This volume explores how Young Adult (YA) literature is taught in university-level courses. Both an emergent field of academic study and a popular phenomenon, YA fiction increasingly reaches beyond its target demographic. The chapters examine the contemporary socio-political trends with which YA fiction engages. Questions of representation and "own voice" storytelling are key aspects, as are issues of climate change, extinction and climate anxiety. This book considers the literary history of YA writing, drawing on Children's Literature, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction, and shows how YA literature is taught across these sub-fields. It also shows how the teaching of YA fiction spans Creative Writing programmes in the UK, as integrated parts of modules with thematic topics such as "climate emergency" or "social justice" in the US, and within Education programmes globally. The book provides a reflective framework for integrating YA literature into teaching, highlighting the opportunities presented by YA literature for widening participation in higher education and as a pedagogic tool for strengthening minority own-voice representation.

Jordan Savage is a Lecturer in United States Literature at the University of Essex, UK, where teaching across Literature, Film and Creative Writing. Dr Savage leads the module “Children’s Fiction and the Turn to Young Adult Adventure”, which explores the cultural history and contemporary reaches of Young Adult literature.