Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches About Literature and Libraries (Volume 26) (Studies in Young Adult Literature, 26) - Hardcover

Cart Columnist Reviewer Booklist Magazine; Author Or Editor Of 25 Books Including: “Representing The Rainbow: LGBTQ+ Content Since 1969” Co-authored With Christine A. Jenkins; Past President Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) And The Assembly On Literature For Adolescents Of The National Council Of Teachers Of English (ALAN), Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810856298 ISBN 13: 9780810856295

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 2007

Synopsis

Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches About Literature and Libraries is a collection of Michael Cart's favorite columns and speeches about young adult literature, how he has observed and participated in the growth of the genre, the changes it has undergone, and what he sees as its future. He talks about the importance of young adult literature in helping teens to navigate through the tough teen years, believing that books can change individual lives if they "constitute realistic literature inhabited by complex characters whose lives, both exterior and interior, invite us to not only empathize but to also think."

Cart's seventeen essays and speeches discuss the current state of YA literature; the work of pioneers like Robert Lipsyte and Robert Cormier who provided thought-provoking, realistic fiction; why librarians and other educators should embrace the graphic novel; the evolution of GLBTQ fiction, why he believes that young lives are at stake, and how literature can help these young people; and why he loves libraries and librarians. His concluding essays are devoted to remembering champions of young people, like Robert Cormier, William Morris, and Michael Printz. This is a wonderfully engaging read for anyone who is interested in young adult literature and wants to learn about its roots, its evolution, and the people who pioneered it and continue to champion it today.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Cart, recipient of the Grolier Foundation Award for distinguished contributions to young people and literature, teaches young adult literature at UCLA and is the author or editor of a dozen books, including the young adult novel My Father's Scar, which was selected as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004, coauthored with Christine A. Jenkins, (The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2006).

Review:

Cart's writing is always readable and humorous....a necessary addition.... (VOYA, October 2007)

...well-expressed, original ideas...will help librarians better serve young patrons. (Booklist, 10/15/2007)

I am persuaded that "a new age" has come and am ever sure that Michael Cart is its harbinger. (Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Spring 2008)

Cart (young adult literature, U. of California, Los Angeles), former director of the Beverly Hills Public Library, is a force in the movement to improve the quality and relevance of young adult (YA) literature, as reflected in this collection of articles and speeches. He remarks on the current state of YA literature and describes the growth of the field in both quality and quantity, examines the work of Robert Lipsyte and the creation of the Michael L. Printz Award, analyzes the impact of the graphic novel, examines the idea that libraries are refuges and retreats, recounts the role of humor and remembers friends and fellow warriors in the fight for quality YA literature. He pleads for more attention to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning literature for the YA segment, and advocates seeking and helping young adults at risk through the power of reading and communicating. (Reference and Research Book News, May 2007)

About this edition

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0810856298
• ISBN 13: 9780810856295
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224