Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature: LGBTQ+ Content since 1969

by Christine A. Jenkins, Michael Cart

Overview

Discussions of gender and sexuality have become part of mainstream conversations and are being reflected in the work of more and more writers of fiction, particularly in literature aimed at young adult audiences. But young readers, regardless of their sexual orientation, don’t always know what books offer well-rounded portrayals of queer characters and situations. Fortunately, finding positive role models in fiction that features LGBTQ+ themes has become less problematic, though not without its challenges.

In Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature: LGBTQ+ Content since 1969, Christine Jenkins and Michael Cart provide an overview of the literary landscape. An expanded version of The Heart Has Its Reasons, this volume charts the evolution of YA literature that features characters and themes which resonate not only with LGBTQ+ readers but with their allies as well. In this resource, Jenkins and Cart identify titles that are notable either for their excellence—accurate, thoughtful, and tactful depictions—or deficiencies—books that are wrongheaded, stereotypical, or outdated. Each chapter has been significantly updated, and this edition also includes new chapters on bisexual, transgender, and intersex issues and characters, as well as chapters on comics, graphic novels, and works of nonfiction.

This book also features an annotated bibliography and a number of author-title lists of books discussed in the text that will aid teachers, librarians, parents, and teen readers. Encompassing a wider array of sexual identities, Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature is an invaluable resource for young people eager to read about books relevant to them and their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442278073
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/20/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	310
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	3 Months to 17 Years

About the Author

Christine A. Jenkins is associate professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a PhD and MS in library and information studies and an MA in children’s literature. Jenkins is recipient of several teaching awards and has a decade of experience as a school librarian/media specialist. She is co-editor of the Handbook of Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature (2011), and co-author (with Michael Cart) of Top 250 LGBTQ Books for Teens (2015).

Michael Cart is a columnist and reviewer for ALA's Booklist magazine, and has also written countless articles that have appeared in The New York Times, Parents Magazine, American Libraries, School Library Journal, and elsewhere. The former president of both YALSA and ALAN, Cart is the recipient of the 2000 Grolier Award and the first recipient in 2008 of the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Award. He appointed and chaired the Task Force that created the Michael L. Printz Award and subsequently chaired the 2006 Printz Committee. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism, Third Edition (2016).

Jenkins and Cart are co-authors of The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004 (Scarecrow Press, 2006).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Part I A Survey of LGBTQ+ Literature

1 Young Adult Literature in the Pre-Stonewall Era 3

2 Young Adult Literature of the 1970s 17

3 Young Adult Literature of the 1980s 35

4 Young Adult Literature of the 1990s 65

5 A New Literature for a New Century 93

6 Young Adult Literature since 2010 125

Part II Breaking Down the Barriers

7 Bisexual Inclusion in Young Adult Literature 149

8 Transgender and Intersex Inclusion in Young Adult Literature 161

9 Comics and Graphic Novels with LGBTQ+ Content 181

10 Desperately Seeking Information: Young Adult Nonfiction with LGBTQ+ Content 191

Conclusion: What a Wonderful World? 221

Appendix A Bibliography of LGBTQ+ Titles: Fiction, Comics and Graphic Novels, and Nonfiction 225

Appendix B Bar Graphs Representing LGBTQ+ Portrayal, Narrative Role, and Growth in Young Adult Fiction 261

Appendix C Book Awards for LGBTQ+ Young Adult Books 265

Appendix D Model for LGBTQ+ Portrayals/Inclusion in Young Adult Fiction 271

Index 275

About the Authors 293

Editorial Reviews

With this expanded, updated version of The Heart Has Its Reasons (CH, Sep'06, 44-0157), Jenkins (Univ. of Illinois) and Cart (reviewer and editor) present a thorough overview of fiction and nonfiction for and about LGBTQ+ young people, focusing on work in English mostly set in North America. In part 1, the authors provide a chronological survey of the fiction in six chapters, from gay-themed adult novels of the 1940s through YA fiction as recent as 2016. Each chapter sorts the literature reviewed into three broad categories: “Homosexual Visibility,” or stories about coming out; “Gay Assimilation,” stories that include LGBTQ+ characters whose orientation is not the focus of the plot; and “Queer Consciousness/Community.” Part 2 covers bisexual, transgender, and intersex inclusion; graphic novels; and nonfiction. Jenkins and Cart are, respectively, a lesbian and a gay man, and they are also engaging writers and discerning readers. Their enthusiasm for the literature is contagious. This book will make an excellent companion to Caren Town’s LGBTQ Young Adult Fiction: A Critical Survey, 1970s–2010s (CH, Dec'17, 55-1280). Town’s study delves more deeply into queer and literary theory, but the present volume describes and analyzes a longer list of books.



Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Representing the Rainbow is successful in what it sets out to do, which is to map, rather than mine, the territory of LGBTQ+ writing for young people. In doing so, it provides a necessary and enriching chronicle for readers with professional and casual interests alike.

International Research in Children’s Literature

This well-researched and necessary volume demonstrates that the work of Jenkins and Cart is both integral to the continuation of research into LGBTQ+ subjects in YA literature and an inspiration to future—more complex and nuanced—interrogation of texts for young readers.. . educators, librarians, scholars, and others who engage with this text will finish the final pages much more informed and critically aware of LGBTQ+ literature for young readers.

Jeunesse: Young People

Representing the Rainbow gives readers a sense of where LGBTQ+ YAL has come from, and a sense of hope about where it is going. The Heart Has its Reasons has already made an important contribution to the study of young adult literature, and I expect this updated and expanded book will do so again.

