Forever Young: Essays on Young Adult Fictions

This book explores ‘young adult’ fictions – stories about being young, staying young and sometimes never wanting to grow up. Looking at controversial novels by Francesca Lia Block, at sex and ‘race’ in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and at the online world of fans and censors, Chris Richards argues that attempts to classify and regulate what counts as ‘young adult’ have failed, and shows how youth – as intense, exciting and tormented – draws audiences unconstrained by age. Throughout the book, the narratives of life as lived by the young emerge as the stuff of the ‘self’ – made and remade in reading, watching and listening. Fascinating and accessible, Forever Young will be of particular interest to students and teachers concerned with contemporary popular culture in cultural, media, literature and education studies courses.