Giant Despair Meets Hopeful

"A burgeoning literature for young-adult readers exists. Yet much of it depicts a despairing, disillusioned world, telling tales of teenagers suffering from family breakdown, violence, peer pressure, sexual abuse, and even suicide. But such bleakness need not translate into depression and fear for vulnerable adolescents. When we look at YA fiction form another perspective, what may emerge is a literature of great power an authenticity. Julia Kristeva argues that so long as human beings have love, we have hope. Taking up this theme, Martha Westwater reads six YA novelists--Aidan Chambers, Robert Cormier, Kevin Major, Jan Mark, Katherine Paterson, and Patricia Wrightson--through Kristevan theory to find a glimmer of hope amidst our cultural crises. A welcome addition to the undeservedly sparse literature on Young Adult fiction."--Publisher's description.