American Secondary Education 41(1) Fall 2012

Young Adult Literature and the

Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit
Authors
Jonathan Ostenson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor for the Department of
English at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Rachel Wadham is an Education and Juvenile Librarian at Brigham Young
University in Provo, Utah.

Abstract
Advocates have long argued that an increased role for young adult literature in
the classroom would help students reading development. At first glance, the
widely adopted Common Core State Standards might seem in opposition to
an increased role for such literature. A closer examination of the common core
documents suggests, however, that young adult literature could actually be a
strong fit with these new standards. This article examines the Common Cores
rationale for text selection and demonstrates how young adult literature, as
an alternative or complement to the classics, can meet the expectations of
the Common Core and provide meaningful literary experiences for students.

Like most educators, we are very interested in the implications for classroom practice of the Common Core State Standards (Core State Standards
Initiative, 2010), which will be referred to hereafter as the CCSS or as the
Common Core. The goals of the CCSS, to better align educational standards
with workplace expectations and to encourage more rigorous skill development, are admirable. The task now, of course, is to implement the standards in ways that will yield the greatest benefits to students and schools in
this country. For teachers in the English/Language Arts, this implementation
raises important questions about the kinds of texts that best support these
standards in our classrooms.
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Ostenson, Wadham Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit

It is our contention that the implementation of the CCSS English Language Arts (ELA) standards provides a significant opportunity to examine
the tradition of text selection for ELA classrooms that emphasizes classic
or canonical texts. While there is value to this tradition, we argue that the
research base and assumptions underlying the new standards actually make
a compelling case including more young adult titles in the classroom. We
outline this argument by first introducing young adult literature and its history and then exploring how the Common Core supports the increased use
of young adult titles in the ELA classroom.

Young Adult Literature: Promise and Challenges

Young Adult (YA) literature is most succinctly defined by Bucher and Hinton
(2010) as a work of any genre that provides a unique adolescent point of
view , and reflects the concerns, interests, and challenges of young
adults (p. 8-9). This literature, many argue, first came into its own in the
late 1960s, with the publication of titles such as S. E. Hintons The Outsiders and Robert Lipsytes The Contender. The genre has now reached such
prominence that titles written for teens are now featured on bestseller lists
like those published weekly in The New York Times.
Works that reflect a teens point of view have had something of a controversial past in instructional settings. Some critics have perceived these
works as juvenile and not complex enough to be included in mainstream
English classrooms (Bucher & Hinton, 2010; Cole, 2009). Others have extolled the potential benefits of YA literature in helping young people develop into literate adults with strong reading skills and an appreciation for literary works (Santoli & Wagner, 2004). According to Cole (2009) and Gallo
(2001), for instance, YA works reflect issues and conflicts most relevant to
teens. Students, therefore, tend to be more motivated to read these works
and find it easier to make connections with the characters and themes. Such
high-interest authentic reading, as Gallagher (2009) argued, is vital to encouraging students to do more engaged reading, an important piece of helping them to become literate adults.
Despite the potential of YA literature, most texts assigned in secondary ELA classrooms are still almost exclusively classics such as Romeo and
Juliet or Of Mice and Men, as revealed most recently in a survey by Stotsky,
Traffas, and Wolworth (2010). The same survey reveals, however, that students are also reading numerous young adult titles on their own. Some have
argued that encounters with assigned classics, which often portray adult
characters in situations far removed from most teens experiences, are creating aliterate adults who resist reading even when they are capable readers
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Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit Ostenson, Wadham

(Broz, 2011; Gallagher, 2009; Gallo, 2001).

We do not suggest that there is no value in teaching the classics; the
difficulties posed by canonical texts can be well worth the effort. Classic
literature has an important place in the ELA classroom, but when decisions
are made about which texts to use to support the Common Core, consideration should be given to Rosenblatts (1995) warnings that readers must
find something familiar to connect with in a text and that too much struggle
can alienate them from its meaning. Young adult literature can provide the
familiar, less alienating literature that Rosenblatt called for while also meeting the standards of quality that are often ascribed to the classics. Hipple
(2000), for instance, argued convincingly that YA literature features themes
that merit and reward examination and commentary similar to the classics (p. 2). Moore (1997) took an insightful look at how theories of literary
criticism can be applied to YA literature, finding that these texts are just as
worthy of serious, scholarly analysis as are the classics.
In our professional practice, we have chosen to make modern YA literature a significant part of our classrooms. Whether it is exploring a young
adult novel as a whole class, pairing it with a classic work, or using it as
one component of an extended unit, we have found many meaningful ways
to integrate YA literature into our classrooms, and we believe that the Core
Standards actually provide a framework to show that YA literature can more
than meet the learning outcomes of any ELA classroom. Ironically, given
traditional criticisms leveled at YA literature as too simplistic, it is the Common Cores emphasis on text complexity that provides the central argument
in favor of integrating more YA texts into instructional settings.

