Michael Anthony’s Green Days by the River Meets Criteria for Adolescent Literature

‘Adolescents deserve access to a wide variety of reading material that they can and want to read.’  (Moore et al 1999).

It is the dream of every Language Arts teacher that his students read some form of literature not because he has to but because he wants to. Since the advent of adolescent or young adult literature (YAL) in the early 1900’s, this problem has ameliorated. Bushman and Bushman(1997) cited in a paper by Douglas I-ping Ho  define adolescent literature as literary works written ‘about or for young people.’

Adolescent Literature speaks about experiences which adolescents know about and they are geared at helping them gain some understanding about themselves.

When considering the novel Green Days by the River some characteristics of adolescent literature can be found among the pages. Prost(1988)  cited in a paper by Douglas I-ping Ho  and Reed (1994) cited in a paper by Wei Keong Too both agree that one major characteristic of adolescent literature is that the protagonist is usually a young adult and the story is usually told from his/her point of view. This is seen in the novel as fifteen year old Shell Lammy is the protagonist relating the story in the first person persona. ‘ I heard the dogs barking and I knew it that old man Gidharee was coming up the road.’ His friends Joe and Lennard are also adolescents like him.

Another characteristic of YAL proposed by Reed (1994) is that the persons are either ‘single dimensional or out of the picture, while adults act as a mentor for the young adults.’ Again this is reflected in the novel as Shell’s father is portrayed as bed ridden with whom Shell converses about girls while his mother ‘worked in one of the beach houses.’ No description of his parents are given; however Shell looks up to Mr. Gidharee, an Indian plantation owner whom he often wished his father was as strong as.

Another characteristic of YAL found in Green Days by the River is that dialogue is frequently used, which makes the novel progressive in action, rather than episodic.

Bushman and Bushman (1997) also declare that the language in YAL matches that of young people. In the case of Green Days by the River, the dialect used in prevalent in the Caribbean which makes for easy reading by the adolescents.

Characters in YAL are faced with challenges which result in change and growth. Shell is forced to drop out of school to work on the cocoa plantation due to his father’s illness. This experience triggers a growth in his maturity as he takes on the role of ‘man of the house.’ He is also faced with the challenge of choosing between his two love interests Joan and Rosalie.

In conclusion, YAL has the potential of broadening the minds of the readers and allowing them to experience events in the security of their imaginations.

References

Anthony, M. (1967). Green Days by the River. England,Oxford: André Deutsch Limited

Butcher,K & Manning, L. Young Adult Literature and the School Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/young-adult-literature-school-curriculum. (9th April 2011)

Ho, D.

1

Using Young Adult Literature to Teach EFL Reading and Writing. Using Young Adult Literature to Teach EFL Reading and Writing. Retrieved from
wwwlib.ntut.edu.tw/www/ntut/journal/35-1/35.doc (9^th April 2011)

Too,W. Young Adult Literature: An Alternative Genre In The Reading List. The English Teacher,35. Retrieved from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/2006/2006_4.pdf (9th April 2011)

YA Lit . Retrieved from http://www.breitlinks.com/my_libmedia/adolescent_lit.htm