Read more
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.
Report
«Once again, Chris Richards shows us why cultural studies matters. A pioneer in every sense, Richards has been working the intersections between media studies and education for several years now, opening up unexplored and exciting vistas in and across each. In this book, Richards turns his sharp, critical eye to the complexities of on- and off-line literary productions - a topic he takes on with characteristic rigor and flair. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!» (Greg Dimitriadis, University at Buffalo, State University of New York)
«Chris Richards complicates common sense definitions of 'adolescence', and provides a welcome contribution to current debates within and outside of the field of education around the relationship between real and imagined youth and popular cultural narratives.» (Elizabeth Marshall, Simon Fraser University)
