Names and Naming in Young Adult Literature

Alleen Pace Nilsen and Don L. F. Nilsen are professors of English at Arizona State University, where Alleen specializes in English education and Don specializes in linguistics. They are longtime members of the American Name Society and are co-presidents of the organization through 2008. Alleen is a founding member of ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English).

• Part 1 Introduction: Names and Naming in Young Adult LiteraturePart 2 Chapter 1: Names for Fun: M. E. Kerr, Gary Paulsen, Louis Sachar, and Polly HorvathPart 3 Chapter 2: Names to Establish Tone and Mode: Robert Cormier and Francesca Lia BlockPart 4 Chapter 3: Names to Establish Time Periods: Karen Cushman and Her Historical FictionPart 5 Chapter 4: Names to Establish Realistic Settings: Gary Soto, Adam Rapp, Meg Rosoff, and Nancy FarmerPart 6 Chapter 5: Names to Establish Imagined Settings: Yann Martel, Orson Scott Card, and Ursula K. Le GuinPart 7 Chapter 6: Names to Reveal Ethnic Values: Amy Tan, Sandra Cisernos, Maya Angelou, Cynthia Kadohata, Sherman Alexie, and OthersPart 8 Chapter 7: Names to Build a Dual Audience: Daniel Handler and the Lemony Snicket BooksPart 9 Chapter 8: Names as Memory Hooks: J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter BooksPart 10 BibliographyPart 11 IndexPart 12 About the Authors

This book encourages critically reading a book to focus on the names and naming. Something else that makes this book valuable is the use of various text features. The bibliography at the end provides a listing of works by all of the authors cited, thereby giving the reader a useful guide. The chapter titles that include the names of the authors featured in the chapter help to insure focus. The bolded divisions within each chapter provide clarity. This book would be useful for anyone who is a fan of young adult or children’s literature and anyone who teaches young adult or children’s literature. Note that many of the authors and their books included by Nilsen and Nilsen are familiar and read by those younger than twelve- to eighteen-year-olds labeled here as young adults. Children who are ten and eleven read some of the books discussed, including A Series of Unfortunate Events, Catherine, Called Birdy, and certainly the entire Harry Potter series. Thus, the books cited in these eight chapters have a broad range. There is much to commend this book as a reference and as a pleasurable read.