These are the genres that have EXPLODED the YA lit industry over the past decade. Take some time in this post to explore why you think that might be the case, and what role these genres could/should play within secondary ELA curricula. And, of the books you read, did you find something you could find on a shelf for decades to come – or are they “trend” books? If you are cultivating a classroom library (as the texts we read this week should help you envision), where do we find these books on your shelves? And, how do you choose?
One of the reasons that I think that these genres have become so popular is the idea of getting to escape into a world and expectance things that wouldn’t normally happen. Such as taking a train to go to a school to learn magic or walking through a wardrobe to an enchanted land. These books allow students to see good vs. evil and identify with characters that they come to love. Fantasy, dystopian, and scifi are some of my favorite genres to read. I love how they open up new worlds and places that normally wouldn’t exist. It is in these genres that students are allowed to use their imagination and have fun while learning in the process.
Which is why I think, that by adding these genres into ELA curricula, these books can be utilized as a way to reach students with concepts and themes that they may not normally want to work on. Such as if you asked a student why the author used a specific grammatical technique then that can lead into a discussion on grammar. By using books that spark student’s interests, as teachers we have a better chance of reaching students with the concepts we are teaching.
Some would view these genres as farfetched, that students should be reading more classic books; that dystopian, fantasy, and scifi are trends that will pass (I would bet though that are considered the “classics” now were once thought to be a trend). What I want my students to learn from these books is that even though many of the things going on in the stories may not be real, so many of the others are and those are the ones that are most important. Such as, being able to learn magic as Harry, Ron, and Hermione did is not possible learning about to be a good friend and standing up for what you believe is right is possible.
I find that something that has helped books to become less of a trend is when they are made into movies. Something about that being done keeps the stories going even after the last page has been turned. In my future library, I want so many things. I want all of the books that were on the reading list given to us by Dr. Kajder and even though I haven’t read them yet I hope to.