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119-680: Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company , a subsidiary of the Hachette Group . The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged socialite teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City's Upper East Side . The books primarily focus on best friends Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen , whose experiences are among those chronicled by

238-468: A Globe and Mail article in 2014, considering how modern Western women, born in inclusive, egalitarian liberal democracies, are assuming positions of leadership in neofascist political movements. Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries was written as a sequel to The End of America . The book looks at times and places in history where citizens faced the closing of an open society and successfully fought back. Vagina: A New Biography

357-459: A "mothers' manifesto", including flexi-time for both parents, neighborhood toy banks, and a radical mothers' movement. In her New York Times review, Claire Dederer wrote that Wolf "barely pauses to acknowledge that Caesareans are, at times, a necessary and even lifesaving intervention" and that she does "her best writing when she's observing her own life" as a memoirist, calling Wolf's work in this idiom not "self-indulgent. It seems vital, and in

476-901: A "narrow agenda" where "you will look in vain for much discussion of older women, of black women, of women with low incomes, of mothers." Calling Wolf a "media star", Walter wrote: "She is particularly good, naturally, on the role of women in the media." Promiscuities (1997) reports on and analyzes the shifting patterns of contemporary adolescent sexuality. Wolf argues that literature is rife with examples of male coming-of-age stories, covered autobiographically by D. H. Lawrence , Tobias Wolff , J. D. Salinger , and Ernest Hemingway , and misogynistically by Henry Miller , Philip Roth and Norman Mailer , while female accounts of adolescent sexuality have been systematically suppressed. Schools, in Wolf's opinion, should teach their students "sexual gradualism", masturbation, mutual masturbation and oral sex, which she sees as

595-691: A 'genderquake' that turned American women into 'the political ruling class'—seems grossly exaggerated." Melissa Benn in the London Review of Books called the book Wolf's "call for a realpolitik in which 'sisterhood and capital' might be allies". Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times assailed Fire with Fire for its "dubious oversimplifications and highly debatable assertions" and its "disconcerting penchant for inflationary prose", but approved of Wolf's "efforts to articulate an accessible, pragmatic feminism, …helping to replace strident dogma with common sense." Time magazine reviewer Martha Duffy dismissed

714-439: A 2014 study shows that using Laurie Halse Anderson 's novel Speak aided in discussions on consent and complicity. Those who read about tough situations like date rape are more emotionally prepared to handle the situation if it arises. It is important to use diverse literature in the classroom, especially in discussing taboo topics, to avoid excluding minority students. Literature written for young adults can also be used as

833-700: A 2018 conference of educators found that the most frequently taught YA texts in America from 2013 to 2018, ordered from most to least taught, were Speak , The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , The Giver , The Outsiders , The House on Mango Street , American Born Chinese , Monster , The Book Thief , Persepolis , and The Perks of Being a Wallflower . Many young adult novels feature coming-of-age stories. These feature adolescents beginning to transform into adults, working through personal problems, and learning to take responsibility for their actions. YA serves many literary purposes. It provides

952-585: A brother, Aaron, and a half-brother, Julius, from her father's earlier relationship; it remained a secret until Wolf was in her 30s. Wolf attended Lowell High School and debated in regional speech tournaments as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society . She attended Yale University , receiving her Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1984. From 1985 to 1987, she was a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford . Wolf's initial period at Oxford University

1071-485: A consensus on a definition". Victor Malo-Juvera, Crag Hill, in "The Young Adult Canon : A Literary Solar System" note that in 2019 there was no consensus on a definition of young adult literature and list a number of definitions, including: Librarians first defined this new category of fiction, in particular librarians from the New York Public Library . The NYPL's first annual Books for Young People list

1190-532: A designated demographic in most respects until around World War II, due in part to advances in psychology and sociological changes, like the abolishment of child labor". With this development came the marketing of "clothes, music, films, radio programs, and ... the novel" for young adults. All the same Sarah Trimmer in 1802 recognized young adults as a distinct age group describing "young adulthood" as lasting from ages 14 to 21. In her children's literature periodical, The Guardian of Education , Trimmer introduced

1309-744: A fringe character" despite the fact that she had "once informed my own feminism so deeply." In Fire with Fire (1993), Wolf wrote about politics, female empowerment, and women's sexual liberation. She wished to persuade women to reject " victim feminism " in favor of "power feminism". She argued for diminishing the issue of opposing men, avoiding divisive issues such as abortion and the rights of lesbians, and considering more universal issues like violence against women, pay disparities and sexual harassment. Mary Nemeth wrote in Maclean's that her "central thesis—that when Anita Hill in 1991 accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment she provoked

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1428-547: A genre". In 1942, Seventeenth Summer – called by some the first young adult novel – by 17 years old Maureen Daly, was published. Its themes were especially relevant to teenagers, underaged drinking, driving, dating, and angst. Another early example is the Heinlein juveniles , which were science fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line, beginning with Rocket Ship Galileo in 1947. Scribner's published eleven more between 1947 and 1958, but

1547-629: A highly mediated form of narcissism devoid of any actual brain/politics connection." In The New York Review of Books , Zoë Heller wrote that the book "offers an unusually clear insight into the workings of her mystic feminist philosophy", that the part of the book about the history of the vagina's representation is "full of childlike generalizations", and that Wolf's understanding of science "is pretty shaky too". In an interview with The New York Times , Wolf rejected claims that she had written more freely than her sources could sustain. In The New York Observer , Nina Burleigh suggested that critics of

