after

the first page because they are simply not interested. Good beginnings allow young

people to read more. Additionally, reading good examples of effective beginnings in

young adult books can help students with their own writing. Humor is a great tool that
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entices the reader to continue reading. A great example of humor in a young adult book is

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar. Young adult novels should contain

imagery that give readers visual pictures in their minds of what they are reading, helping

students who may be reluctant readers or not enjoy reading as much.

Allusions are very important in young adult literature. Any kind of connection a

student can make is a good thing. Robert Cormier’s I Am the Cheese is an allusion to the

old nursery rhyme and the game The Farmer and the Dell. With all forms of teaching,

making connections is the key for learning. Allusions cleverly allow for connections

between other stories and the novel being read, and therefore making it easier for a young

adult reader to read. Young adult novels are short, usually not more than two hundred

pages. Unfortunately, even when a book is intriguing and interesting, a young adult will

not pick it up if the length is intimidating. A book that is hundreds of pages long is likely

to not be picked up by a young adult. Young adults like to read books about common,

every day adolescents like themselves, or about situations that may happen to adolescents

of their age. According to Isabelle Holland, an adolescent is “any human being on a

journey that great, amorphous sea called adolescence or any age between twelve and

nineteen” (Lenz 33). The Young Adult Service Division of the American Library

Association defines the age range of a young adult as ages ten to nineteen. Perhaps the

most important aspect of identifying young adult literature is whether a work is written

for and marketed for young adults. Many forms of literature have had young adult

characters. For instance, Huckleberry Finn, was not intentionally been intended for young

adult audiences.

While young adults…will read classics‟ with teen protagonist- such as

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn…or Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women

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or even William Golding’s Lord of the Flies- such novels are not strictly

considered young adult literature. Similarly, contemporary novels popular

with young adults and young people, such as those written by Danielle

Steel, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King, are also not in the category of

young adult literature (Christenbury, 1944).

During the 1990s, novels based around social issues were being published

regularly. Australia’s John Marsden is one of the leading authors of the novel Dear

Miffy (1997). Killing Aurora (1999) by Helen Barnes, Care factor Zero (1997) by

Margaret Clark, and Shoovey Jed (1997) by Maureen Stewart are further examples

Australian Young Adult fiction from the nineties that dealt with confronting themes like

anorexia, child abuse and depression amongst them respectively. British author Melvin

Burgess was producing even more confronting work with his novel Junk (1996) depicting

heroin addicters.

There are many controversies in YA literature. Teenage years are full of tough

topics. Teenagers are faced with hard decisions on a daily basis. Teens want to read about

real-life, whether it be good or bad. Some of the issues that are subjects in young adult

literature may traditionally be seen as adult issues. Authors of YA books use their writing

to Young Adult Literature to help teens cope (Bodart 31). YA authors use the emotions of

their readers to engage them. This section will explore two topics that draw controversy:

darkness and sexuality. Darkness as stated prior, teens wants to read about issues that are

real and affect them. Author M.E. Kerr attributes this to changing times and a completely

new landscape for teens, where they are faced with tougher issues and live more

transparent lives. S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel, The Outsiders, is credited to opening the door

to dark, real topics in young adult novels.

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The Outsiders is a novel about two rival gangs divided by their socioeconomic

status. This darkness is now controversial because of the number of dark-themed books

that are being published. In recent years the number of books dealing with death or

containing a deceased narrator has multiplied. Patty Campbell claims, “… I think the

more central answer is that this trend simply reflects writers’ discovery of a new area, a

new direction, a new twist on good old adolescent angst” (Campbell “YA Lit and the

Deathly Fellows” 361). Critics of the dark novels claim that the topics are damaging to

today’s youth because of the controversial topics that are included . On the other side of

the coin, supporters claim the novels help the teens. YA author, Maureen Johnson, went

so far as to start a YA Saves campaign on the social media network, Twitter, claiming

that literature can literally save lives by helping readers deal with difficult issues. Laurie

Halse Anderson, author of Speak, believes that by reading about tough topics, such as

cutting, which is a form of self-mutilation, teens are able to see the happy conclusions and

are given hope. The readers are immersed into the situations in the books where the

characters make hard decisions on issues that the reader may not have thought about prior

to reading. As previously mentioned, teens are drawn to stories that mirror real life

experiences and help them cope with the teenage years. Sex is something that is prevalent

in the lives of many teens.

