6 New Adult Texts with Interesting Structures and Formats

This week I am a part of a workshop put on by Sharon Kane called "Best Foot Forward: Using New Adult Li to Promote Civic, College, and Career Readiness." This workshop is a part of LSU's first Young Adult Literature Conference. I chose to join Sharon's workshop because the title was incredibly intriguing. First of all, just what the hell is "New Adult" lit? How is it different than Young Adult (YA) lit? Is it different than YA?
I also couldn't help but be curious as I have only heard the phrase "college and career readiness" about a million and four times since I decided to become a teacher, but I had never heard this phrase used when talking specifically about young adult literature. As a matter of fact, I had just assumed that "college and career readiness" was a buzzword created by politicians and education reformers that held no real meaning.

On the first day of the conference, I received the article "What's New About New Adult?" written by Sophie Brookover, Elizabeth Burns, and Kelly Jensen. The article gives a bit more clarification into this emerging New Adult (NA) genre. The article explains that though YA literature already has an established "coming of age" sub genre, YA coming of age is about a teenager's (usually age 12-17) first few experiences and steps towards deciding who they are and what they want to become. NA literature is about the story of actually becoming that person. NA adult literature typically has a main character age 17-26.

So essentially New Adult books are books for older teens and early twenties new adults that are making the transition into adulthood. Amy Bright described it as "If YA literature is about 'firsts', NA literature is all about 'seconds.' " These books tackle issues like establishing a life after high school, establishing adult identity, working towards a career, gaining independence from parents, and establishing "serious" romantic relationships.

So while learning about this emerging genre this week, I have discovered that NA literature, like YA literature, is not at all literature that's "in a box." NA literature spans many genres, styles, and perhaps more interestingly, many structures and formats. Below is a text set I created of New Adult texts that are outside of our usual classroom canon, but could potentially supplement the canon if needed.  I'll include some common core standards that might be used to justify or defend their use in a classroom.

6 New Adult Texts of Various Structures and Formats

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

 by David Leviathan and Rachel Cohn

"It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City – and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date."

Why it's on the list:

Nick and Norah is written in alternating chapters. Each chapter is the inner monologue of Nick or Norah, presenting a unique book that gives both both and female perspective of dating, college, independence from parents, and quite a few other new adult themes. 

Sabriel 

by Garth Nix

"Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. She soon finds companions in Mogget, a cat whose aloof manner barely conceals its malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories. As the three travel deep into the Old Kingdom, threats mount on all sides. And every step brings them closer to a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own destiny."

Why it's on the list:

There simply isn't enough awesome fantasy novels being used in a classroom. I'd love to see that change. Sabriel is a book about a 19 year old young woman that comes to terms with the powers inside of her, and her role in the world. It's a really neat books with a strong female protagonist (so of course I was immediately sold.) The story is engaging, but most importantly it explores the fear and excitement of new adulthood through the fun of fantasy. The book also draws heavily from Greek, Aztec, and Egyptian mythology.

Lost at Sea

By Brian Lee O'Malley

"Raleigh doesn't have a soul. A cat stole it - or at least that's what she tells people - or at least that's what she would tell people if she told people anything. But that would mean talking to people, and the mere thought of social interaction is terrifying. How did such a shy teenage girl end up in a car with three of her hooligan classmates on a cross-country road trip? Being forced to interact with kids her own age is a new and alarming proposition for Raleigh, but maybe it's just what she needs - or maybe it can help her find what she needs - or maybe it can help her to realize that what she needs has been with her all along"

Why it's on the list:

The popularity of graphic novels has been explosive over the past few years. Lost at Sea presents a textual and visual story that explores the story of how a young adult grows up and learns from her experiences during a road trip to find her soul and reclaim her identity. This graphic novel would pair nicely with a unit dedicated to visual literacy.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Developed by Hank Green and Bernie Su.

An online modernized adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Why it's on the list:

What new adult doesn't love a good vlog? This web series, which stars new adults, retells Pride and Prejudice using problems that modern new adults are facing: living with your parents as a new adult, battling the trials and tribulations of college life, and of course finding and starting a career. 

Looking to justify this with common core?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

Born to Rock

Written by Gordon Korman, Read by Billy Hammond

"Leo Caraway, president of the Young Republicans Club and a future Harvard student, has his entire future planned. But Leo is soon thrown for a loop when he discovers that the lead singer of punk rock's most destructive band is his biological father."

Why it's on the list:

I was given this audiobook at the start of this week and just finished it up this afternoon.  It is a fun book made better by engaging and often silly voices and rocking sound affects in the audio version. Rock and punk music is often played while the narrator is speaking, and the plot of the books is 100% new adult: a summer after high school road trip to establish independence and identity, while obsessing over college, financial issues, and of course new relationships. 

Death Coming up the Hill

By Chris Crowe

"It’s 1968, and war is not foreign to seventeen-year-old Ashe. His dogmatic, racist father married his passionate peace-activist mother when she became pregnant with him, and ever since, the couple, like the situation in Vietnam, has been engaged in a 'senseless war that could have been prevented.'

     When his high school history teacher dares to teach the political realities of the war, Ashe grows to better understand the situation in Vietnam, his family, and the wider world around him. But when a new crisis hits his parents’ marriage, Ashe finds himself trapped, with no options before him but to enter the fray."

Why it's on the list:

I can't wait to read this book. It is historical fiction told entirely in haikus, and each syllable of the book is dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the war. There are 52 verses, one for each week of 1968.  Besides the unique structure of the book, this text helps bridge the gap between history, literature, and present day issues. This narrative history presents opportunities to broach subjects that are based in history, but are relevant to the student. 

Can we connect this to Common Core? 

Definitely. Should we? I don't know, you tell me. At any rate, not only can the above stories teach and engage new adults, but they can do those things while fitting into the common core standards. 

Here are just a few standards that can be used to justify the use of the texts above:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6

Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). 

I mean come on, what new adult books doesn't have at least a little bit of sarcasm?

Parting words:

These texts and this genre is important...yes even the  These are the texts that new adults are already reading/listening to/watching, and they are the texts that are influencing the way new adults perceive the world. Why shouldn't we use them in the classroom? They fall in line with the same standards that we already use with canonical texts. The issue, of course, is how these texts would be received by parents. Even as new adults,   I look forward to seeing how this genre develops!