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Is there a canon for Young Adult literature? Helen Sykes IFTE Conference Auckland 2011
Is there a canon for Young Adult literature?
Helen Sykes
IFTE Conference Auckland 2011
What is a ‘canon’?
Introductory activity:
Rock and roll hall of fame
From Parker & Morrison, Masters in Pieces: The English Canon for the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2006
Some of the questions asked
Who compiled the list? What kind of people seem to have been
excluded from the list? How might the list have been different if
some of those people had been able to vote?
Should every vote have equal weight? Why are there very few titles from recent
years?
Is there a canon of Young Adult literature?
Sub-title:
In particular, of those Young Adult books used in secondary English classrooms
My ‘canon’ of books that work in the classroom
Some golden oldies Some of the most exciting recent titles Some little known gems
Drawn from a range of types of text, including visual texts, verse novels and non-fiction
To suit a diverse range of readers
Source of some of these recommendations
Choices for English: books, films and other texts that work
by Deb McPherson, Helen Sykes and Ernie Tucker
Nelson Cengage Learning, Melbourne, 2009
Some classics
The original golden oldies Bridge to Terabithia The Cay Island of the Blue
Dolphins I Am David The Silver Sword Tuck Everlasting Mrs Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH Goodnight Mister Tom
In Australia
Playing Beattie Bow Pastures of the Blue
Crane Storm Boy Lockie Leonard
Human Torpedo
Adult classics for middle secondary
To Kill a Mockingbird Nineteen Eighty-Four Animal Farm Brave New World Of Mice and Men The Catcher in the
Rye Lord of the Flies The Old Man and the
Sea
More recent ‘classics’ So Much to Tell You Tomorrow When the
War Began Unreal Strange Objects The Chocolate War Breaktime Holes
The Changeover Memory
The Watertower The Rabbits
Some of the most exciting recent titles
Wordless picture book
The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
Picture books for older readers
The Island
by Armin Greder
Significant use of visual text
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
A perfect class set novel Years 7 to 9
Trash by Andy
Mulligan
Funny, moving, thrilling – with multiple voices and a superbly unexpected ending
Senior fiction – transformation of Othello
Exposure
by Mal Peet
Previous titles: Keeper The Penalty (Tamar)
A beautiful picture book
Mirror
by Jeannie Baker
Junior secondary fiction
The 10 PM Question
by Kate De Goldi
New Zealand authorChallenging title for
good readersRich characterisation
Junior secondary fiction
The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Beautifully written horror story
Junior secondary fiction
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark
by Glenda Millard
A great text for Melbourne schools
Junior secondary fiction
The Loblolly Boy
by James Norcliffe
New Zealand author Timeless fantasy
Junior secondary
Krakatoa Lighthouse
by Allan Baillie
International bestseller
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
by John Boyne
Especially for less able readers
Once
by Morris Gleitzman
Sequels Then Now
Middle secondary fiction
Little Brother
by Cory Doctorow
High interest American Very contemporary
Middle secondary fiction
Liar
by Justine Larbalestier
The most unreliable narrator in YA fiction
Middle secondary fiction
Mice by Gordon Reece
Terrific thriller
Senior fiction
Butterfly
by Sonya Hartnett
Adult fiction Especially for older
girls Great author study for
talented readers
Junior to middle secondary fiction
Where the streets had a nameby Randa Abdel-Fattah
Previous titles: Does My Head Look Big in This? Ten Things I Hate about Me
Junior to middle secondary fiction
No Safe Place
by Deborah Ellis
Previous titles:
The Parvana trilogyThe Heaven Shop
Middle secondary fiction
The Dead I Know
by Scot Gardner
Especially for boys
Junior to middle secondary fiction
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Mary E. Pearson
Good sci-fi Genetic engineering
Junior to middle secondary fiction
Macbeth and Son
by Jackie French
Did Shakespeare deliberately distort history?
Some little known gems
Middle secondary fiction
Deadline
by Chris Crutcher
American High interest Excellent class set
title for mixed ability
Senior fiction
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
Adult fictionExtended monologue in
the voice of a Pakistani man
Senior fiction
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
by M. T. Anderson
Verse novel
Cold Skin
Steven Herrick
Verse novel
Motormouth
by Sherryl Clark
For primary school readers
Short story collection
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Junior secondary fiction
Mahtab’s Story
by Libby Gleeson
Picture book
Ziba Came on a Boat
by Liz Lofthouse, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
Junior secondary fiction
Tamburlaine’s Elephants
by Geraldine McCaughrean
A short story collection
Town
by James Roy
13 inter-related stories
Junior secondary fiction
Lobster Boyby Rodman
PhilbrickAmerican authorMagic realismOriginal title: The Young Man and the Sea
