LIS 213: Popular Culture and Young Adults

In my youth, I was an avid reader of series books. Anything related to The Baby-Sitters Club or Goosebumps, I would eagerly devour. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was (and is) a war of sorts waging against and for the books I loved. Indeed, there is a long history of criticism against series books. Even when opinions were not resoundingly negative, if they supported the reading of series book for young people, they were often reserved or instilled with an “adult agenda ” to move young adults towards librarian-sanctioned and adult-approved literature. Only recently have there been voices rising to the surface in (unapologetic) defense of series books. The first article I will discuss is Catherine Sheldrick Ross ’ “’If They Read Nancy Drew, So What?’: Series Book Readers Talk Back ” (1995). She gives us a history of popular fiction in regards to youths from about the 1800s to present day. Technological advancements in printing in the mid-19th century, in addition to lower postal rates and the introduction of faster transportation systems courtesy of the railroads, made it possible for books to be published and distributed more rapidly, more affordably, and in higher quantities than ever before. To the consternation of the cultural and social elite, such progress did not result in the lower classes, i