Chris Crutcher is a literary icon in the field of young adult literature. With his first book, Running Loose published in 1983, Crutcher established a reputation for giving young adults a voice in realistic fiction. Since then, Crutcher has written a number of books with spot-on depictions of young adults growing through hard times, including Ironman, Whale Talk, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, and Stotan! In Chris Crutcher: A Stotan for Young Adults, Bryan Gillis and Pam B. Cole examine the life, career, and works of this young adult advocate. This volume opens with a never-before-published comprehensive portrait of the author's life, gleaned from numerous conversations with Crutcher. The authors explore Crutcher's childhood, his adolescent years, his life as an adult, and his career as a family counselor and examine how those experiences became fodder for his stories. The authors also discuss Crutcher's encounters with censorship and his philosophical stance. Gillis and Cole also analyze Crutcher's novels, short stories, and novellas, examining his literary craft and such social themes as bigotry, identity, sexuality, relationships, and loss-themes almost always positioned within a sports story. The most comprehensive study of Crutcher's life and work to date, this book benefits tremendously from the cooperation of Crutcher himself. Generally reserved about private matters, Crutcher talks candidly about his life and how his experiences helped shape his character and his stories. His cooperative spirit gives voice to a book that will appeal not only to teachers and librarians but to students who have been enthralled by the works of this generous writer.

Though discussing sexual material in novels aimed at the young adult market may make some individuals blush, the authors of such fiction often seek to represent a very real component in the lives of many teens. Unfortunately, authentic and teen-relatable information on healthy adolescent sexuality is not readily available, and sex education classes have had a minimal effect on positive sexual identity development. Consequently, young adult literature that contains sexual elements can play a critical role in addressing the questions and concerns of teens. In Sexual Content in Young Adult Fiction: Reading between the Sheets, Bryan Gillis and Joanna Simpson examine sexual material in canonical, historical, dystopian, romantic, and realistic contemporary fiction for teens. The authors begin with an exploration of sexual identity development and discuss the constructive influence that realistic representations of teen sexual behavior can have on that development. The authors provide a myriad of texts and examples that will help parents, teachers, and librarians better understand the positive role that sexual content in YA fiction can play in the socio-emotional and academic development of adolescents. The book concludes with an overview and analysis of censorship in the world of young adult fiction. In addition to providing a survey of sexual content in young adult literature, this book can help inspire adults to facilitate effective and responsible discussions about young adult fiction that contains sexual material. Featuring a "novels cited" and "works cited" bibliography, Sexual Content in Young Adult Fiction is an important resource that parents and educators will find particularly valuable.