Benefits of YA Literature in Social Studies Classrooms

Hello readers! Welcome back for another blog. I know that the world around us right now is a bit scary and intimidating, so there's no better time to sink yourself into a good book! This week I wanted to discuss the importance of young adult literature for students. I plan on mostly focusing on the use of YA in social studies classrooms, but I am sure that you could apply my main takeaways to any subject really.

Young Adult (YA) literature means different things to different people. But I think the easiest way for me to sum it up is any piece of literature that is meant to appeal to teens and tweens. YA is an umbrella that can include historical fiction, mystery, science fiction, and pretty much any other genre you can think of! The only difference is that YA books are written in a way that teens find them engaging and interesting.

So my big question is why aren’t we using these more often in the classroom?

Often when teachers select literature for their classes, they pick classics. And don’t get me wrong I love a good classic novel like The Great Gatsby or To Kill A Mockingbird, but unfortunately most of our students probably won't. Instead we should be choosing YA literature so that our students can actually get something out of the books we assign.

For social studies in particular, there are a few major benefits that come to mind for me…

1. YA novels can be more immersive to our students. When the writing style is more suited for teens, they can spend less time being confused by difficult language and grammar, and instead focus on being immersed in the time period the book is set in.

2. YA novels can help our students relate to the time period more. Since YA novels usually feature a teen as the main character, our students could relate to their conflicts and interests more than an adult character. A great example of this is the novel The Book Thief. The young female protagonist endures the hardships of WWII Germany, while at the same time struggles with adolescence, making her experiences seem more relatable.

3. And finally, YA novels can help give multiple perspectives to a particular time period. Most textbooks like to give a very one dimensional view of history where the facts are laid out without a whole lot of detail on how different groups viewed or were involved in certain events. YA can help show students the complexity of history. An example I remember from middle school is the novel Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is set during the American Revolution, but instead of focusing on the war, it focuses on the struggle of two young girls in slavery. It is a perspective that can sometimes be brushed over when teaching about the American Revolution.

Given all these awesome benefits, it is a wonder that more teachers have not tried to freshen up their bookshelves yet! Overall, there are so many amazing benefits to using Young Adult books in the social studies classroom, or any classroom for that matter.

I hope everyone has a great week and is able to stay safe and healthy! Stay tuned for next week’s blog!