1666-622: A lack of books with a main character who is a person of color , LGBT , or disabled . In the UK 90% of the best-selling YA titles from 2006 to 2016 featured white, able-bodied, cis-gendered, and heterosexual main characters. The numbers of children's book authors have shown a similar lack of diversity. Between 2006 and 2016, eight percent of all young adult authors published in the UK were people of color. Some consider diversity beneficial since it encourages children of diverse backgrounds to read and it teaches children of all backgrounds an accurate view of

1785-410: A more credible approach than total abstinence and without the risks of full intercourse. Wolf uses cross-cultural material to try to demonstrate that women have, across history, been celebrated as more carnal than men. She also argues that women must reclaim the legitimacy of their sexuality by shattering the polarization of women between virgin and whore . Partly an account of her own sexual history,

1904-708: A nation-state. The book details how this pattern was implemented in Nazi Germany , Fascist Italy , and elsewhere, and analyzes its emergence and application of all 10 steps in American political affairs since the September 11 attacks . Alex Beam wrote in the International Herald Tribune (reprinted in The New York Times ): "In the book, Wolf insists that she is not equating [George W.] Bush with Hitler, nor

2023-431: A party organized to celebrate Wolf's publishing deal for this book, the male host invited guests to make pasta pieces shaped like vulvas. Wolf came to view this as mocking, and recounted feeling pressured to remain silent as the butt of a joke, something she said women often feel pressured to do. She said the incident resulted in her having writer's block for the next six months. Wolf's book Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and

2142-433: A phenomenon, a work has to "conform to the standards [...] set by the mass media and promoted by the culture industry in general." Zipes complains of similarities between Harry Potter and other well known heroes. Professor Chris Crowe argues that criticism of young adult fiction arises from the fear that the genre will replace classic works. He also suggests that because there is much poorly written young adult fiction, and

2261-405: A pleasurable reading experience for young people, emphasizing real-life experiences and problems in easier-to-grasp ways, and depicts societal functions. An analysis of YA novels between 1980 and 2000 found seventeen expansive literary themes. The most common of these were friendship, getting into trouble, romantic and sexual interest, and family life. Other common thematic elements revolve around

2380-495: A pre-eminent role for speculative fiction in the field, a trend further solidified by The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The end of the decade saw a number of awards appear such as the Michael L. Printz Award and Alex Awards , designed to recognize excellence in writing for young adult audiences. Philip Pullman 's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials , published between 1995 and 2000, added another controversial topic to

2499-471: A relaxation of conventional beauty norms. In her introduction, she scaffolds her work upon the achievements of second-wave feminists and offers the following analysis: The more legal and material hindrances women have broken through, the more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to weigh upon us ... [D]uring the past decade, women breached the power structure; meanwhile, eating disorders rose exponentially and cosmetic surgery became

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2618-451: A sense radical, in the tradition of 1970's feminists who sought to speak to every aspect of women's lives." Wolf's The Treehouse: Eccentric Wisdom from My Father on How to Live, Love, and See is an account of her midlife crisis. She revalues her father's love, and his role as an artist and a teacher during a year living in a house in upstate New York. In a promotional interview with The Herald (Glasgow), Wolf related her experience of

2737-573: A stepping stone to canonical works that are traditionally read in classrooms, and required by many school curriculums . In Building a Culture of Readers: YA Literature and the Canon by Kara Lycke, Lycke suggests pairing young adult literature and canon works to prepare young adults to understand the classic literature they will encounter. YA can provide familiar and less alienating examples of similar concepts than those in classic literature. Suggested pairings include Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series with

2856-420: A vision of Jesus : "just this figure who was the most perfected human being – full of light and full of love. …There was light coming out of him holographically, simply because he was unclouded." In The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot , Wolf takes a historical look at the rise of fascism, outlining 10 steps necessary for a fascist group or government to destroy the democratic character of

2975-483: A woman's genitals. Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum wrote: "By asserting that what's between a woman's ears is directly informed by what's between her legs—'the vagina mediates female confidence, creativity and sense of transcendence,' Wolf writes—it acts as a perverse echo of Republican efforts to limit reproductive rights." In the book, according to Suzanne Moore in The Guardian , "feminism becomes simply

3094-560: A year, according to the book Morris wrote about the campaign, Behind the Oval Office . Wolf managed to "persuade me to pursue school uniforms, tax breaks for adoption, simpler cross-racial adoption laws and more workplace flexibility." The advice she gave was without payment, Morris said in November 1999, as Wolf was fearful the knowledge of her involvement in the campaign might have negative consequences for Clinton. During Al Gore 's bid for

3213-523: A young boy's adventures on the Mississippi in the nineteenth century". The same description can be applied to its sequel, Huckleberry Finn . Huck is 12 or 13. According to journalist Erin Blakemore, "Though young adult literature had existed since at least Laura Ingalls Wilder 's Little House series , which was published in the 1930s, teachers and librarians were slow to accept books for adolescents as

3332-542: Is "excellently accommodated to the fancies of old or young". A number of works by eighteenth and nineteenth-century authors, though not written specifically for young readers, have appealed to them. Novels by Daniel Defoe , Jonathan Swift , Jane Austen , Walter Scott , Charles Dickens , Lewis Carroll , Robert Louis Stevenson , Mark Twain , Francis Hodgson Burnett , and Edith Nesbit . Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll , published in 1865 and one of

3451-447: Is a well-known example of the YA problem novel. Following its publication, problem novels became popular during the 1970s. Librarian Sheila Egoff described three reasons why problem novels resonate with adolescents: A classic example of a problem novel, and one that defined the sub-genre, is Go Ask Alice anonymously published by Beatrice Sparks in 1971. Go Ask Alice is written as

