ALAN v35n1 - From the Editors
From the Editors
As fall rolls in, we embark on another school year filled with new students, new texts, and new opportunities. And, with such a growing list of quality young adult titles, how can you not be excited?
For this issue, we emphasize these opportunities through our theme of “Young Adult Literature—No Genre Unwanted.” Besides offering engaging texts that relate to adolescents’ worlds, YA lit provides an enormous variety of genres designed to interest even the most reluctant readers. Through this issue’s collection of articles, we share numerous approaches educators use to address everything from autobiography to horror. Also in this issue, Robin Mara explores Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose and metaphor, which Mara determines as the heart of the novel.
Joan Kaywell provides a tribute to the late Ted Hipple, who was such an integral part of the ALAN family. She details a collection of literature designed as a lasting memorial for the individual who served as executive secretary of this organization for nearly 20 years.
In the Professional Resource Connection, William Broz, Jeff Copeland, and Jerome Klinkowitz focus on “genre-jumping,” with Copeland’s Inman’s War: A Soldier’s Story of Life in a Colored Battalion in WWII. This unique article features a review of the book by Klinkowitz, as well as Copeland’s own words about the text, as well as an annotated bibliography.
In another article, Linda J. Rice interviews author and fellow teacher Trudy Krisher, who shares details of her life and her career in writing. Jonathan Stephens examines the genre of young adult literature ... what it is and what it isn’t, as well as a closer look at several books in the genre. In his article, Scot Smith explores “The Death of Genre” and how YA fiction often doesn’t fit neatly into distinct classifications.
Lisa Scherff and Candace Lewis Wright provide interesting connections regarding Ironman and The Catcher in the Rye, in their effort to pair the two novels. The authors emphasize literary theories as well as a practical application for the works. We step into some impressive libraries with an article by Diane P. Tuccillo, Paulette Goodman, Joann Pompa, and Joan Arrowsmith. They discuss the integral role of school libraries in helping teens connect with reading and writing.
ALAN award winners are featured in this issue, as well. Lisa Arter provides details of Alleen Pace Nilsen’s efforts to promote young adult literature. Nilsen is the winner of the 2006 Hipple Award. Virginia Monseau and Marc Aronson, the 2006 winners of the ALAN Award, discuss fiction, nonfiction, and adolescents with The ALAN Review’s Jim Blasingame. Awards were presented during the 2006 ALAN Workshop in Nashville.
Claudia Katz, in The Middle School Connection, reviews Teri Lesesne’s new book, Naked Reading. And, Ellen Wayman Gordon details an honor bestowed upon M. Jerry Weiss by The Center for Young Readers.
In addition, this issue of The ALAN Review offers some of our regular features, including more than 30 reviews of the newest works of young adult literature as part of our Clip and File section.
While the fall leaves may be tumbling down, students in classrooms across the country are seeing young adult literature—and its many genres—budding with possibilities. We hope you enjoy this collection; thanks for beginning another school year with The ALAN Review. Let the excitement continue.