Includes bibliographical references and index.

This survey helps YA librarians who want to freshen up their readers advisory skills, teachers who use novels in the classroom, and adult services librarians who increasingly find themselves addressing the queries of teen patrons.

From Sue Barton to the sixties : what's in a name? and other uncertainties -- The sixties and the seventies : the rise of realism and the first golden age -- The eighties : something old, something new : the rise of the paperback series, multicultural literature, and political correctness -- The early nineties : a near-death experience -- The rest of the nineties : revival and renaissance -- A new literature for a new millennium? The renaissance continues -- Romancing the retail : of series, superstores, Harry Potter, and such -- So, how adult is young adult? The crossover conundrum -- Back in the real world : immigration, mixed race, and other new realities of teen life -- Sex and other shibboleths : YA comes of age, and not a moment too soon -- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature : the controversies continue -- The viz biz : transforming the funnies -- The eyes have it : other visual forms : photoessays and the new nonfiction -- Of books and bytes : multiple literacies, the death of print, and other imponderables.