A survey given by the Center for Disease Control in 2007 concluded that 45.7%

of high school females and 47.9% of high school males are sexually active. Author Judy

Blume is recognized as one of the pioneers in the area of bringing sex to the forefront in

YA literature with her 1975 novel, Forever. The controversy with teen sex in young adult

books stems from the way sex is portrayed. Critics suggest that sex is portrayed in a

negative light, thus young adults receive the wrong message. Some of the negative

messages received include the need for boys to pressure girls and punishment for sexual
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activity. Punishment ranges from pregnancy as a result or death, and in some cases, both.

This was seen in Sarah Dessen’s Someone Like You. The main character has sex, gets

pregnant, and then the boy dies. Even in Blume’s Forever the consequences of being

sexually active results in pregnancy for Sybil, a supporting character in the story. On the

positive side, books can be used to increase the knowledge of teens on tough subjects,

such as sex. The controversial titles should be available in libraries, as they may comfort

struggling teens. Realistic fiction books that deal with the everyday problems of teens

have therapeutic abilities, but only if teens have access to them on the shelves in libraries.

The setting is contemporary, home, school, and the local town or city, with care

taken to include the material components of a teenager' s life. Books are usually short,

with a linear plot and a short time span, rarely more th an a year. The events and problems

described are intended to be specifie to teenage experience. The outcome of the plot is

directly related to the actions and decisions of the main characters. Language used in the

novels reflects teenage speech patterns and vocabulary including slang, although even the

most recent realistic novels still tend to have relatively mild language compared with that

used in reality. Traditional narrative analysis tended to be focused on literary construction

and inc1uded discussion of such aspects as plot, characters, setting and style. A crucially

important part of any text analysis relates to defining who tells the story (narrative

position). Traditional analyses of young adult novels examining narrative position have

tended to use models of narrative theory that use the terms first person point of view or

third person point of view. These terms are too limited to analyze the increasing number

of different strategies used by authors of young adult literature who have increasingly

been using more sophisticated narrating techniques that provide multiple viewpoints for a

reader by setting up more than one narrative agency in a text.

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Famous American YA fiction writers are John Green, J. K Rowling, Suzanne

Collins, Veronica Ruth and Lauren Oliver. Leigh Bardugo is one among the best

American fantasy authors. She was born in Jerusalem but her family moved to the United

States when she was very young and she grew up in Los Angeles, California. She

graduated from Yale University and went on to have many different jobs, working in

advertising, journalism and special effects at various stages. Bardugo is known for her

three novels in the Grisha trilogy. It consists of three books with different names and

page numbers. The titles are Shadow and Bone (2012), Siege and Storm (2013), and Ruin

and Rising (2014). She has won the Young Adult Protagonist winner award for Shadow

and Bone. The fame of Grisha Trilogy makes Bardugo as the bestselling author by the

New York Times. She has written two short fictions, they are Crooked Kingdom and Six of

Crows.