Young Adult Literature and Complexity

The Common Core supporting documents (especially in Appendix A) argue that increasingly complex texts should be used in classrooms in order to help students develop literacy skills and to ultimately reach a point
where they can read complex texts independently. The CCSS authors cited
research showing that text complexity at the college level and in the workplace exceeds that of the public schools and that the complexity of texts
used in secondary schools has declined in recent years (Common Core State
Standards Initiative, 2010).
The CCSS reframes the text selection process by identifying three components that should guide teachers assessment of text complexity: qualitative
dimensions, quantitative dimensions, and reader and task considerations.
These are to be treated as three equally important parts (Common Core
State Standards Initiative, 2010, Appendix A, p. 4) and are also portrayed in
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Ostenson, Wadham Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit

the documents visually, as a pyramid with reader and task providing the base
and qualitative and quantitative methods on each side of the triangle.
Young adult literature is a strong fit with the Common Core expectations because it can meet the standards for quantitative and qualitative
measures of complexity at the same time as it meets the needs of readers
and the tasks in which they must engage. We will examine the potential of
young adult literature to meet each standard of text complexity while also
exploring specific young adult titles.

Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Complexity

With the rise in popularity of YA literature in the publishing world over the
past two decades, it is possible to find any number of YA books within a
given Lexile range (the quantitative measure used most frequently in the
CCSS appendices). For instance, the genre-bending story of at-risk Georgia
McCoy told in Pieces of Georgia has a Lexile score of 1160, which is in
the middle of the CCSS band for grades 9-10. For those looking for nonfiction, Gary Paulsens Dogsong falls at 1150 on the Lexile scale and will
undoubtedly be appealing to a wide range of young readers who love his
classic, Hatchet. At the higher end of the CCSS band, books like L. G. Bass
lavish fantasy Sign of the Qin has a score of 1200, and Robin McKinleys
alternate-reality novel Dragonhaven scores a 1230. These books and many
others show that YA literature can meet the quantitative demands of the
CCSS guidelines for text selection.
The in-depth discussion about text selection in the Common Core document says, The Standards recommend that multiple quantitative measures be used whenever possible and that their results be confirmed or overruled by a qualitative analysis of the text (CCSS Appendix A, p. 8). This
clearly puts an emphasis on qualitative measures, a good recommendation
since quantitative measures alone often tell relatively little about complexity.
Qualitative measures that examine such features as the levels of meaning in a text, the complexity of its structure, the use of language, and the
knowledge demands made by a text are more helpful in determining the
appropriateness of a text for the students in our classrooms. Young adult
literature, as we will explore below, provides a range of levels of complexity
in all of these elements, while at the same time maintaining a strong level of
relevance to teen readers.
The qualitative considerations cited by the CCSS authors also lend much
to the argument for incorporating more YA literature in classrooms. In discussing how to assess the qualitative complexity of texts, the Common Core
authors stress issues of levels of meaning (texts with multiple levels of mean7

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Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit Ostenson, Wadham

ing are more complex), structure (texts that make use of unconventional or
implicit structures are more complex), language conventionality (the use
of figurative, ironic, or ambiguous language makes a text more complex),
and knowledge demands (texts that require significant prior knowledge are
more complex).
Santoli and Wagner (2004), in reviewing YA literatures potential in the
ELA classroom, note that the breadth and depth of young adult literature
are equal to any other genre today and that the recurring life themes of love,
death, loss, racism, and friendship contained in the classics are also present
in young adult literature (p. 68). Young adult literature has the added bonus
of being potentially more attractive to young people. The following examples
help make the case that many young adult novels today can meet these criteria for complexity while maintaining a strong appeal for teenage readers:
Sharon Creechs Walk Two Moons features a challenging structure and
multiple levels of meaning. This novel tells the story of Salamanca Tree Hiddle, who joins her grandparents in a trip across the country to retrace the
steps of her missing mother. During the trip, Salamanca tells her grandparents the story of Phoebe Winterbottom and the secret messages she received
after her mother disappeared. The story-within-a-story device not only gives
the text a more complex structure, but also requires significant inferential
thinking to draw out the connections between and multiple meanings hidden within the two stories. The parallels between Phoebes story and that of
the protagonist add an important subtext to the novel. The ambiguity that
arises in this book from these multiple levels can allow for sustained examination in the classroom and makes this book excellent for teaching the skills
emphasized in the CCSS.
Robert Cormiers book I Am the Cheese offers complexity in recounting
the tale of Adam Farmer, a young man who is struggling to remember who
he is. Told through a mixture of therapist interview transcripts and fragmented memories in narrative form, the book presents readers with a significant
challenge in terms of structure and linearity of plot. In piecing together the
fragments of Adams life and the details that emerge through his therapy
sessions, readers must exercise considerable inferential thinking. The transcripts present a challenge as they represent an unfamiliar genre to most
teenage readers, and the fluid movement between past and present (and an
implied future) requires significant attention to detail. This textual complexity is further enhanced by Cormiers honest and sophisticated treatment of
important themes of identity, honesty, and family relationships.
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen is a rich novel of historical fiction set in
1899 that offers not only a distinctive structure but also a rich style. To tell the
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Ostenson, Wadham Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit

story of her teenage Gilded Age Manhattan socialites, Godbersen begins with
the end of the story, then proceeds back to the beginning to recount the events
that lead up to that end. However, nothing is what it seems and the foreshadowing offered in the beginning suggests a very different outcome than what
the reader first expects. This structure presents readers with challenges as they
must frequently revise their interpretations to accommodate new facts about
the characters and plot events. Godbersen also uses rich sensory language to
describe both setting and character. Filled with imagery, symbols, and figurative langue, The Luxe is a vibrant novel that clearly meets high standards of
complexity as measured by these qualitative considerations.
We argue, in light of these quantitative and qualitative requirements, that
YA literature might be an option that is better than (or at least equal to) the
titles in the CCSS exemplar lists. Works such as Little Women or The Odyssey (two texts from the lists) may satisfy the demands of complexity, but they
may require significant scaffolding and teacher intervention for students to
comprehend and appreciate them. With The Odyssey, for example, students
will need to understand the historical background of the Trojan War, ancient
Greek culture, and the identity of Greek gods and the relationships between
them in order to make sense of the setting and conflicts of the poem.
Given its knowledge demands, its abundant figurative language, and its
sometimes-archaic vocabulary and syntax, this text poses significant obstacles for a reader. Although there is value to studying a text like The Odyssey
in spite of these challenges, we suggest that YA titles can meet the need for
complexity while also providing a better fit to readers and tasks, which we
explore in the next section.

Reader and Task Considerations

The location of reader and task considerations as the foundation of the pyramid illustrating complexity may be happenstance, but it reflects an appropriate emphasis on the reader and task in selecting texts. Educators strive
to match students to specific texts, knowing that they will be more likely to
read about settings, characters, or themes that they find relevant. Certain
texts are well-suited to specific tasks. To teach students about making inferences, for instance, a good teacher will carefully select a text that requires
such skills of students and allows for an authentic context in which to develop those skills. It is this factor that speaks perhaps most compellingly to
the inclusion of more young adult literature in the curriculum.
In addition to the qualitative and quantitative measures, reader and task
considerations in selecting text can also be met effectively by YA literature.
The settings, characters, conflicts, and themes of YA literature are, by design,
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Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit Ostenson, Wadham

relevant and compelling to young adults. Consequently, secondary school

students are understandably more motivated to read YA literature than other
texts assigned them in schools, especially titles from the canon of classics.
Likewise, the use of familiar teenage characters and settings, especially in
realistic fiction for young adults, often mirrors what students know from
their own experience, making the texts less demanding in terms of what
prior knowledge students need to bring to the reading.
Even when the setting might be unusual or the characters out-of-theordinaryas in a steampunk novel where steam-driven technology takes
the place of our modern, silicon-based technology or the current crop of
paranormal romances featuring werewolves and vampiresthe underlying
themes and conflicts or the emotions felt by the main characters are familiar
to students and connected to their own life experiences. This accessibility,
however, does not equal a dumbing down of these works; as we have argued already, young adult literature features books worthy of the same kind
of sustained analysis as the classics.
In taking into account considerations of reader and task, its critical
to note the power that YA literature has to motivate teenagers to read (and
read a lot) as well as to make connections to what they read. Research into
reading and reading comprehension has shown that motivation matters: a
key part of engaged, successful reading is the readers motivation (Guthrie
& Wigfield, 2000). Readers might have a whole repertoire of strategies to
bring to a task, but few of those are likely to be used if the reader finds a text
uninteresting. While we might think of motivation as something more connected to personal reading or reading for enjoyment (since, after all, schools
have multiple means of encouraging students to read texts they wouldnt
normally pick up on their own), research has shown quite clearly that the
more interested a student is in a text, the more likely that student is to use
metacognitive knowledge and strategies about reading to comprehend the
text (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000; Smith & Wilhelm, 2002).
Motivation is just one consideration of the reader. The CCSS suggest also
looking at prior knowledge and experience, and, here again, young adult literature fits well for teen readers. It is much easier for students to make strong
connections to characters in a text or between events in the book and the
world around them with a book that presents characters and conflicts that
are familiar. Teenagers will already have the background knowledge to make
sense of a book like Laurie Halse Andersons Speak, but they are less likely
to have the knowledge or experience to make sense of Hawthornes The
Scarlet Letter. Their own life experiences have prepared them to understand
the complexities of the situations faced by Melinda, the protagonist of Speak.
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Ostenson, Wadham Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit

While they may have some experiences that could help them relate to Hester
Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, students would be hard-pressed to do so without
the skilled intervention and support of a classroom teacher. The difficulties
presented by this classic text might discourage students from making something meaningful from it, while their lived experiences have already prepared
them to make a strong connection with a YA book like Speak.
We can also see the value of YA literature for the kinds of tasks the
CCSS suggest that teachers consider. Citing a RAND study, the authors list
engagement with text as one of the intended outcomes to be considered
(CCSS Appendix A, p. 8). In YA literature, teenagers are more likely to see
not only their own problems and challenges addressed, but also solutions
to those problems. The lived experiences of young people will put them in a
better place to be engaged with and find meaning in YA literature.
Perhaps the most important goal identified by the CCSS is developing
independent readers who can interpret complex texts on their own. Here
again, YA literature can help because it ameliorates some of the challenges
that classic literature poses to teens (Gallo, 2001; Santoli & Wagner, 2004)
while maintaining a sophisticated treatment of themes and characters. By
providing our young students with accessible and relevant texts, YA literature encourages students to read more and gives them the confidence that
they can independently navigate complex texts.
Although teen readers will certainly benefit from teacher support to
manage the complex structures and multiple levels of meaning in many
YA novels, they can complete much of the reading of these novels on their
own, as other demands of the texts are manageable for them. As the students
move into the book, support can be gradually withdrawn as they become
more independent in making sense of the complex structure and rich style
these novels offer.
In the YA novel, The Luxe, the protagonist is aged eighteen and other
characters in the book range from ages sixteen to eighteen; the age of the
protagonists alone allows for stronger reader interest in this book than in
many classroom classics. Although other books deal with similar themes
of jealousy, love, money and power, in The Luxe they are much more relevant to the social and emotional needs of todays teenagers because they
are portrayed through a teenagers point of view. Featured on one of the
Young Adult Library Services Associations Popular Paperbacks for Young
Adults lists, this book has achieved wide popularity, which makes it a strong
choice for reader interest, and the potential for this book to connect to tasks
related to learning outcomes for ELA classrooms is also strong. With its varied themes, the book has great potential for a close reading where students
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Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit Ostenson, Wadham

must chart the development of two or more themes in a text. In addition,

while this book has a complex style, the complexity is contained in a fastpaced story peopled by likable characters of both genders, making it one
that readers will be able to read independently. Finally, with three sequels to
The Luxe that are equally engaging, this book could be the start of a strong
relationship with quality literature.
Young adult literature is nicely suited to the needs of teenage readers
and the kinds of tasks we see in school. With themes that are more immediately relevant to teenagers and characters they can relate to, these texts could
provide a strong connection to readers and meet their needs in many ways.
These features make these texts more accessible to students, giving them the
confidence to engage in analysis of the literature and the kinds of activities
that the CCSS encourages in their grade-level standards. Well-written YA literature also deals with meaningful themes treated in sophisticated, honest
ways that provide a wealth of material for classroom discussion and analysis,
thus providing a variety of good contexts for skill development. Given these
factors, YA literature can clearly meet the expectations of the CCSS.

Conclusion
The arrival of the CCSS provides a significant opportunity to reexamine practice and the goals we have for developing literate graduates. As
teachers seek to build classrooms where students are engaged in meaningful, authentic activities related to reading, the Common Core provides solid
standards to pursue. We encourage teachers and administrators to consider
strongly the role that young adult literature can play in meeting these standards, especially in terms of the complexity of texts we should be using
with students. Young adult literature can satisfy the demands for quantitative
and qualitative complexity along with the canonical pieces of literature that
have traditionally dominated instruction in classrooms. Moreover, this genre
holds significant potential to motivate young readers and to provide them
with meaningful contexts in which to practice and refine the important literacy skills they will need to be successful, independent, and skilled readers.

References

Broz, W. J. (2011). Not reading: The 800-pound mockingbird in the classroom. English
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Bucher, K. & Hinton, K. (2010). Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation (2nd Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Cole, P. (2009). Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
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English language arts and literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Techni12

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cal subjects. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20
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Santoli, S. P., & Wagner, M. E. (2004). Promoting young adult literature: The other real
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Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
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