3570-557: Is difficult. A Wrinkle in Time , written by Madeleine L'Engle in 1960, received over twenty-six rejections before publication in 1962, because it was, in L'Engle's words, "too different," and "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil , and it was really difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adults' book, anyhow?" In 1957 the Young Adult Library Services Association – initially called

3689-496: Is eliciting could be a hopeful sign of a new surge of feminist consciousness." Camille Paglia , whose Sexual Personae was published the same year as The Beauty Myth , derided Wolf as unable to perform "historical analysis" and called her education "completely removed from reality". These comments touched off a series of debates between Wolf and Paglia in the pages of The New Republic . Caryn James wrote in The New York Times : No other work has so forcefully confronted

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3808-428: Is entirely socially constructed , and that the patriarchy determines the content of that construction with the objective to maintain women's subjugation. Wolf proposes the concept of an "iron maiden", an intrinsically unreachable norm that is then used to physically and mentally punish women for failing to achieve and adhere to it. She condemns the fashion and beauty industries for exploiting women, but also writes that

3927-426: Is in a supportive role and the president is in an initiatory role…I used those terms as shorthand in talking about the difference in their job descriptions". Wolf told Katharine Viner of The Guardian in 2001: "I believe his agenda for women was a really historic agenda. I was honored to bring the concerns of women to Gore's table. I'm sorry that he didn't win and the controversy was worth it for me." She told Viner

4046-567: Is inside". YA has been integrated into classrooms to increase student interest in reading. Studies have shown that YA can be beneficial in classroom settings. YA fiction is written for adolescents and some believe it to be more relevant to students' social and emotional needs instead of classic literature . Use of YA in classrooms is linked to: Students who read YA are more likely to appreciate literature and have stronger reading skills than others. YA also allows teachers to talk about " taboo " or difficult topics with their students. For example,

4165-542: Is loosely based on the books and does not follow the same story line. Some key characters from the books, such as Aaron Rose or the Lord, are introduced into the show with different storylines, and some characters undergo changes to their personality and characteristics. For example, Serena's older brother in the books, Erik van der Woodsen, is two years younger than her instead of older, and the characters of Serena, Blair, Chuck and Nate have been best friends since childhood compared to

4284-424: Is often labelled "children's literature", Garner himself rejects such a description. Critic Neil Philip, commenting on Garner's early novels, notes that "It may be that Garner's is a case" where the division between children's and adults' literature is "meaningless". Judy Blume author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (1970), has significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature. She

4403-562: Is so lame, her evidence so easily knocked down." Marilyn Yalom in The Washington Post called the book "persuasive" and praised its "accumulated evidence". Revisiting The Beauty Myth in 2019 for The New Republic , literary critic Maris Kreizman recalls that reading it as an undergraduate made her "world burst open", but as she matured, Kreizman saw Wolf's books as "poorly argued tracts" with Wolf making "wilder and wilder assertions" over time. Kreizman "began to write [Wolf] off as

4522-473: Is sometimes targeted by critics for religious reasons, including religious debates over the Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials . Criticism has also been leveled at young adult fiction authors for alleged insensitivity to marginalized communities or cultural appropriation . English language young adult fiction and children's literature in general have historically shown

4641-414: Is usually seen as originating in the 19th century, though there were precursors in the 18th century, like Amelia by Henry Fielding (1751), and Caleb Williams (1794) by William Godwin . They are typically a type of realistic fiction that characteristically depict, in the YA version of this genre, issues such as poverty , drugs , and pregnancy. Published in 1967, S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders

4760-968: The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan , The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins , and Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney . Examples of young adult novels and novel series include the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare . Middle grade novels are usually shorter, and are significantly less mature and complex in theme and content than YA. YA novels are for ages 12–18, and tackle more mature and adult themes and content than middle grade novels. The latter usually feature protagonists between

4879-553: The Gossip Girl series as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers in 2003. In 2008, it was also named Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults. Despite the above, the Gossip Girl series has frequently been the center of controversy due to homosexuality, offensive language, drugs, being sexually explicit, and being unsuited to age group. The series appears on the American Library Association's list of

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4998-676: The Iliad or the Odyssey , or Stephenie Meyer 's Twilight with Wuthering Heights . When discussing identity, Lycke suggests pairing Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter with Sherman Alexie 's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian . The trend to include same-sex relationships and transgender characters in young adult fiction has caused considerable controversy. Conservative activists and religious groups have also criticized young adult fiction for violence, explicit sexual content, obscene language, and suicide. Speculative young adult fiction

5117-678: The Occupy Wall Street movement in articles for media outlets such as The Nation , The New Republic , The Guardian , and The Huffington Post . Since around 2014, Wolf has been described by journalists and media outlets as a conspiracy theorist . She has been criticized for posting misinformation on topics such as beheadings carried out by ISIS , the Western African Ebola virus epidemic , and Edward Snowden . Wolf has objected to COVID-19 lockdowns and criticized COVID-19 vaccines . In June 2021, her Twitter account

5236-510: The Time article was unclear; she declined to be interviewed on the record. In a New York Times interview with Melinda Henneberger, Wolf said she had been appointed in January 1999 and denied having advised Gore on his wardrobe. Wolf said she had mentioned the term "alpha male" only once in passing and that it "was just a truism, something the pundits had been saying for months, that the vice president

