Teaching Young Adult Literature is a middle and secondary school methods text designed to introduce pre-service teachers in teacher credential programs and in-service teachers pursuing a Masters degree in Education to the field of young adult literature for use in contemporary contexts.

The text introduces teachers to current research on adolescent life and literacy; the new and expanding genres of young adult literature; teaching approaches and practical strategies for using young adult literature in English and Language Arts secondary classrooms and in Content Area Subjects (e.g. History); and ongoing social, political and pedagogical issues of English and Language Arts classrooms in relation to contemporary young adult literature.

Teaching Young Adult Literature prepares teachers to: engage with student populations that exhibit greater social, cultural and linguistic diversity than ever before, including minority students, second language learners, and new immigrants, as well as the increasing visible gay, lesbian and transgender students and their families, students with disabilities, spiritually committed teens and students living in poverty. It helps create learning environments through its focus on practical examples of activity-based teaching approaches and strategies that are built on an assumption of diversity among students and texts and that offer sufficient sophistication and complexity to meet this diversity without overwhelming the physical, emotional, and intellectual resources of teachers incorporate discussions and strategies related to dynamic new literacies, including the digitally mediated texts and multimedia compositions that are now interleaved in young adult literature and in students' creative and critical responses to this genre.