Young adult fiction

This thesis uses an identity studies approach to look at the representation of BIPOC characters within three young adult speculative fiction: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Black Witch by Laurie Forest, and Cinder by Marissa Meyer. By incorporating identity studies to explore and analyze examples of misrepresentation and unconscious bias throughout stories centered on oppressive world building, racial hierarchies, this thesis draws upon the works of various scholars including: Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, Orlando Patterson, Toni Morrison, and Edward Said. A lack of diverse authors and Eurocentrically-framed ideologies cemented into the publishing industry has led to instances of unconscious racialized misrepresentations of BIPOC characters as shown in the of three works of popular young adult fiction demonstrating the constraints created when authors shape and perpetuate identities for others, subjecting them to constructed identities and narratives.

The main desire behind this project was to construct a story that could be enjoyed by anyone of any age (for the most part). The author has been writing for over ten years at this point, and has always had an affinity for Young Adult literature. It was YA literature that made the author interested in becoming a writer in the first place. YA has the ability to help those who are too young to be considered “real adults” feel like there is someone out there that understands them and who takes them and their feelings into serious consideration. While, like any genre of literature out there, there are some more unsavory and less serious pieces of literature in this category, to always look down on it and say that it has no value or no place among other literature is ill mannered.
The story here depicts what life is like as a teenager, which many know and have experienced, but it shows how young people deal with all sorts of feelings and scenarios, ranging from small fights that won’t matter the next day with friends you may not remember in ten years, to life changing and world shattering events that you won’t ever forget, no matter how hard you may try.
The author of this piece wanted to portray a story where young people could feel heard and could relate, and where older generations could begin to understand that just because someone is young, doesn’t mean that what they feel isn’t real. The desire to reach the hearts of many is what lives in these pages and will continue to do so until that desire is met.
This project came about after almost two years, and while it is far from complete, it will be worked on until it can sit on its own and feel worthy of peoples eyes and fears.

A central theme in the novels of Robert Cormier is the
confrontation between the individual and society. Because
the protagonists are teenagers, this encounter represents
a form of initiation or rite of passage into the adult
world. Numerous symbolic images relate the initiation
experiences of Cormier's characters to the initiation
rituals and practices of primitive tribes. Because the
images reveal perversions of modern initiation ordeals
and corruption of the mentors who guide them, aberrant
values are transmitted. The abundance of symbolic imagery
elevates Cormier's work to a significant voice in
contemporary mythology. Instead of mystical monsters,
Cormier's novices must face the institutional evils found
in religion, education, government, the military,
international terrorism, and experimental medicine. Most of
the youthful heroes fail to complete the passage
satisfactorily; some are annihilated by it. Cormier warns
that the implacable establishment can corrupt and destroy
both individuals and itself.