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Young Adult Literature

This guide was created for ENG 372 (Young Adult Literature) offered by the Department of English at Southern Connecticut State University.

YA Literature Themes/Topics

Dystopian Literature for Young Adults  
Contains history, common themes, resources, pop culture, and bibliography of young adult Dystopian novels.

Environmental Novels: Juvenile and Young Adult Literature  - u of Illinois Urbana Campaign
This guide from the University of Illiinois,Urbana Champaign, deals with juvenile, young adult and adult environment themed novels mostly focusing on pollution.

Explore themes in YA Books
This list from UK covers fiction for ages 12-18 that covers a broad range of books that are available to teenagers and young adults.

Exploring Agriculture in Young Adult Novels 
This site recommends young adult literature books on this theme.

Feminism
​Identifies 34 young adult books every feminist will love.

Fiction - Social Justice Books for Young Adults
The Teaching for Change product features some of the best multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Historical Fiction - American Indian Heritage
A bilingual site for educators and families featuring books about American history before European explorers arrived in North America.

Holocaust Lit for Young Adults - Jewish Book Council
Contains a list of holocaust books for children and middle graders.

Math Literature for Young Adults
The list of resources here were put together by the Curriculum Center in Duquesne University

Nonfiction Social Justice Books for High School
A list of nonfiction books focusing on social justice for middle and high school students which provides summaries of each book.

Popular Teen Angst Books
Features over 1,200 young adult books from Goodreads on the theme of angst.

Rainbow List - GBTQL for Teens
The Rainbow Book List from the American Library Association presents an annual list of significant books with LGBTQ content which are recommended for children from birth to 18 years of age.

Religious Themes in Young Adult Literature 
These books with religious themes help young adults explore their identities, develops critical thinking skills and learn to navigate the world around them.

Young Adult Books Explore the Immigrant Experience
Publishers Weekly lists a plethora of young adult books that explore the first-generation experience.

Young Adult Novels that Teach Growth Mindset edutopia.org
The novels in this list are for middle graders and high school freshmen to learn how to overcome loss and adversity.