Writing for Young Readers

Semester and Year	SU 2008
Course Number	K30.1350
Section	001
Instructor
Days	Tue,Thu
Time	1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Description

This course guides students in writing fiction for readers age ten through adolescence. While writing, workshopping, and revising, students consider both theoretical and practical issues of writing for young people. We explore the history of children's literature and examine the academic journal Children's Literature, the newsletter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the American Library Association's Newbery Awards and various bestseller lists. Each student presents an analysis of a favorite book. Texts we read and analyze as models will likely include such "contemporary classics" for younger readers as Lois Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik, Karen Cushman's The Midwife's Apprentice, Walter Dean Myers's Monster, and Francesa Lia Block's Weetzie Bat; and recent works that are both popular and critically acclaimed, such as Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. We may attend a reading by a writer or editor of fiction for young readers; a writer and/or a publishing professional will be our guest speaker.

Course Type

Advanced Writing Courses (WRTNG-UG)