Young Adult Literature: A Journey Through Adolescence

Single Semester Course

Who am I? Do I belong? Why don’t adults understand me? These are the questions every teenager reflects on throughout adolescence. Young adult literature, texts written from the point of view of adolescents, helps us to explore and understand the complexity of teenage life. Progressing from age 12 to age 19, this course will use the lens of young adult literature to explore key aspects and stages of adolescent development. The course will incorporate elements of adolescent psychology and social studies to compare adolescence in different cultures and periods in history. The course will be conducted in seminar format. Students will be assigned at-home and in-class readings, which will then be used as a basis for open discussion. There will also be a large writing component to the course ranging between creative, reflective, and analytic writing. Throughout the span of the semester, students will focus on self-reflection as they connect stories of adolescence to their own experiences and hopes for the future.

Prerequisite: Completion of three years of high school English core curriculum

School student accounts will be debited at the start of the year for a Membean license.