20 Research Articles for 2020

"Critical Conversations on Whiteness With Young Adult Literature" by Melissa Schieble (Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 2012)

Educators across the United States are being asked to examine their beliefs and biases regarding whiteness. Recent top-selling books on the topic include Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist, Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race, and Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, among many others. In this vein, Schieble examines whiteness within young adult literature (YAL), using texts as a tool with which to discuss whiteness with teens and how whiteness intersects with other identities. She draws from critical literacy, critical race theory, and whiteness studies to create a background that supports the discussion of racial tensions with teenage students. Schieble also uses discourse analysis to examine two YAL books, examining both the texts and how they tie whiteness into social class, gender, and sexual orientation. Ultimately, Schieble argues for teachers and students to practice reflexivity and provides steps for how to immediately implement critical literacy within the classroom.

—Reviewed by Heather J. Matthews, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Schieble, M. (2012). Critical conversations on whiteness with young adult literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(3), 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1002/JAAL.00130