Autism in Young Adult Novels
An Annotated Bibliography
By (author) Marilyn Irwin, Annette Y. Goldsmith, Rachel Applegate
Publication date:
17 June 2015Length of book:
166 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442251830
An estimated 1 in 110 children in the United States has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the public awareness of autism has grown significantly, teens are not as educated about this subject as they should be. When accurately and positively presented, literature has been shown to help the classmates of those with ASD better understand the disorder. Increased familiarity with the subject will, in turn, help foster acceptance.
In Autism in Young Adult Novels: An Annotated Bibliography, Marilyn Irwin, Annette Y. Goldsmith, and Rachel Applegate identify and assess teen fiction with autism content. In the first section, the authors analyze how characters with ASD are presented. Where do they live and go to school? Do they have friends? Do they have good relationships with their family? How are they treated by others? The authors also consider whether autism is accurately presented. This discussion is followed by a comprehensive bibliography of books that feature a character identified as being on the autism spectrum.
The novels reviewed in this volume date as far back as the late 1960s and include works published in the last few years. As more and more authors of young adult fiction become sensitive to ASD, they are featuring such characters in their novels, creating more realistic works for their readers. This study will help librarians and others collect, choose, evaluate, and use these works to educate young adults.
In Autism in Young Adult Novels: An Annotated Bibliography, Marilyn Irwin, Annette Y. Goldsmith, and Rachel Applegate identify and assess teen fiction with autism content. In the first section, the authors analyze how characters with ASD are presented. Where do they live and go to school? Do they have friends? Do they have good relationships with their family? How are they treated by others? The authors also consider whether autism is accurately presented. This discussion is followed by a comprehensive bibliography of books that feature a character identified as being on the autism spectrum.
The novels reviewed in this volume date as far back as the late 1960s and include works published in the last few years. As more and more authors of young adult fiction become sensitive to ASD, they are featuring such characters in their novels, creating more realistic works for their readers. This study will help librarians and others collect, choose, evaluate, and use these works to educate young adults.
With the increase of children and teens diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there has also been an increase of books on the subject, including fiction. This book looks at 100 novels published in English between 1968 and 2013, for young adults (ages 11 to 19), with at least one main character overtly stated as having an ASD. Each novel was analyzed by the authors using a coding sheet developed for the study, which is included in the appendix. The three parts to the book are an analysis of characters, a section of annotated bibliographies, and a bibliography of novels where a character shows characteristics of having an ASD but it is not clearly stated in the book. In the character analysis, the authors looked for such things as sex, age, whether the character has friends, the relationship with family members, and how accurate the information on ASD is presented. The annotated bibliography includes information such as whether autism is a central plot of the novel, how accurately ASD is described in the novel, and how well written the novel is. This is a unique bibliography of a topical issue, and it belongs in most school and public library professional collections.