Myers Education Press Examining Images of Urban Life: A Resource for Teachers of Young Adult Literature

There are novels that portray cities as magical places, others as stifling, imposing environments, and others still as a gritty but beautiful, living landscape. Cities can be the center of culture, business, arts, and are the meeting places for diversities of all kinds. Examining Images of Urban Life gathers contributions from scholars and young adult authors who consider how living in a city affects character identity and growth, and the ways authors world-build the urban setting. The book discusses what the urban landscape means, most especially to those who live in cities―and dispels the media-driven, anecdotally propagated preconceptions about city living. This book also serves as a resource in urban settings, wherein teachers can select books that mirror and advocate for the very students sitting in their classes. The centerpiece of this collection revolves around a reconsideration of what the city represents, to its readers and to its inhabitants. Urban life is varied and rich, just as its literature is. Review "Examining Images in Urban Life: A Resource for Teachers of Young Adult Literature features important voices on young adult literature in urban settings. Essays from award-winning YA authors like Benjamin Alire Saenz enhance critical perspectives from scholars of contemporary reads found on today's bestseller lists. This is a valuable addition to current conversations about the most popular category of fiction, and will be of particular interest to those teaching children's and young adult literature courses in colleges and universities, as well as those training preservice high school English teachers."--Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania and author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games"Beginning with the introduction, it is clear that Laura and James have pulled together a collection of chapters that celebrate the modern city as presented in Young Adult Literature. The various authors not only examine complex presentations of images within urban settings; they reveal how adolescents find themselves and a community among the teeming streets they inhabit. For those of us who teach in diverse schools and universities in large cities this volume is an essential addition to our reference materials."--Dr. Steven T. Bickmore, Associate Professor of English Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Past President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE"From Baltimore to New Orleans, from El Paso to LA, Examining Images of Urban Life: A Resource for Teachers of Young Adult Literature analyzes young adult stories from "uptown midtown, downtown, up the hill, down the hill, along the river," and various urban ethnic enclaves. This book disputes formulaic portrayals of urban youth, balancing as the editors explain, "the gritty with the edifying." The Drs. Nicosia have assembled an all-star cast of authors and scholars to reconsider the stereotypical portrayal of the so-called "urban core," thoroughly analyzing urban characters, conflict, and context in young adult literature. A must- have for every middle and high school English language arts teacher."--Dr. James Blasingame, Professor of Young Adult Literature, Arizona State University; Executive Director of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English"Gatsby, Gossip Girls, gentrification, genre. These are just a few of the focal points through which young adult literature is viewed in this remarkable collection of essays about the images of urban life in contemporary and classic literature. This is not simply an examination of setting. It is, instead, the difference Richard Peck points out when he includes, "Why is the story set where it is?" in his questions to ask about a YA novel. Thinking about the purpose of the where and the when of setting provides the need for a more critical eye in l