Book dossier

Young adult fiction by African American writers, 1968-1993

by Deborah Kutenplon

This book goes beyond examining broad themes and trends in the field and looks closely at specific authors and texts. The book is comprehensive and as current as possible, covering works by African American authors for young adults published between 1968-1993-some 200 titles by close to 50 writers. In addition to established authors and best selling titles, the coverage includes material overlooked by previous studies, such as works from small presses and talented new authors. An extensive introduction reviews important milestones in this body of literature and analyzes noteworthy bibliographical and critical publications about such writing. It includes suggested guidelines for evaluating a work in terms of its direct and indirect treatment of such issues as race, gender, class, ability, age, sexuality, and sexual orientation. The book also offers specific guidance for determining the appropriate readership for a work with regard to age and gender. The main body of the book is an annotated bibliography, alphabetical by author, with the works arranged chronologically by publication date. Each annotation reads more like a full-length book review and is from one to two pages long and explores themes, plot and character development, evaluates the quality of the writing, judges the handling of issues of race, class, and gender, and provides a readership recommendation.