University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

#BlackBoyYALit: Seeing Black boys in 21st century young adult literature

Williams, De Anza

Content Files
WILLIAMS-DISSERTATION-2021.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/110839

Description

Title
#BlackBoyYALit: Seeing Black boys in 21st century young adult literature
Author(s)
Williams, De Anza
Issue Date
2021-04-21
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Tilley, Carol L
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Tilley, Carol L
Committee Member(s)
  • McDowell, Kate
  • Moeller, Karla J
  • Magee, Rachel M
Department of Study
Information Sciences
Discipline
Library & Information Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2021-09-17T04:04:40Z
Keyword(s)
  • African American culture
  • African American male teens in youth literature
  • African American young adult fiction
  • authors and trade publishing
  • cultural authenticity
  • librarians
Abstract
My dissertation investigated how African American male teens are portrayed in contemporary realistic fiction books published for young adults from 2000 to 2017. Educators and librarians’ value young adult literature not only for its role in developing adolescent literacy, but also for its ability to help teens to affirm their identities, observe how others deal with problems, and connect emotionally or psychologically with characters. Yet for more than two decades, African American male teens have underperformed on tests of reading proficiency. Researchers such as Feger (2006), McCullough (2008), and Tatum (2005; 2009) suggest that if African American male teens had access to more books that were culturally specific and relevant to their lives, their reading performance might be improved. Using qualitative content analysis, this study explores: (1) the characteristics of African American male teen protagonists in young adult fiction (2) the subject matter of the novels as well as their cultural relevancy and (3) who are the producers (the authors and the publishers) of contemporary realistic fiction featuring African American male teen protagonists through the lens of critical race theory. Through answering these questions, this study provides insight into the presentations of race and gender of Black male teen characters in 21st century young adult literature.
Graduation Semester
2021-05
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110839
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 DeAnza Williams

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