Word on the Street

Urban Fiction for Adults & Teens

Jan Elkins & Stephanie Bertin

Salt Lake County Library System

Urban Fiction

Ghetto Lit HipHo

p Lit

Street

LitGangsta Lit

Settings and Themes

•Urban Settings•Characters of color

– Usually African American– Also Latino or other minority

groups

•Fast-paced•Focus on relationships•Survival on the streets

Settings & Themes

•Hip-Hop culture– Rap– Street fashion– Brand name cars & clothes

•Violence– Crime– Gangs– Revenge

Appeal Characteristics

•Language– Straightforward, casual– First-person– Slang– Curse words

•External Action– Between characters, not in their

heads– Impulsive characters, react not

reflect– Usually from the first page

Appeal Characteristics

•Authenticity– Often from authors own

experience•Drugs, Sex & Violence

– Treated in matter of fact manner– Part of life on the streets– Can be explicit/graphic

•Pragmatic– Survival – no absolute good and

evil– Drugs, sex & violence are a means

to an end– Often cautionary – street life is not

for the long-term, leads to death or prison

Street Lit in the Library

Prepare for ChallengesPossible Reasons for Challenges:

Controversial content & themes

Literary quality

Negative portrayal of African Americans and minorities

○Review Library Collection Development Policy

○Be prepared to back up selections with book reviews or recommendations

Urban Fiction www.streetliterature.com

www.streetfiction.org

Urban Fiction for TEENS

Butcher & HintonButcher & Hinton

Certain controversial elements are expected by the YA reader; “in fact, the genre would be failing in its mission if some novels did not mirror the [reality] many young people experience. ” Professors Katherine Bucher and Kaavonia Hinton, authors of the textbook Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation.

“Well-written realistic fiction novels do not dictate specific moral and ethical beliefs. Rather, they challenge readers to learn the importance of moral and ethical behavior by drawing their own conclusions after they consider the events and facts from their own personal perspectives using their own moral and ethical judgments.” Butcher and Hinton

Urban Fiction for Teens

Street Lit

vs.

Urban Stories

Walter Dean Myers

Bluford High

The Bully

byPaul

Langan

Tyrell

byCoe Booth

Jumped

byRita Williams-

Garcia

Messed Up

byJanet Nichols

Lynch

The First Part Last

byAngela Johnson

A Girl Like Me

by Ni-Ni Simone

Drama High Series

by L. Divine

Alan Lawrence Sitomer

The Brothers Torres

by Coert Voorhees

Urban Non-Fiction for Teens

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

byTupac Shakur

My Bloody Life: The Making of a

Latin King

by Reymundo Sanchez

Questions?