Passions and pleasures : essays and speeches about literature and libraries / Michael Cart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cart, Michael

Series:

Scarecrow studies in young adult literature ; 26.

Scarecrow studies in young adult literature ; 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Young adult literature, American--History and criticism.

Young adult literature, American.

Teenagers--Books and reading--United States.

Teenagers.

Teenagers--Books and reading.

United States.

Libraries and teenagers--United States.

Libraries and teenagers.

Physical Description:

viii, 209 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Summary:

Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches About Literature and Libraries is a collection of Michael Cart's columns and speeches about young adult (YA) literature and his observations of and participation in the genre's growth and future. He discusses the importance of YA literature in helping teens navigate adolescence, asserting that books can change individual lives if they constitute realism inhabited by complex characters whose lives, both exterior and interior, invite us not only to empathize but also to think.

Cart's seventeen essays and speeches discuss the state of YA literature; the work of such pioneers as Robert Lipsyte and Robert Cormier, who wrote thought-provoking, realistic fiction; reasons librarians and other educators should embrace the graphic novel; the evolution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning fiction; and why he loves libraries and librarians. His concluding essays are devoted to champions of young people, like William Morris, who cared about kids and believed that books could save them, and Michael Printz, an innovative teacher-librarian who created library programs that served as national models of excellence. Passions and Pleasures is a wonderfully engaging book for anyone interested in YA literature and who wants to learn about its roots, its evolution, and the people who continue to promote it today.

Contents:

Part I : a new golden age : the renaissance of young adult literature

Of risk and revelation : the current state of young adult literature

Robert Lipsyte : the contender becomes a champion

Creating the Michael L. Printz Award : a new book prize for a new millennium

Comix.@$#! : a graphic novel book discussion program for teens

Young adult literature : the state of a restless art

At last! an answer to that vexing question

Part II : the insiders come out : gay and lesbian literature for young adults

What a wonderful world : notes on the evolution of GLBTQ literature for young adults

Lives are at stake

Part III : libraries and librarians

Here there be sanctuary : the public library as refuge and retreat

America's front porch : the public library

A historic occasion

Part IV : what's so funny?

Fanfare for Freddy : a classic neglected no longer

You call that funny?

Part V : rememberings

Robert Cormier remembered

Bill Morris, the last civilized man

Who's Mike Printz?

Monroe Elementary, Mike, and me : a memoir.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780810856295

0810856298

OCLC:

76064529