Raising “Hot Topics” through Young Adult Literature

While young adult literature increases adolescents’ motivation to read, and adolescents choose to read young adult novels over more canonical works when given opportunities to choose, the authors present yet another reason for teaching young adult literature in the middle school classroom: it provides a medium through which adolescents and their teachers can raise “hot topics,” and confront and grapple with the social contradictions and complexities that comprise adolescents’ lives. In this article, the authors describe three young adult novels and related activities they have used to raise the topics of disabilities, immigration, and racism in the language arts classroom.