Using Literature to Help Troubled Teenagers Cope with Family Issues

Being literate increases a person's chances of enjoying good mental health, but many of today's teenagers come from backgrounds or circumstances that interfere with their literacy development. This unique resource for teachers, librarians, counselors and parents combines the expertise of two professionals: literacy experts and therapists. Together they provide guidance, through the examination and analysis of characters in young adult literature, to those working with troubled teens. Thereby helping professionals and parents gain insight into the inner workings of teenagers and encourage them to deal with their family issues and emotional problems while improving their reading and writing skills.A young adult literature expert and a therapist, including such authors as Chris Crutcher and Anne LeMieux, team up for each chapter. They provide possible treatment options for young adult protagonists in popular novels that address issues associated with families. These issues include divorce, parental illness, alcoholism, foster care, eating disorders, gay and lesbian teenagers, and suicide. Readers are provided with the insight into helping teenagers with similar problems, and with the tools to get teenagers reading and addressing their problems. Extensive annotated bibliographies in each chapter help the reader choose the best sources for each particular case.

.,."a valuable bridge between guidance and literature....Kaywell's volume is thorough and thoughfully arranged....The book comes at a good price and an ideal time to aid teachers, administrators, parents, librarians, and students."-Library & International Science Annual, ?...a valuable bridge between guidance and literature....Kaywell's volume is thorough and thoughfully arranged....The book comes at a good price and an ideal time to aid teachers, administrators, parents, librarians, and students.?-Library & International Science Annual, ?[T]his is an altogether admirable book that offers many open-ended possibilities.?-READINGS: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health, ?Readers are provieded with the insight into helping teenagers with similar problems, and with the tools to get teenagers reading and addressing their problems.?-The Journal of the California Graduate School of Family Psychology, ?This handbook provides excellent therapeutic information with a specific analysis of at least one YA novel for each of the issues presented...These professionals provide information on adolescent development and how the psychological, physical, and emotional growth/problems relate to characters in teen novels. A valuable tool to use alone or in conjunction with others in the series.?-School Library Journal

JOAN F. KAYWELL is an award-winning Associate Professor of English Education at the University of South Florida. She is President-elect of ALAN, the Adolescent Literature Column Editor for English Journal, and a reviewer for The New Advocate. She is the author of Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics, Volumes One, Two and Three and Adolescents At Risk: A Guide to Fiction and Nonfiction for Young Adults, Parents, and Professionals (Greenwood Press, 1993).