Shadow and Bone (2012) is the first book of the trilogy, which is deeply dipped in

the Russian culture. The Grisha Trilogy is set predominantly in the country of Ravka,

which has spent the last hundred years waging war with the neighbours. Fjerda to the

north and Shu Han to the south. Severely undermining Ravka’s ability to defend itself is

the extensive tract of land called Shadow Fold. It is filled with volcras which eats human

flesh. It divides the country into two and effectively cuts off central Ravka from its port

cities. Crossing the Fold risks the life of Ravkans. Grishas are magician’s supports with

the First Army members to safeguard the people in the Fold. Actually Darkling, the leader

of Grishas creates this Fold for his greed for power. The Grisha are the powerful

practitioners of what’s known as the Small Science, an innate gift that allows them to

manipulate natural forces on a microcosmic level. They are insistent on this terminology,

rejecting the term “magic” and define it as science. Alina Starkov is not Grisha; only a

lowly mapmaker in Ravka’s First Army, deployed along with her regiment to oversee the
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latest journey through the Shadow Fold. Halfway through their convoy is attacked by

volcra, though it’s not until her best friend’s life is threatened that Alina unleashes a

dormant power she never even knew existed – a bright and beautiful light that identifies

her not only as Grisha, but as a rare Sun Summoner. She is instantly whisked away from

the military to begin training at the Little Palace, soon realizing that she alone has the

potential to dispel the Shadow Fold and restore Ravka to its former greatness.

The second book is Siege and Storm (2013). Darkness never dies. Hunted across

the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with

Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret.

But she can't outrun her past or her destiny for long. The Darkling has emerged from the

Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very

boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to

the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as

her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling's game of forbidden magic, and

farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her

power, and the love she always thought would guide her . She stands in a risk condition

of losing everything to the oncoming storm.

The third book of the trilogy is entitled as Ruin and Raising (2014). The capital

has fallen. The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne. Now the nation’s fate rests

with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-

great magical army. Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina

must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a

Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that

an outlaw prince still survives.Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old
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rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins

to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her

understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one

thing that stands between Ravka and destruction. Alina claims it and kills Darkling at the

end of the battle.

The first part of the dissertation elaborately describes humans’ desire as the root

cause of evil. It proves that greed is common to everyone. Moreover it explains how

greed becomes one’s personal for his private motive. Greed is a motivator because

without greed America would not have competed China. In a way, society nurtures the

greed in humans mind. If a person gives importance to his moral values then there is no

excessive greed.

The second part of the dissertation is entitled light vs. darkness. Light is the

symbol of enlighten whereas darkness symbolizes evil. Greed for power, land, wealth,

food, sex arouses fight with truth, love and vanity. Darkness fails to recognize his crude

nature in the midst of darkness. But light illumines the truth regarding darkness. Self-

confidence of a person determines the strength in this world to fight against darkness.

The third part of the dissertation shows the kind of development in each character.

It is the journey towards light. Greed arouses war within their self and the recognition of

their mistakes provokes a new path in their life. Experiencing pain moulds one’s

character. Moreover, it motivates a person to have a stern firm in his decision. This

chapter discusses the developmental aspects of human behaviour through the fantasy

novel of Bardugo. It is proved that a person have to experience developmental process

such as physical, psychological and mental aspects. The process of development teaches a
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person about the importance and magnitude of life. The growth of a person moulds him to

be more powerful and potent.

This paper analyses the struggles of humans to achieve to self-evolution. This paper

tries to figure out the causes internal and external conflicts of humans and its impacts.

The findings of the novel prove that excessive greed and desire for power destroys

human’s happiness. When a person believes that he is not worthful, he does not need

wealth, power and materials to prove his importance. Materials, wealth, greed, and power

are abstract things. In the modern world humans, give more importance to the abstract

being, power rather than the concrete being, human. If he identifies the strength within

him, he will achieve anything in this world and does not subjugate others for his power.

Humans should respect other humans and show empathy. The evolution of a more honest

and real YA genre demonstrates its allure. The attraction of young adult literature

attempts to capture serious issues from the growing years of adolescents. Avid and

reluctant readers alike have found themselves interested in the YA genre. People,

especially adolescents have responded to this fiction because it is an assurance that they

have the same problems as others, that they are not alone. A sense of real life connectivity

allows the stories to maintain popularity.

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