Reflecting Rainbows: LGBTQ+ Young Adult Literature for the Secondary School

Abstract

Queer students in secondary school may have a hard time finding belonging, validation, and answers to questions regarding their identities. They must therefore be given the reassurances that their lives are important and represented in an otherwise hetero- and cisnormative society, including in school. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of LGBTQ+ young adult literature to facilitate the all-around development of students both as individuals and as democratic citizens. I will use Emily Style’s concept of mirrors and windows to show how LGBTQ+ young adult literature can serve as a source of identification for queer readers, as well as insight into the lives of queer youth for non-queer readers. Utilising close reading, I analysed three LGBTQ+ young adult novels: The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, and I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. I set out to analyse plot, characters, and setting to explore queer plots, gender, and intersectionality. In doing so, I based my analysis on Cart & Jenkins’ and Epstein’s studies on LGBTQ+ young adult literature, Butler’s theory of gender performativity, and Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality. First, I analysed the plot, characters, and setting in the three novels separately, before developing a comparative discussion of the three novels as mirrors and windows for secondary school students. The thesis found that contemporary LGBTQ+ young adult literature largely deviates from previous tendencies and stereotypes of portraying queer lives, as the novels provide positive and hopeful narratives of fulfilled queer lives. The characters in the novels experience both similar and differing experiences to each other in their exploration of sexuality and/or gender identity, and in having to conform to the hetero- and cisnormative standards of the society around them. Another important finding is that the novels also problematised the experiences of queer people who are further disadvantaged by race, religion, class, mental health, or nonconformity, and how this can make them doubly vulnerable to prejudice and discrimination. Finally, the selected novels showed how LGBTQ+ representations can be a source of validation and reassurance for queer youth, as well as non-queer readers who can identify with other characters or situations not pertaining to LGBTQ+ topics. LGBTQ+ young adult literature can also provide insight into queer lives and into the lives of those who experience intersecting identities. Further, these texts may offer insight into the way society is inherently hetero- and cisnormative, thus allowing for non-queer readers to look inwardly and assess their own prejudices and biases.