5355-442: The ultrasound technician who gives her the first glimpse of her new baby. Wolf laments her C-section and examines why the procedure is common in the U.S., advocating a return to midwifery. The book's second half is anecdotal, focusing on inequalities between parents with respect to child care. In the section describing being on the operating table having a Caesarean, Wolf compares herself to Jesus at his crucifixion . She outlines

5474-465: The 1990s, Wolf was a political advisor to the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Al Gore . Wolf's later books include the bestseller The End of America in 2007 and Vagina: A New Biography . Critics have challenged the quality and accuracy of her books' scholarship; her serious misreading of court records for Outrages (2019) led to its U.S. publication being canceled. Wolf's career in journalism has included topics such as abortion and

5593-546: The Criminalization of Love was based on the 2015 doctoral thesis she completed under the supervision of literary scholar Stefano-Maria Evangelista, a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford . It studies the repression of homosexuality in relation to attitudes toward divorce and prostitution, and also in relation to the censorship of books. Outrages was published in the UK in May 2019 by Virago Press . On June 12, 2019, Outrages

5712-488: The Gossip Girl.'" The television adaptation of the novel series, also titled Gossip Girl , was picked up by The CW. Josh Schwartz , the creator of The O.C. , is executive producer for the project. In the show, Blake Lively plays Serena, Leighton Meester plays Blair, Chace Crawford plays Nate, Penn Badgley plays Dan, Ed Westwick plays Chuck, Taylor Momsen plays Jenny and Jessica Szohr plays Vanessa. The show

5831-487: The Philosopher's Stone , was published in 1997. Originally marketed in the UK under the broad category of children's literature, the books received attention and praise for their increasingly mature and sophisticated nature, eventually garnering a significant audience of adult readers. This phenomenon led many to see Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling as responsible for a resurgence of young adult literature. It also established

5950-460: The Rings (1954-5) by J. R. R. Tolkien are highly successful fantasy novels, which are read to young children and read by both children and adults They are found in the teen or young adult section of American public and school libraries. However, Lord of the Rings is generally not on the curriculum of high schools. This is because the paperback version can run to almost 1200 pages and the vocabulary

6069-522: The United States with Nazi Germany, then proceeds to do just that." A month before the 2008 presidential election , she announced her intention to propose means to arrest Bush. "Americans are facing a coup, as of this morning, October 1st", she said in a radio interview. Several years later in 2013, Mark Nuckols argued in The Atlantic that Wolf's supposed historical parallels between incidents from

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6188-527: The Upper East Side. As of October 2009, four novels have been released in this series. Ziegesar created a spin-off series, The It Girl , which began publication in 2005, and Yen Press has adapted the series into a manga series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only . The novel that started the series, Gossip Girl, was published in paperback format in April 2002. Two new novels were released annually until

6307-573: The Young Adult Services Division following a reorganization of the American Library Association – had been created. YALSA evaluates and selects materials for young adults, with the most active YASLA committee being the book selection committee. Michael Cart argues that the 1960s was the decade when literature for adolescents "could be said to have come into its own". A significant early example of young adult fiction

6426-469: The academy and sort of embraced the idea that all gender is socially constructed and so here is a book that is actually looking at science…though there has been some criticisms of the book from some feminists…who say, "well you can't look at the science because that means we have to grapple with the science"…to me the feminist task of creating a just world isn't changed at all by this fascinating neuroscience that shows some differences between men and women. At

6545-599: The ages of 10 and 13, whereas young adult novels usually feature protagonists from 14 to 18. New adult (NA) fiction is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–29 age bracket. St. Martin's Press first coined the term in 2009, when they held a special call for "fiction similar to young adult fiction (YA) that can be published and marketed as adult—a sort of an 'older YA' or 'new adult ' ". New adult fiction tends to focus on issues such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education and career choices. The genre has gained popularity rapidly over

6664-485: The anti-feminism that emerged during the conservative, yuppified 1980's, or so honestly depicted the confusion of accomplished women who feel emotionally and physically tortured by the need to look like movie stars. Even by the standards of pop-cultural feminist studies, The Beauty Myth is a mess, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. James also wrote that the book's "claims of an intensified anti-feminism are plausible, but Ms. Wolf doesn't begin to prove them because her logic

6783-407: The basic premise of A Wizard of Earthsea , that of a talented boy going to a wizard's school and making an enemy with whom he has a close connection, is also the premise of Harry Potter . As publishers began to focus on the emerging adolescent market, more booksellers and libraries began creating young adult sections distinct from children's literature and novels written for adults. The 1970s to

6902-407: The basis of her first book, The Beauty Myth . Wolf ultimately returned to Oxford, completing her Doctor of Philosophy degree in English literature in 2015. Her thesis, supervised by Stefano Evangelista of Trinity College , formed the basis of her 2019 book Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love . The thesis (which the journal Times Higher Education called "error-strewn")

7021-464: The beauty myth pervades all aspects of human life. Wolf believes that women should have "the freedom to do anything we choose with our faces and bodies without being penalized by an ideology that uses attitudes, economic pressure, and even legal judgments about women's looks to psychologically and politically destroy us." She claims that the "beauty myth" has targeted women in five areas: labor, religion, sex, violence, and hunger. Finally, Wolf advocates for

7140-453: The best-known works of Victorian literature , has had widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. It is credited as helping end an era of didacticism in children's literature , inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain". The tale has had a lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. A shortened version for young children, The Nursery "Alice"

