ABSTRACT
V. Vasquez, S. L. Tate, and J. C. Harste explained, "A critical literacy curriculum needs to be lived. Young adult (YA) literature complemented by a culturally sustaining stance can be instructive and compelling in the lives of adolescent and adult readers as it presents characters in moments of joy and grief to facing choices and dilemmas to understand and thrive in a changing community, democracy, and world, as argued throughout the book. We readers come of age alongside YA literature characters and their scribes. Together, we read and make the words and characters worlds come to life through the youth lens, critical literacy, and inclusive life experiences. Gene Luen Yang, YA literature author and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, created the "Reading without Walls" challenge to "nudge students outside their reading comfort zones" to consider and maintain books in their lives.
