Graphic Novels for Children and Young Adults

One of the most significant transformations in literature for children and young adults during the last twenty years has been the resurgence of comics. Educators and librarians extol the benefits of comics reading, and increasingly, children's and young adult comics and comics hybrids have won major prizes, including the Printz Award and the National Book Award. Despite the popularity and influence of children's and young adult graphic novels, the genre has not received adequate scholarly attention. This book offers a critical examination of children's and YA comics. The anthology is divided into five sections: structure and narration; transmedia; pedagogy; gender and sexuality; and identity, that reflect crucial issues and recurring topics in comics scholarship during the twenty-first century. The chapters analyze a variety of contemporary comics, including such highly popular series as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Lumberjanes; Eisner award-winning graphic novels by Gene Luen Yang, Nate Powell, Mariko Tamaki, and Jillian Tamaki; as well as volumes frequently challenged for use in secondary classrooms, such as Raina Telgemeier's Drama and Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Author(s):  
Julia Boog-Kaminski

Artikelbeginn:[English title and abstract below] Kaum eine Zeit steht so sehr für die sexuelle Befreiung und Sprengung familialer Strukturen wie die 1968er (vgl. Herzog 2005). Kaum ein Märchen steht in der psychoanalytischen Deutung so sehr für den sexuellen Reifungsprozess und das Unabhängigwerden eines Kindes wie Der Froschkönig. Der vorliegende Artikel greift diese Verbindung auf, da gerade während der 68er-Bewegung verschiedene Wasser- und Amphibienfiguren in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur (KJL) vorkommen, die stark an die Motive des Märchens erinnern. Frogs and CucumbersTransformed Men in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Since 1968 In psychoanalysis, the fairy tale The Frog Prince has attracted much interest as a narrative of sexual liberation. Placing this motif at the heart of Nöstlinger’s and Pressler’s ›antiauthoritarian classics,‹ this article puts forward a new reading of literature for children and young adults. Through the ambiguity of the frog figure – oscillating between nature and culture, consciousness and unconsciousness – these books chronicle, in their own manner, the social transformation associated with 1968. They portray the emancipation movement as a hurtful and paradoxical process instead of one that reproduces the myth of linear progress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (28) ◽  
pp. 2854-2862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph E. Vatner ◽  
Andrzej Niemierko ◽  
Madhusmita Misra ◽  
Elizabeth A. Weyman ◽  
Claire P. Goebel ◽  
...  

Purpose There are sparse data defining the dose response of radiation therapy (RT) to the hypothalamus and pituitary in pediatric and young adult patients with brain tumors. We examined the correlation between RT dose to these structures and development of endocrine dysfunction in this population. Materials and Methods Dosimetric and clinical data were collected from children and young adults (< 26 years of age) with brain tumors treated with proton RT on three prospective studies (2003 to 2016). Deficiencies of growth hormone (GH), thyroid hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and gonadotropins were determined clinically and serologically. Incidence of deficiency was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate models were constructed accounting for radiation dose and age. Results Of 222 patients in the study, 189 were evaluable by actuarial analysis, with a median follow-up of 4.4 years (range, 0.1 to 13.3 years), with 31 patients (14%) excluded from actuarial analysis for having baseline hormone deficiency and two patients (0.9%) because of lack of follow-up. One hundred thirty patients (68.8%) with medulloblastoma were treated with craniospinal irradiation (CSI) and boost; most of the remaining patients (n = 56) received involved field RT, most commonly for ependymoma (13.8%; n = 26) and low-grade glioma (7.4%; n = 14). The 4-year actuarial rate of any hormone deficiency, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and gonadotropin deficiencies were 48.8%, 37.4%, 20.5%, 6.9%, and 4.1%, respectively. Age at start of RT, time interval since treatment, and median dose to the combined hypothalamus and pituitary were correlated with increased incidence of deficiency. Conclusion Median hypothalamic and pituitary radiation dose, younger age, and longer follow-up time were associated with increased rates of endocrinopathy in children and young adults treated with radiotherapy for brain tumors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 5540-5546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Barrett ◽  
Colin P Hawkes ◽  
Amber Isaza ◽  
Andrew J Bauer