The Lion and the Unicorn

If you want a reference work in the field of LGBTQ+ titles for young adults, look no further than this trove of information, insight, and history presented through the lens of changing perspectives regarding LGBTQ+ persons.. .. Insightfully and intelligently written—not to mention engrossing—this is a must-have tool for public and secondary-school libraries, both as a source of selection guidance and as an aid to readers’ advisory.

Booklist

As scholars and critics who have been working on this material for some time, with Cart being widely acknowledged as one of the real national experts in queer literature for children and adolescents, both authors admirably document the scope and power of "queer" texts for the young.. . Representing the Rainbow is for now a crucial contribution to our understanding of the diversity and strength of our young adult literature that tackles identities and intimacies beyond the heteronormative.

Children's Literature Association Quarterly

Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature offers a comprehensive look at books for teens that discuss sexuality and gender issues…. This work offers a guide to the content of these books, helping readers make collection development decisions that will result in shelving books with positive role models and accurate depictions free of stereotypes and myths…. It is fascinating to observe the development of LGBTQ+ literature throughout the years, as both quality and quantity gradually improve…. Representing the Rainbow in Young Adult Literature is an essential reference for those maintaining a collection in which they hope to include the best books about LGBTQ+ characters…. It is an excellent reference tool for anyone who is doing collection development or who wants a detailed history of young adult literature covering LGBTQ+ issues.

VOYA

With this expanded, updated version of The Heart Has Its Reasons (CH, Sep'06, 44-0157), Jenkins (Univ. of Illinois) and Cart (reviewer and editor) present a thorough overview of fiction and nonfiction for and about LGBTQ+ young people, focusing on work in English mostly set in North America. In part 1, the authors provide a chronological survey of the fiction in six chapters, from gay-themed adult novels of the 1940s through YA fiction as recent as 2016. Each chapter sorts the literature reviewed into three broad categories: “Homosexual Visibility,” or stories about coming out; “Gay Assimilation,” stories that include LGBTQ+ characters whose orientation is not the focus of the plot; and “Queer Consciousness/Community.” Part 2 covers bisexual, transgender, and intersex inclusion; graphic novels; and nonfiction. Jenkins and Cart are, respectively, a lesbian and a gay man, and they are also engaging writers and discerning readers. Their enthusiasm for the literature is contagious. This book will make an excellent companion to Caren Town’s LGBTQ Young Adult Fiction: A Critical Survey, 1970s–2010s (CH, Dec'17, 55-1280). Town’s study delves more deeply into queer and literary theory, but the present volume describes and analyzes a longer list of books. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

Choice

With this expanded, updated version of The Heart Has Its Reasons (CH, Sep'06, 44-0157), Jenkins (Univ. of Illinois) and Cart (reviewer and editor) present a thorough overview of fiction and nonfiction for and about LGBTQ+ young people, focusing on work in English mostly set in North America. In part 1, the authors provide a chronological survey of the fiction in six chapters, from gay-themed adult novels of the 1940s through YA fiction as recent as 2016. Each chapter sorts the literature reviewed into three broad categories: “Homosexual Visibility,” or stories about coming out; “Gay Assimilation,” stories that include LGBTQ+ characters whose orientation is not the focus of the plot; and “Queer Consciousness/Community.” Part 2 covers bisexual, transgender, and intersex inclusion; graphic novels; and nonfiction. Jenkins and Cart are, respectively, a lesbian and a gay man, and they are also engaging writers and discerning readers. Their enthusiasm for the literature is contagious. This book will make an excellent companion to Caren Town’s LGBTQ Young Adult Fiction: A Critical Survey, 1970s–2010s (CH, Dec'17, 55-1280). Town’s study delves more deeply into queer and literary theory, but the present volume describes and analyzes a longer list of books.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

CHOICE

Representing the Rainbow is successful in what it sets out to do, which is to map, rather than mine, the territory of LGBTQ+ writing for young people. In doing so, it provides a necessary and enriching chronicle for readers with professional and casual interests alike.

International Research in Children’s Literature

If you want a reference work in the field of LGBTQ+ titles for young adults, look no further than this trove of information, insight, and history presented through the lens of changing perspectives regarding LGBTQ+ persons. . . . Insightfully and intelligently written—not to mention engrossing—this is a must-have tool for public and secondary-school libraries, both as a source of selection guidance and as an aid to readers’ advisory.

Booklist

★ 12/01/2018
Jenkins, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Cart, a columnist for Booklist, build upon their research in this in-depth overview of LGBTQ+ YA literature from 1969 to 2016. Each chapter discusses a mix of broad themes and trends relevant to each decade and insightfully analyzes significant titles—with enough summary that librarians need not have read the books discussed to understand their importance. The authors replicate their helpful framework, originally introduced in their work The Heart Has Its Reasons (2006), which separates queer literature as a whole into three phases: "homosexual visibility," "gay assimilation," and "queer consciousness/community." Though there are some revisions, about a third of the content is pulled directly from the duo's previous work. The rest expands into the contemporary LGBTQ+ publishing landscape. Notably, new content includes additional chapters about comics and graphic novels (and, briefly, manga), nonfiction, and literature with bisexual, transgender, and intersex characters. The burgeoning LGBTQ+ middle grade market and prominent series fiction such as "Sweet Valley High" and "Pretty Little Liars"are also mentioned. Though Jenkins and Cart use the acronym LGBTQ+ (rather than the previous work's GLBTQ), their coverage generally doesn't extend beyond LGBT—mostly because of the lack of existing literature. The authors acknowledge the limitations of their research and, in the conclusion, reestablish their plea for more nuanced representation in the future. VERDICT An essential update for scholars. The bibliographies will invaluably help round out LGBTQ+ collections.—Alec Chunn, Eugene Public Library, OR

School Library Journal