Death, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Adolescent Literature

This scholarly study, based on the author’s doctoral thesis, draws heavily on Australian teenage fiction written during the last twenty years, some of which may be inaccessible to readers in this country. Its main finding however remains clear and interesting. James believes that adolescents are particularly drawn to the depiction of death in their literature because this interest coincides with their new understanding of their own carnality. Growing up, in this sense, brings about for teenagers a realisation of their own physical potentialities, including the fact that one day all this must also end. Links between gender and different attitudes towards death in fiction are followed through in succeeding chapters. Not easy to read, with references clogging up almost every other sentence, this is still a useful study of a topic that shows no sign of dying itself in terms of the amount of young adult books that seem increasingly drawn towards this subject.