The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004 (Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature) (Hardcover)

by Cart Michael (Author), Christine A Jenkins (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
This terrific and long-overdue resource chronicles the development of GLBTQ-themed young adult literature over time and intersperses critical commentary with annotated bibliographies of related fiction. Cart and Jenkins use a three-part framework to describe the historical changes in content and the depiction of gays and lesbians in terms of what they call "homosexual visibility," "gay assimilation," and "queer consciousness/community." The authors take a historical approach and examine GLBTQ-themed young adult literature decade by decade, discussing pivotal works in detail, and conclude each chapter with an annotated bibliography and a list of notes or works cited. Well organized and easy to read, Heart is a valuable, semi-scholarly reference for both collection development and research.—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Both a comprehensive overview and a lively, detailed discussion of individual landmark books, this highly readable title in the Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature series discusses 35 years of YA books with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (GLBTQ) content. Booklist columnist Cart, a groundbreaking YALSA leader, and Jenkins, a well-known academic, have long played crucial roles in raising standards and gaining recognition for YA literature, and they speak with authority and personal experience about the history of the field, candid about the stereotypes and enthusiastic about what is "accurate, thoughtful, and artful." They note the long invisibility of GLBTQ themes in YA fiction and then chart the great breakthrough titles as well as the range from simplistic "problem" scenarios to gays as complex protagonists and part of the gay community--though the cliches are still with us, including the gay as sad-eyed loner. With fully annotated bibliographies, including a chronological list, this is a valuable YA and adult resource, sure to be in great demand for personal reference and group discussion. For more on this book, see Books by Booklist Authors on p.128. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810850710
• ISBN-13: 978-0810850712
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #842,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive overview of GLBTQ YA literature with thoughtful discussion, November 5, 2006

By	E. Martin - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book to use for my MA thesis on lesbian YA literature, and I can't say enough about how helpful a resource it is. The annotated bibliography alone is worth the price of the book.