7259-401: The book a "calumny against gay people" in the 19th century and said that Wolf "presents child rapists and those taking part in acts of bestiality as being gay men in consensual relationships and that is completely wrong". The Daily Telegraph reported that there had been calls for Wolf's 2015 DPhil to be reexamined, and for Virago to withdraw the book. In a statement to The Guardian , Wolf said

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7378-642: The book as "flawed", but wrote that Wolf was "an engaging raconteur" who was also "savvy about the role of TV—especially the Thomas-Hill hearings and daytime talk shows—in radicalizing women, including homemakers", characterizing the book as advocating an inclusive strain of feminism that welcomed abortion opponents. Feminist author Natasha Walter wrote in The Independent that the book "has its faults, but compared with The Beauty Myth it has energy and spirit, and generosity too." But Walter criticized it for having

7497-500: The book had been reviewed "by leading scholars in the field" and "it is clear that I have accurately represented the position". Oxford University stated that a "statement of clarification" to Wolf's thesis had been received and approved, and would be "available for consultation in the Bodleian Library in due course". In March 2021, Times Higher Education reported that Wolf's original thesis remained unavailable six years after it

7616-547: The book urges women to "redeem the slut in ourselves and rejoice in being bad girls". Promiscuities generally received negative reviews. In The New York Times , Kakutani wrote that Wolf is "a frustratingly inept messenger: a sloppy thinker and incompetent writer" who "tries in vain to pass off tired observations as radical aperçus , subjective musings as generational truths, sappy suggestions as useful ideas". Of Wolf's claims about accounts of female sexuality being suppressed, Kakutani wrote: "Where has Ms. Wolf been? What about

7735-446: The book were so vehement "because (a) their editors handed the book to them for review because they thought it was an Important Feminist Book when it's actually slight and (b) there's a grain of truth in what she's trying to say." In response to the criticism, Wolf said in a television interview: Anything that shows documentation of the brain and vagina connection is going to alarm some feminists…also feminism has kind of retreated into

7854-575: The books "corruption with a cute overlay." Wolf also claims that "sex saturates the Gossip Girl books.... This is not the frank sexual exploration found in a Judy Blume novel, but teenage sexuality via Juicy Couture , blasé and entirely commodified ." Pam Spencer Holley, former YALSA President with the American Library Association (ALA), presents a different point of view, claiming simply to be "happy to see teen girls reading." Confident that young girls will move onto more respected literature, Holley points out, "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not

7973-444: The coming-of-age nature of the texts. This includes narratives about self-identity, life and death, and individuality. Some of the most common YA genres are contemporary fiction, fantasy , science fiction , historical fiction , and romance . Hybrid genres are also common in YA. The social problem novel or problem novel is a sub-genre of literature focusing and commenting on overarching social problems. This type of novel

8092-464: The complex wildlife of female sexuality and desire." In contrast, The Library Journal excoriated the book, writing, "Overgeneralization abounds as she attempts to apply the microcosmic events of this mostly white, middle-class, liberal milieu to a whole generation. …There is a desperate defensiveness in the tone of this book which diminishes the force of her argument." "I feel absolutely staggered by what I discovered after giving birth", Wolf said at

8211-724: The convict was pardoned or the sentence was commuted. He cited a website for the Old Bailey Criminal Court, which Wolf had referred to in the interview as one of her sources. Reviewers have described other errors of scholarship in the work. At the Hay Festival in Wales in May 2019, a few days after her exchange with Sweet, Wolf defended her book and said she had already corrected the error. At an event in Manhattan in June, she said she

8330-569: The diary of a young girl, who, to cope with her many problems, experiments with drugs. More recent examples include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson , Crank by Ellen Hopkins , and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky . The boundary between books for children and adult literature is flexible and loosely defined and in particular "the young have always been efficient [plunderers] of stories from all sources, and have carried off such literary booty as pleased them". This boundary has been policed by adults and has "alternated between

8449-450: The eponymous gossip blogger . The novel series is based on the author's experiences at Nightingale-Bamford School and on what she heard from friends. The first novel, Gossip Girl , was released in April 2002; the eleventh novel of the series was released in May 2007, with a prequel novel following in October 2007. Another follow-up novel, in which the characters return home from college for

8568-544: The era of the European dictators and modern America are based on a highly selective reading in which Wolf omits significant details and misuses her sources. In The Daily Beast , Michael C. Moynihan called the book "an astoundingly lazy piece of writing." The End of America was adapted for the screen as a documentary by filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, best known for The Devil Came on Horseback and The Trials of Darryl Hunt . It premiered in October 2008, and

8687-532: The estimate that 150,000 women were dying every year from anorexia . Sommers said she traced the source to the American Anorexia and Bulimia Association, which said it was misquoted; the figure refers to sufferers, not fatalities. Wolf's citation came from a book by Brumberg, who referred to an American Anorexia and Bulimia Association newsletter and misquoted the newsletter. Wolf acknowledged the error and changed it in future editions. Sommers gave an estimate for

8806-544: The fastest-growing specialty ... [P]ornography became the main media category, ahead of legitimate films and records combined, and thirty-three thousand American women told researchers that they would rather lose ten to fifteen pounds than achieve any other goal ... More women have more money and power and scope and legal recognition than we have ever had before; but in terms of how we feel about ourselves physically, we may actually be worse off than our unliberated grandmothers. Christina Hoff Sommers criticized Wolf for publishing

8925-709: The field by attacking established religion, especially Roman Catholicism . Northern Lights , the first volume in the trilogy, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. Pullman has written other YA fiction, including the Sally Lockhart series (1985–94), as well as books for younger children. The category of young adult fiction continues to expand into other media and genres: graphic novels / manga , light novels , fantasy , mystery fiction , romance novels , and even subcategories such as cyberpunk , techno-thrillers , and contemporary Christian fiction . A survey of attendees at

