Preview of Multi Genre Text Set for Theme "Loss of Innocence"

1. PREVIEW OF
YOUNG ADULT
LITERATURE:
MULTI-GENRE TEXT
SETS
Theme: Loss of Innocence & The Harsh
Realities of Adulthood
Compiled by Tara Nygaard

2. CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS
• The Outsiders
• To Kill A Mockingbird
• Number the Stars
• The Catcher in the Rye

3. CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS:
• Hinton, S.E. I1967). The
outsiders. New York, NY: Viking
Press.
• Lexile: 750
• The novel is written from the
perspective of Ponyboy, a 14 year-old
orphan from the wrong side of town.
He and his brother Sodapop live under
the care of their older brother Darry
after their parents die in a car accident.
• Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird.
Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.
• Lexile: 790
• Scout and her brother Jem live in
depression-era Alabama with their
widowed father Atticus; an attorney.
Scout and Jem come to learn about
white privilege, and the conflicts
between blacks and whites. When their
father defends a black man named
Tom.

4. MORE CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS…
• Lois L. (1989). Number the stars. Boston,
MA: Houghton Mifflin.
• Lexile: 670
• Annemarie Johanesen and her family hide
her friend in their Nazi-occupied
Copenhagen home in 1943. The book
offers opportunity to teach history of WWII
along with themes of prejudice, and the
meaning of true friendship. The protagonist
Annemarie has courage and she often tells
lies, but these lies are to save a life.
• Salinger, J.D. (1951). The catcher in the
rye. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and
Company.
• Lexile: 790
• Set in the 1950’s, Holden Caulfield is a 16
year-old depressed American boy who
shares his story from a mental institution.
Although Holden is an upper class white
boy from 1950’s American, he writes about
common themes surrounding teenage
disillusionment and the loss of innocence.

5. NON-FICTION &
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• I Am Malala
• Speak
• Anne Frank: Diary of A Young Girl

6. NON-FICTION AND INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:
• Angelou, M. (1969). I know why
the caged bird sings. New York,
NY: Random House.
• Lexile: 1070
• This is the first in a seven volume
series by Angelou. It is the coming of
age story about the author’s
childhood experiences with in 1930’s
Arkansas.
• Yousafzai, M. & Lamb. C. (2013). I
am Malala: The girl who stood for
education and was shot by the
Taliban. New York, NY: Little,
Brown, and Company.
• Lexile: 830
• Malala has become a world figure for
girls education after she was shot by
the Taliban on her school bus.

7. MORE NON-FICTION AND INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
• Anderson, L.H. (2011). Speak. New York,
NY: Square Fish.
• Lexile: 690
• At a party before her Freshman year of high
school, Melinda shuts down emotionally
after she is raped by a Senior named Andy
Evans. Melinda finally breaks her silence
and emerges from the traumatic experience.
• Frank, A. (1952). Anne Frank: Diary of a
young girl. New York, NY: Doubleday.
• Lexile: 1080
• Anne Frank is a Jewish girl who hides from
the Nazi’s during WWII. For two years Anne
hides with seven others in an upstairs ‘secret
annex’. Some moments, Anne shares
thoughts as a normal teenage girl, and
other times the diary shares the daily
struggles of a life living in fear.

8. HISTORICAL FICTION
The Hired Girl
The Book Thief

9. HISTORICAL FICTION
• Schlitz, L.A. (2015). The hired girl.
Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
• Lexile: 810
• This fictional diary of 14-year old Joan
Skaggs in takes place in1911. She runs
away from home after a fight with her
abusive father who burns her books. She
lies about her age and becomes a maid to a
Jewish family in rural Pennsylvania. She
cooks and cleans for $6.00 per week, but
she dreams of a life full of love
• Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief. New
York, NY: Knopf.
• Lexile: 730
• ‘Death’ narrates the story of 9-year-old
Liesel Meminger. She is a Jewish orphan
who is sent to live with foster Hans and
Rosa Hubermann in a fictional German town
during WWII. Her access to books educates
her about the power of words but also
about the atrocities of the Hitler regime as it
comes to her town.

10. GRAPHIC NOVELS
AND COMIC BOOKS
• I Remember Beirut
• Buzz
• All Star
• This One Summer

11. GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COMIC BOOKS
• Abirached, Z. (2014). I Remember
Beirut. Minneapolis, MN: Graphic
Universe.
• Lexile: 460
• An intimate remembrance of the author's
childhood in Lebanon during its civil war.
The author describes how her world and her
family were turned upside down, and how
her family coped with life during the
religious class between Christians and
Muslims.
• Hirsh, A. & Stone, T. (2013). Buzz.
Portland, OR: Oni Press.
• Lexile: 360
• As he begins high school, Webster finds
himself swept up in the cutthroat world of
competitive, head-to-head spelling
bees. This is an over the top and dramatic
take on spelling bee culture.

12. MORE GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COMIC BOOKS…
• Lonergan, J. (2014). All Star. Syracuse,
NY: NBM Publishing.
• Readability: Grade 9 and up
• Carl Carter, is a high school baseball star
who has life made. All he has to do is finish
senior year. Then one day he begins a series
of bad decisions that ultimately change the
course of his life as a student athlete. He
soon discovers the inequality inherent in the
system when he gets into trouble with the
law.
• Tamaki, M. & Tamaki, J. (2014). This One
Summer. By Mariko Tamaki. New York,
NY: First Second.
• Lexile: 300 (Content: Grade 8 and up).
• When Rose tries to escape the drama of her
parents’ endless arguments, she and her
friend Windy get tangled up in teen love
and danger. This summer trip is a yearly
tradition, but this year things are very
different, and the girls come of age during
an unforgettable season.

13. MAGAZINE ARTICLES RELATED TO THE THEME:
‘LOSS OF INNOCENCE’:
• Bajekal, N. (August 7, 2015). Inside the Syrian Refugee Camps Where Childhood Does Not Exist. Time Magazine. Retrieved from
http://time.com/3987244/syrian-refugees-mafraq-jordan/
• Explores the harsh realities of daily life in a refugee camp. Issues such as malnutrition; poor medical attention; lack of sanitation, and lack of education
plague the camp. Children are often the most optimistic of the refugees, livening the sprits of the adults.
• Gaffey, C. (October 13, 2016) Nigeria: 21 Chibok Girls ‘Freed’. Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/chibok-girls-boko-
haram-nigeria-509413
• Background about the kidnapping of 276 girls from a Nigerian village. Twenty-one girls have been released, however many more still remain captive
by the militant group Boko Haram. The article delves into the role of the Nigerian government and how to keep the country safe from further
kidnappings.
• Harlan, B. (Feb 26, 2016). These Girls Escaped Child Marriage. Now They’re Raiding their Voices – and Cameras. National Geographic. Retrieved
from http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/26/girls-who-escaped-child-marriage-raise-their-cameras-and-their-voices/
• An exploration into photography as empowerment for would-be child brides. A photography workshop is run by SGF, a foundation that empowers
young girls to tell their story.
• Sinclair, S. (April 22, 2015). Child. Bride. Mother. Nepal. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/24/opinion/24exposures.html
• Discussion of child bride custom in Nepal where over 41% of girls are married before age 18. The article links childhood marriage with poverty,
because the girls become pregnant and do not return to school.