Autism in Young Adult Novels

An estimated 1 in 110 children in the United States has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the public awareness of autism has grown significantly, teens are not as educated about this subject as they should be. When accurately and positively presented, literature has been shown to help the classmates of those with ASD better understand the disorder. Increased familiarity with the subject will, in turn, help foster acceptance.

In Autism in Young Adult Novels: An Annotated Bibliography, Marilyn Irwin, Annette Y. Goldsmith, and Rachel Applegate identify and assess teen fiction with autism content. In the first section, the authors analyze how characters with ASD are presented. Where do they live and go to school? Do they have friends? Do they have good relationships with their family? How are they treated by others? The authors also consider whether autism is accurately presented. This discussion is followed by a comprehensive bibliography of books that feature a character identified as being on the autism spectrum.

The novels reviewed in this volume date as far back as the late 1960s and include works published in the last few years. As more and more authors of young adult fiction become sensitive to ASD, they are featuring such characters in their novels, creating more realistic works for their readers. This study will help librarians and others collect, choose, evaluate, and use these works to educate young adults.

Marilyn Irwin is associate professor emerita in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Her teaching and research interests have been in disabilities and literature for youth. Irwin has chaired and served on the American Library Association’s (ALA) Schneider Family Book Award jury and has held numerous elected and appointed positions within ALA’s Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies.

Annette Y. Goldsmith is lecturer in the University of Washington Information School. She is coauthor of HIV/AIDS in Young Adult Novels: An Annotated Bibliography (Scarecrow, 2010). She has chaired and served on the Association for Library Service to Children Mildred L. Batchelder Award.

Rachel Applegate is chair of the Library and Information Science Department in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University, Indianapolis. She is the author of Practical Evaluation Techniques for Librarians (2013) and is an accrediting site visitor and team chair for the Higher Learning Commission and the American Library Association.