9044-408: The final novel, Don't You Forget About Me , was released in May 2007, showing the main characters graduating from high school and moving on to college and other pursuits. A prequel novel, It Had To Be You , was released in October 2007 in hardcover and electronic book format. It detailed the events that occurred a year before the first novel. A box set containing the eleven novels of the series and

9163-525: The genre's recent development, it has difficulty in establishing its value in relation to the classics of literature. Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist . After the 1991 publication of her first book, The Beauty Myth , Wolf became a prominent figure in the third wave of the feminist movement . Feminists including Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan praised her work. Others, including Camille Paglia , criticized it. In

9282-528: The holidays, was released in hardback format in November 2009. The original novel became the inspiration for the Gossip Girl teen drama television series, created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage , which premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007. There are now 13 novels. In May 2008, a follow-up series, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles , began publication, following the Carlyle triplets as they begin moving to

9401-449: The importance of British fantasy writer Alan Garner . According to Pullman Garner "is indisputably the great originator, the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkien , and in many respects better than Tolkien". Similarly Ursula le Guin in a review praising Garner's novel Red Shift , argues that "Some of the most interesting English novels of recent years have been published as children's books". Although Garner's early work

9520-457: The incorrect references to the execution of men for sodomy included in the hardback edition. Interviewed about the new edition, Sweet said that the book continues to misread historical sources: "Dr Wolf has misrepresented the experiences of victims of child abuse and violent sexual assault. This is the most profound offence against her discipline, as well as the memories of real people on the historical record". Cultural historian Fern Riddell called

9639-542: The last few years, particularly through books by self-published bestselling authors such as Jennifer L. Armentrout , Cora Carmack, Colleen Hoover , Anna Todd , and Jamie McGuire . The genre originally faced criticism, as some viewed it as a marketing scheme, while others claimed the readership was not there to publish the material. In contrast, others claimed the term was necessary; a publicist for HarperCollins described it as "a convenient label because it allows parents and bookstores and interested readers to know what

9758-500: The late 1960's, in reference to realistic fiction that was set in the real (as opposed to imagined), contemporary world and addressed problems, issues, and life circumstances of interest to young readers aged approximately 12–18". However, "The term 'young adult literature' is inherently amorphous, for its constituent terms “young adult” and “literature” are dynamic, changing as culture and society — which provide their context — change", and "even those who study and teach it have not reached

9877-553: The late 1960s and early 1970s, five other very popular books were published: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), an autobiography of the early years of American poet Maya Angelou ; The Friends (1973) by Rosa Guy ; the semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar (US 1963, under a pseudonym; UK 1967) by poet Sylvia Plath ; Bless the Beasts and Children (1970) by Glendon Swarthout ; and Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White , which

9996-422: The lives of adolescents. Particularly noteworthy was S. E. Hinton 's " The Outsiders ". French historian Philippe Ariès argues, in his 1962 book Centuries of Childhood , that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times. He argues that children were in the past not considered as greatly different from adults and were not given significantly different treatment. Furthermore, "Teenagers weren't

10115-451: The manuscript more than two years later. A number of novels by Robert Louis Stevenson were first published in serial form, in a weekly children's literary magazine Young Folks , including Treasure Island , Kidnapped , and The Black Arrow . This magazine was for boys and girls of an older age than many of its contemporaries. Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer is described by publisher Simon & Schuster as "The classic tale of

10234-460: The men in Gore's campaign, at the equivalent level, were paid more than she was. In 1991, Wolf gained international attention as a spokeswoman of third-wave feminism after the publication of her first book, The Beauty Myth , an international bestseller. The New York Times named it "one of the seventy most influential books of the twentieth century". She argues that "beauty" as a normative value

10353-527: The mid-1980s have been described as the golden age of young-adult fiction, when challenging novels began speaking directly to the interests of the identified adolescent market. In the 1980s, young adult literature began pushing the envelope in terms of the subject matter that was considered appropriate for their audience: Books dealing with topics such as rape , suicide , parental death, and murder which had previously been deemed taboo, saw significant critical and commercial success. A flip-side of this trend

10472-519: The most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." She went on to say, "Nobody complains about the adult women who read Harlequin romances." Holley created a new ALA book list to encourage teens to consult a list of recommendations for "both avid and reluctant readers, who are looking for books like Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl series. 'The books on this list are perfect for when your readers have finished with every Gossip Girl title in your library and are clamoring for another book like

10591-413: The novel series where the story's main friendship was only between Serena, Blair and Nate; with Chuck not being one of the main characters. In 2021 the show got a soft reboot with the series by the same name . Young adult fiction The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. The designation of young adult literature was originally developed by librarians to help teenagers make

10710-547: The number of fatalities in 1990 as 100–400. The annual anorexia casualties in the U.S. were estimated to be around 50 to 60 per year in the mid-1990s. In 1995, for an article in The Independent on Sunday , British journalist Joan Smith recalled asking Wolf to explain her unsourced assertion in The Beauty Myth that the UK "has 3.5 million anorexics or bulimics (95 per cent of them female), with 6,000 new cases yearly". Wolf replied, according to Smith, that she had calculated

10829-399: The one hundred most banned and challenged books from 2000 to 2009, and 2010 to 2019 (56). The series also appeared in the top ten list in 2006 (2), 2008 (7) and 2011 (9). The criticism of the Gossip Girl series primarily revolves around whether the events depicted in the story are appropriate for the teenage audience the books attract. American author and feminist Naomi Wolf in 2006 called

