In this course, we will read stories about coming of age, or the transition from childhood to adulthood. We will read Angeline Boulley’s FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER, a Young Adult (YA) thriller that is also a love story and an exploration of what it means to be an Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman). We will read Laurel Fantauzzo’s MY HEART UNDER WATER, another YA novel that follows a queer girl’s journey from the US to the Philippines, as it explores how to heal from colonial violence and embrace decolonial love. We will read another queer, diasporic novel, Palestinian American Zaina Arafat’s YOU EXIST TOO MUCH, which situates the protagonist’s “love addiction” in relation to historical trauma. We will read R. Zamora Linmark’s ROLLING THE Rs, a genre-bending novel about queer youth growing up in Kalihi in the 1970s. We will read the experimental memoir, MY BODY IS A BOOK OF RULES, in which Elissa Washuta explores the complex interrelations of her histories of ongoing colonial violence, sexual violence, and mental illness as she transitions from college student to independent adult. We also will read Malak Mattar’s children’s book SITTI’S BIRD—an account of her becoming an artist as a way of surviving a Gaza under blockade and besieged by the Israeli state.
These and other stories will allow us to consider questions including the following: Is there anything universal about childhood and growing up? How do factors of race, class, culture, gender, sexuality, region impact what it means to grow up, and the different ways of growing up? What do different story arcs about growing up (for example, a journey, a romantic comedy, a rebellion against authority, a mystery, a dramatic event) make possible or preclude? How about YA or children’s literature, versus stories written for adults?
Tentative List of Required Texts:
- Zaina Arafat, YOU EXIST TOO MUCH
- Angeline Boulley, FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER
- Laurel Fantauzzo, MY HEART UNDER WATER
- R. Zamora Linmark, ROLLING THE Rs
- Malak Mattar, SITTI’S BIRD
- Elissa Washuta, MY BODY IS A BOOK OF RULES
- Selection of short stories, essays, videos
Assignments and Class Work:
Students will write a mid-term exam and a final exam (a combination of short questions and short essays), two take-home essays (1700 words each), and at least twice in the semester brief online responses to readings (250 words each).