ABSTRACT
I have been interested in the reading and study of young adult literature for several years, beginning during my own undergraduate education at the University of Missouri-Columbia when I had the privilege of taking a young adult literature course with Professor Ben F. Nelms. Over the last few years my interest in young adult literature has shifted from the literary and pedagogical to include a psychological dimension-namely, the possible intersections between the reading and study of YA and the cognitive, emotional, and psychological development of adolescent readers. I continue to wonder if the reading of YA novels affects adolescents’ self-perceptions and self-concepts. How do the narratives, whose authors often directly state that they are seeking to mirror adolescent life and enable young people to “relate” to characters and events, influence the burgeoning identities of these young people and perhaps even affect their actions in the real world? If the reading and study of YA literature does result in emotional and behavioral change in young readers, what does that mean for the teacher of literature?