10948-467: The prequel novel, in paperback format, was released November 1, 2009. Two days later, a sequel novel, I Will Always Love You was released. The hardcover book tells the story of the main characters returning home from college for the holidays. Hachette Group re-released all of the original novels in electronic book format between 2008 and 2009. Books nine, ten and eleven of the main series were ghostwritten . In December 2009, Yen Press announced that it

11067-479: The presidency in the 2000 election , Wolf was hired as a consultant. Her ideas and participation in the campaign generated considerable media coverage. According to a report by Michael Duffy and Karen Tumulty in Time , Wolf was paid a salary of $ 15,000 (by November 1999, $ 5,000) per month "in exchange for advice on everything from how to win the women's vote to shirt-and-tie combinations." Wolf's direct involvement in

11186-489: The raunchy confessions that surface daily on radio and television talk shows? What about all the memoirists—from Anais Nin to Kathryn Harrison?" Two days earlier in the Times , Weaver Courtney praised the book: "Anyone—particularly anyone who, like Ms. Wolf, was born in the 1960s—will have a very hard time putting down Promiscuities . Told through a series of confessions, her book is a searing and thoroughly fascinating exploration of

11305-430: The rigid and the permeable depending on the political and cultural climate". At the lower end of the age spectrum, fiction targeted to readers aged 8–12 is referred to as middle grade fiction . Some novels originally marketed to adults are of interest and value to adolescents, and vice versa, as in the case of books such as the Harry Potter series of novels. Some examples of middle grade novels and novel series include

11424-565: The statistics from patients with eating disorders at one clinic. Caspar Schoemaker of the Netherlands Trimbos Institute published a paper in the academic journal Eating Disorders demonstrating that of the 23 statistics cited by Wolf in Beauty Myth , 18 were incorrect, with Wolf citing numbers that average out to 8 times the number in the source she was citing. Second-wave feminist Germaine Greer wrote that The Beauty Myth

11543-1001: The terms "Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one), establishing terms of reference for young adult literature that still remain in use. "At the beginning of the eighteenth century", according to M. O. Grenby: very few ... enjoyable books for children ... existed. Children read, certainly, but the books that they probably enjoyed reading (or hearing) most, were not designed especially for them. Fables were available, and fairy stories, lengthy chivalric romances , and short, affordable pamphlet tales and ballads called chapbooks , but these were published for children and adults alike. Take Nathaniel Crouch 's Winter-Evenings Entertainments (1687). It contains riddles , pictures, and 'pleasant and delightful relations of many rare and notable accidents and occurrences' which has suggested to some that it should be thought of as an early children's book. However, its title-page insists that it

11662-539: The thirteenth, Starship Troopers , was instead published by Putnam . The intended market was teenaged boys. A fourteenth novel, Podkayne of Mars (1963), featured a teenaged girl as the protagonist. In the 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) attracted the attention of the adolescent readers although it was written for adults. The themes of adolescent angst and alienation in the novel have become synonymous with young adult literature. The Hobbit (1937) and Lord of

11781-527: The time Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood was published. "Birth today is like agribusiness. It's like a chicken plant: they go in, they go out", she told Katharine Viner. "Pregnancy, birth and motherhood" has "made me a more radical feminist than I have ever been." The book draws heavily on Wolf's experience of her first pregnancy. She describes the "vacuous impassivity" of

11900-407: The transition between children's literature and adult literature, following the recognition, around World War II , of teenagers as a distinct group of young people. While the genre is targeted at adolescents, a 2012 study found that 55% of young adult literature purchases were made by adults. Author and academic Michael Cart states that the term young adult literature "first found common usage in

12019-519: The world around them. In the mid-2010s, more attention was drawn to diversity from various quarters. In the several years following, diversity numbers seem to have increased: One survey showed that in 2017, a quarter of children's books were about minority protagonists, almost a 10% increase from 2016. Jack Zipes , a professor of German and literature, has criticized the standardized nature of young adult fiction in Western society. He writes that to become

12138-513: Was "the most important feminist publication since The Female Eunuch " (Greer's own work), and Gloria Steinem wrote, " The Beauty Myth is a smart, angry, insightful book, and a clarion call to freedom. Every woman should read it." British novelist Fay Weldon called the book "essential reading for the New Woman". Betty Friedan wrote in Allure magazine that " The Beauty Myth and the controversy it

12257-417: Was S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders (1967). The novel features a truer, darker side of adolescent life that was not often represented in works of fiction of the time. Written during high school and written when Hinton was only 16, The Outsiders also lacked the nostalgic tone common in books about adolescents written by adults. The Outsiders remains one of the best-selling young adult novels of all time. In

12376-402: Was a strong revived interest in the romance novel, including young adult romance . With an increase in number of adolescents, the genre "matured, blossomed, and came into its own, with the better written, more serious, and more varied young adult books (than those) published during the last two decades". The first novel in J.K. Rowling 's seven-book Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and

12495-490: Was awarded 1973 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery by the Mystery Writers of America . The works of Angelou and Plath were published as adult works but The Bell Jar deals with a nineteen year old's "teenage angst," and Angelou's autobiography is one of the ten books most frequently banned from high school and junior high school libraries and classrooms. Authors Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman have both argued for

12614-426: Was difficult, as she experienced "raw sexism, overt snobbery and casual antisemitism". Her writing became so personal and subjective that her tutor advised against submitting her doctoral thesis. Wolf told interviewer Rachel Cooke , writing for The Observer , in 2019: "My subject didn't exist. I wanted to write feminist theory, and I kept being told by the dons there was no such thing." Her writing at this time formed

