ABSTRACT

In a discussion of nineteenth-century young adult literature written for and sometimes by Canadians, the most frequent response even by educated persons is still, “Was there any?” For decades most readers have dismissed the Canadian children’s literature of the late colonial period as either small in number of works published or not very good, and the young adult literature as nonexistent. This attitude ignores the periodical literature of the day, much of which was tailored expressly for an audience of young adult readers. The periodicals themselves declare this in their titles and mastheads, which refer to youth, young people, boys and girls, and so forth. In addition, with few exceptions, the heroes and heroines of the tales in both the United States and the British publications are unmarried young people aged approximately twelve to nineteen, age being one of the important descriptors of young adult literature.