Michael Cart’s updated YA lit survey

CHICAGO — Michael Cart’s fourth edition of “Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, is a must-have for everyone who wants to understand where YA lit has been and where it's heading. Keeping pace with changes in the field of publishing and realigning itself to the newest generation of young adults, this sweeping update:

• surveys the landscape of YA lit both past and present, sketching out its origins and showing how it has evolved to deal with subjects every bit as complex as its audience;
• closely examines teen demographics, literacy, audiobooks, the future of print, the role of literary criticism, and other key topics;
• provides updated coverage of perennially popular genre fiction, including horror, sci fi, and dystopian fiction;
• delves deeply into multicultural and LGBTQIA+ literature, substantially updated in this edition;
• features expansive interviews with best-selling authors like Eric Shanower, Jackie Woodson, and Bill Konigsberg as well as several publishers and leaders in the field;
• discusses the impact of the Printz Award, ALAN’s Walden Award, the National Book Award, The Los Angeles Times Book Award, and other honors; and
• features abundant bibliographic material to aid in readers' advisory and collection development.

Examination copies are available for instructors who are interested in adopting this title for course use.

The book’s Editorial Advisory Board includes Sarah Park Dahlen (Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Marianne Martens (Associate Professor, School of Information, Kent State University), and Amy Pattee (Associate Professor and Co-coordinator of Dual-Degree MS LIS/MA Children’s Literature, School of Library and Information Science, Children’s Literature, Simmons University). Cart is the former director of the Beverly Hills (CA) Public Library and the author or editor of twenty-seven books. He is a columnist and reviewer for the American Library Association’s Booklist magazine. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Parents magazine. Mr. Cart is a past president of both the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the National Council of Teachers of English’s Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN). He is the recipient of the 2000 Grolier Foundation Award; in 2008 he became the first recipient of the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Achievement Award; and is a recipient of the 2018 ALAN Award. Before his relocation to the Midwest, he taught young adult literature at UCLA.

Many book retailers and distributors are experiencing service disruptions or delays, including Amazon. For speediest service, order direct from the ALA Store. ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library and information professionals worldwide. ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman publishes resources used by library and information professionals, scholars, students, and educators to improve programs and services, build on best practices, enhance pedagogy, share research, develop leadership, and promote advocacy. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a variety of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman at editionsmarketing@ala.org.

Related Links

"Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism, Fourth Edition"

"The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Blends for Children and Young Adults"

"Profiles in Resilience: Books for Children and Teens That Center the Lived Experience of Generational Poverty"