Throwback Thursday: Lessons from a Past Erin (3)

Welcome back to Throwback Thursday: Lessons from a Past Erin, everyone! In case you missed it, I unveiled this new feature a few weeks ago that helps me explore Young Adult Literature through my college self. I take the notes that I took during my classes, rewrite them, and reflect on them with my readers. I'm not always saying that I agree with what my professor or classmates had to say, but it's interesting to look back on the class that really helped spark my interest in YA literature.

At the end of each post, there is a "class discussion" feature, where I invite everyone to share what they think about the notes or my personal thoughts. I thought it would be a fresh way to get people talking about YA.

Roll Call

If you visited last week's Throwback Thursday post, please, please, please continue reading because you just might see something from yourself featured in today's post.

If you didn't visit last week's post, what are you waiting for? Get caught up, and read about some of the characteristics of quality Young Adult Literature. I listed a few of those from my Young Adult Literature class notes, and I thought they were really interesting because there were just so many! If you'd like, go back and read them so you can see what people thought of when they examined a particular YA book.

Question and Answer Session

You might remember that I had an interactive poll up last week that helped you examine a YA book. Below, you'll find what other bloggers and YA readers are saying about the characteristics of YA literature and their chosen book. (Bloggers and readers were able to choose any YA book and examine it against the characteristics that I was given in class many, many years ago.)

Christina from Books and Prejudice chose to examine the very popular The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows. She says that the book definitely has a multi-themed story, but she's not really sure about a tension vs. shock effect. According to Christina, the book also has memorable characters, original ideas, and an authentic dialogue. As far as style goes, Christina says that The Orphan Queen has both a strong opening and closing.

Emily, who blogs at Emily Reads Everything, picked another popular book. Her chosen book was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. When it comes to this wildly popular book, Emily believes that it has a multi-themed story. She also thinks that the book displays a tension vs. shock effect. Emily also said that The Hunger Games' Katniss provided a memorable and authentic voice for readers, and she also thinks that the book has memorable characters.

A reader who chooses to remain anonymous analyzed Morgan Matson's Since You've Been Gone. According to this reader, the book has a multi-themed plot line. The reader thinks that there is probably a tension vs. shock situation happening in the book as well. This reader also believes that Since You've Been Gone contains memorable characters, a protagonist with a memorable voice, and original ideas. However, this particular reader thinks that there are some unlikely coincidences in the book.

Homework

Next week's post is going to be about high school students. I'll be posting two lists for it - a list my class (peers) came up with and a list that I came up with. Both will tackle how people, especially adults, see the average high school student. For your homework, I'd like for you to think of three to five characteristics that represent today's high school students.