Using Young Adult Literature as the Cornerstone of Literacy: Pairing Young Adult Novels with the Classics

Abstract

English classes are still relying on novels taught consistently since the eighties if not earlier. Though our students have changed drastically since that time, our teaching methods and texts have not. And now, only 20% of students are reading what is assigned to them. It’s time to shift our curriculum to something more current and to find the book students will want to read. That solution is young adult literature. Thematically, there is nothing the classics teach that young adult literature cannot match, and students will be more likely to relate to their world using these novels in place of the classics. In this thesis, I suggest young adult novels to read full class in place of the most common novels taught in English classrooms, and provide corresponding activities. Excerpts from the classics would still be used for historical and cultural knowledge, but the bulk of the reading could come from YAL.