12733-450: Was examined. Oxford doctoral graduates can request an embargo of up to three years, with the potential for renewal. The thesis finally became available in April 2021, with nine pages of corrections attached dealing with the misreading of historic criminal records. Wolf had submitted the thesis to the archive in December 2020, more than five years after her DPhil was awarded, and had requested

12852-712: Was favorably reviewed in The New York Times by Stephen Holden and by Variety magazine. Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times saw aspects of it positively, but "what isn't plausible or reality-related is the conclusion itself. At the door of the Third Reich, Wolf's credibility collapses." Moynihan called it "an even dumber documentary film" than the "dumb book". Interviewed by Alternet in 2010, Wolf compared some of President Barack Obama 's actions to those of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as typical of dictatorships. Wolf returned to her The End of America theme in

12971-1126: Was much criticized, especially by feminist authors. Katie Roiphe called it "ludicrous" in Slate : "I doubt the most brilliant novelist in the world could have created a more skewering satire of Naomi Wolf's career than her latest book." In The Nation , Katha Pollitt called it a "silly book" containing "much dubious neuroscience and much foolishness." It becomes "loopier as it goes on. We learn that women think and feel through their vagina, which can 'grieve' and feel insulted." Toni Bentley wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Wolf used "shoddy research methodology", while with "her graceless writing, Wolf opens herself to ridicule on virtually every page." Janice Turner in The Times wrote that since Mary Wollstonecraft , female "writers have argued that women should not be defined by biology", yet "Wolf, our self-styled leader, has declared that female consciousness, creativity and destiny all come back" to

13090-445: Was named on the O, The Oprah Magazine ' s "The 32 Best Books by Women of Summer 2019" list. The next day, the U.S. publisher recalled all copies from U.S. bookstores. In a 2019 BBC radio interview, broadcaster and author Matthew Sweet identified an error in a central tenet of the book: a misunderstanding of the legal term " death recorded ", which Wolf had taken to mean that the convict had been executed but in fact means that

13209-471: Was not embarrassed and felt grateful to Sweet for the correction. On October 18, 2019, it became known that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 's release of the book in the U.S. was being canceled, with copies already printed and distributed being pulled and pulped. Wolf expressed hope that the book would still be published in the U.S. In November 2020, Virago published a UK paperback edition of the book that removed

13328-481: Was one of the first young adult authors to write novels focused on such controversial topics as masturbation , menstruation , teen sex , birth control , and death . Ursula le Guin 's A Wizard of Earthsea , published in 1968, had a significant influence on YA fantasy fiction. It won or contributed to several notable awards for le Guin, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969, and

13447-687: Was one of the last winners of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award . With regard to the Earthsea series Barbara Bucknal stated that "Le Guin was not writing for young children when she wrote these fantasies, nor yet for adults. She was writing for 'older kids'. But in fact she can be read, like Tolkien, by ten-year-olds and by adults. Margaret Atwood said that ... A Wizard of Earthsea ... since it dealt with themes such as "life and mortality and who are we as human beings", it could be read and enjoyed by anybody older than twelve. Reviewers have commented that

13566-448: Was published in 1890. It was inspired when, on 4 July 1862, Lewis Carroll and Reverend Robinson Duckworth rowed in a boat with the three young daughters of scholar Henry Liddell : Lorina (aged 13); Alice (aged 10); and Edith Mary (aged 8). During the trip Carroll told the girls a story that he described in his diary as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" and which his journal says he "undertook to write out for Alice". She finally got

13685-429: Was released. Unlike the show, Gossip Girl's identity in the books is not known. Von Ziegesar said of the character, "She was the omniscient narrator. Gossip Girl was me". Cecily morphed the real-life high school named Nightingale Bamford into Constance Billard, and also derived St. Jude from The Allen-Stevenson School. The Gossip Girl series has received a mixed reception. The American Library Association selected

13804-437: Was sent in 1929 to schools and libraries across the country. Then "In 1944 [...] NYPL librarian Margaret Scoggin changed the name of her library journal column from 'Books for Older Boys and Girls' to 'Books for Young Adults', and the genre was christened with a name that has lasted to this day". Initially the YA genre "tended to feature the same" boy and girl love story. But in the 1960s the novels developed to more fully examining

13923-494: Was subject to significant corrections of its scholarship, prompting several articles in the UK higher education press. Wolf was involved in President Bill Clinton 's 1996 reelection bid, brainstorming with Clinton's team about ways to reach female voters. Hired by Dick Morris , she wanted Morris to promote Clinton as "The Good Father" and a protector of "the American house". She met with him every few weeks for nearly

14042-537: Was suspended for posting anti-vaccine misinformation . Naomi Rebekah Wolf was born in 1962 in San Francisco , California, to a Jewish family. Her mother is Deborah Goleman Wolf, an anthropologist and the author of The Lesbian Community . Her father was Leonard Wolf , a Romanian -born scholar of gothic horror novels, faculty member at San Francisco State University, and Yiddish translator. Leonard Wolf died from Parkinson's disease on March 20, 2019. Wolf has

14161-450: Was working with Korean artist Hyekyung Baek to create a manga adaptation of the series titled Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only . Rather than adapting the original novels, however, the graphic novels feature original stories with the same characters. It was serialized in the company's anthology magazine Yen Plus , from August 2010 to December 2013. In October 2011, a parody of the series Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer written by von Ziegesar

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