Abstract Context Amiodarone is used in patients with arrhythmias, but thyroid dysfunction [amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) or amiodarone-induced hypothyroidism (AIH)] is a common adverse effect. As the onset of AIT and AIH has not been studied in children, the timing of dysfunction and long-term monitoring are not known in this population. Objective To describe the incidence and timing of amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction in children and adolescents, with a secondary aim to identify risk factors for amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction, and to identify variance in thyroid hormone surveillance and treatment. Design Retrospective review of thyroid dysfunction in children and young adults treated with amiodarone between 2007 and 2018. Setting Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Patients Children and young adults treated with amiodarone. Main Outcome Measures Prevalence of amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction. Results Of 484 patients, 190 had thyroid-function testing; 17.3% were found to have subclinical hypothyroidism, and 13.7% testing developed hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.1%. In patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, 63% returned to normal thyroid function without thyroid hormone replacement. Only 26% of patients with hypothyroidism had spontaneous normalization of thyroid function. Twenty-five percent of AIT patients had spontaneous normalization of thyroid function. Conclusions This study looks at a pediatric and young-adult population in an effort to describe the natural history of amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction. Based on our data, we recommend that a complete thyroid-function panel be obtained within the first week and then at weekly intervals for the first 5 weeks after initiation. The majority of thyroid dysfunction was noted within the first 35 days of treatment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Chappell

Because of the current fantasy trend to represent lycanthropy as a genetically inherited or inborn feature, with werewolves frequently belonging to werewolf families and/or packs, many contemporary narratives for children and young adults encourage readings of lycanthropy as a metaphor for racial or ethnic difference. Diverse representations of lycanthropy, from monstrous and sympathetic werewolves to benevolent and idealised werewolves, non-essentialist werewolves, and incommensurable werewolves thus suggest shifting conceptions of race and ethnicity. The divergent ideological implications of these distinctive werewolf schemata are analysed in a variety of contemporary children's and young adult fantasy texts, including Maggie Pearson's Owl Light ( 1996 ), Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate ( 1997 ), Patrick Jennings's The Wolving Time ( 2003 ), J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997–2007), and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005–8).


MANUSYA ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-43
Author(s):  
Georgios Papantonakis

In contemporary Greek history we do not encounter the historical and social phenomena of colonialism or postcolonialism with the exception of cases where nations conquered Greek islands; the Dodecanese Islands and the Eptanisa (Seven Islands) were conquered by the English and the Italians, and Cyprus was conquered by the British in the Middle Ages and in contemporary times. These historical situations have been transferred into certain historical Greek fictions in adult literature and in the literature of children and young adult. The focus of this essay is on investigating and depicting colonialist attitudes and post-colonialist situations in science fiction for Greek Children. Initially, we attempt a brief introduction to the literature of children and young adults and mainly science fiction for children in Greece, and following this we outline the aims of our research. Then we define the terms “colonialism,” “postcolonialism” and the new suggested terms “historical colonialism” and “literary colonialism” and refer to their relationship with science fiction. This is due to the fact that the setting of these narratives “is dictated” by a group of events that the writers themselves have either brought about or believe will take place in the future. Afterwards we point out the criteria that are used to distinguish between five types of colonization in the texts and we investigate at greater length the role that children and adolescents play in the texts, as they participate actively as liberators and saviors, as protectors for peace and the environment or as characters that take on the roles of adults. The children and young adults remain passive spectators of a peaceful colonization or do not participate in the action since the heroes in the story are insects. In this case, they are limited to the role of reader. Through the study of these texts, we detect similarities to similar situations, both in antiquity and at a later date, or during contemporary times where similar policies in certain countries have been regarded. Finally, we realize that after the inversion of colonialism and the liberation of the colonized planets, these planets are governed democratically, according to Plato’s and Aristotle’s ideas on politics.


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