Mixed Heritage In Young Adult Literature (Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature)

273 Pages·2009·2.94 MB·English

by  Nancy Thalia Reynolds

Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature
Series Editor: Patty Campbell
Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature is intended to continue the
body of critical writing established in Twayne’s Young Adult Authors
Series and to expand it beyond single-author studies to explorations of
genres, multicultural writing, and controversial issues in young adult
(YA) reading. Many of the contributing authors of the series are among
the leading scholars and critics of adolescent literature,and some are YA
novelists themselves.
The series is shaped by its editor, Patty Campbell, who is a
renowned authority in the field, with a thirty-year background as critic,
lecturer, librarian, and teacher of YA literature. Patty Campbell was the
2001 winner of the ALAN Award, given by the Assembly on Literature
for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English for dis-
tinguished contribution to YA literature. In 1989 she was the winner of
the American Library Association’s Grolier Award for distinguished ser-
vice to young adults and reading.
1. What’s So Scary about R.L.Stine? by Patrick Jones, 1998.
2. Ann Rinaldi:Historian and Storyteller, by Jeanne M. McGlinn, 2000.
3. Norma Fox Mazer:A Writer’s World, by Arthea J. S. Reed, 2000.
4. Exploding the Myths:The Truth about Teens and Reading,by Marc Aron-
son, 2001.
5. The Agony and the Eggplant:Daniel Pinkwater’s Heroic Struggles in the
Name of YA Literature, by Walter Hogan, 2001.
6. Caroline Cooney:Faith and Fiction, by Pamela Sissi Carroll, 2001.
7. Declarations of Independence:Empowered Girls in Young Adult Literature,
1990–2001, by Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2002.
8. Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature,by Connie S.Zitlow,2002.
9. Beyond the Pale:New Essays for a New Era, by Marc Aronson, 2003.
10. Orson Scott Card:Writer of the Terrible Choice,by Edith S.Tyson,2003.
11. Jacqueline Woodson:“The Real Thing,” by Lois Thomas Stover, 2003.
12. Virginia Euwer Wolff:Capturing the Music of Young Voices, by Suzanne
Elizabeth Reid, 2003.
13. More Than a Game:Sports Literature for Young Adults, by Chris Crowe,
2004.
14. Humor in Young Adult Literature:A Time to Laugh, by Walter Hogan,
2005.
15. Life Is Tough: Guys, Growing Up, and Young Adult Literature, by
Rachelle Lasky Bilz, 2004.
16. Sarah Dessen:From Burritos to Box Office, by Wendy J. Glenn, 2005.
17. American Indian Themes in Young Adult Literature,by Paulette F.Molin,
2005.
18. The Heart Has Its Reasons:Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/
Queer Content,1969–2004, by Michael Cart and Christine A. Jen-
kins, 2006.
19. Karen Hesse, by Rosemary Oliphant-Ingham, 2005.
20. Graham Salisbury:Island Boy, by David Macinnis Gill, 2005.
21. The Distant Mirror: Reflections on Young Adult Historical Fiction, by
Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2006.
22. Sharon Creech:The Words We Choose to Say, by Mary Ann Tighe,
2006.
23. Angela Johnson:Poetic Prose, by KaaVonia Hinton, 2006.
24. David Almond:Memory and Magic, by Don Latham, 2006.
25. Aidan Chambers: Master Literary Choreographer, by Betty Greenway,
2006.
26. Passions and Pleasures:Essays and Speeches about Literature and Libraries,
by Michael Cart, 2007.
27. Names and Naming in Young Adult Literature, by Alleen Pace Nilsen
and Don L. F. Nilsen, 2007.
28. Janet McDonald:The Original Project Girl, by Catherine Ross-Stroud,
2008.
29. Richard Peck:The Past Is Paramount, by Donald R. Gallo and Wendy
Glenn, 2008.
30. Sisters,Schoolgirls,and Sleuths:Girls’Series Books in America, by Car-
olyn Carpan, 2009.
31. Sharon Draper:Embracing Literacy, by KaaVonia Hinton, 2009.
32. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature, by Nancy Thalia Reynolds,
2009.
Mixed Heritage in
Young Adult Literature
Nancy Thalia Reynolds
Scarecrow Studies
in Young Adult Literature, No. 32
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham,Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth,UK
2009
SCARECROW PRESS,INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press,Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group,Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard,Suite 200,Lanham,Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Nancy Thalia Reynolds
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any
means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reynolds,Nancy Thalia.
Mixed heritage in young adult literature / Nancy Thalia Reynolds.
p.cm.— (Scarecrow studies in young adult literature ;no.32)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-8108-5969-2 (cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8108-5969-6 (cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-8108-6710-9 (ebook)
ISBN-10:0-8108-6710-9 (ebook)
1.Young adult literature,American—History and criticism. 2.Young
adult literature,English—History and criticism. 3.Racially mixed people in
literature. 4.Racially mixed people—Race identity. 5.Ethnicity in
literature. 6.Race in literature. 7.Cultural fusion in literature. I.
Title.
PS173.R33R49 2009
810.9’9283—dc22 2008043257
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials,ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
To my daughter, Emily Sarah Webb,
and mixed-heritage teens everywhere

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 Mulatto Heiress to Tragic Mulatto: The Evolution of
an Archetype 1
2 Contemporary YA Fiction in Black and White 19
3 Natives and Newcomers 67
4 Divided Loyalties: Immigrant Mixed Heritage 107
5 Finding Home: Mixed-Heritage Adopted Characters 151
6 Mixed Heritage in Nonfiction for Young Adults 199
Bibliography 223
Index 231
About the Author 245
vii

Acknowledgments
M
y heartfelt gratitude goes to:
• All the young adult librarians who shared their time, book picks,
and enthusiasm for this project with me.
• The extraordinary faculty and students of the Vermont College
of Fine Arts MFA program in writing for children and young
adults. Their expertise, comments, questions, and feedback were
invaluable.An extra helping of thanks goes to Tim Wynne-Jones.
• The Dedications: Mary Atkinson, Frances Lee Hall, Page
Koehlert, Margaret Nevinski, Michele Regenold, Barbara
Younger, and Lisa Doan, sisters on the long, hard road.
• Patty Campbell, a pearl among editors.
• My patient, ever-supportive family: my son and daughter, Nick
and Emily Webb, and especially my husband, Mike Webb.
ix