Children's and Young Adult Literature

To identify books start at search.lib.asu.edu. From that resulting page, select the ASU Library Catalog option AND the Advanced Search option.

Sample Searches:

[Any field, is (exact)] science fiction AND [Any field, is (exact)] children's

[Subject, is (exact)] science fiction AND [Any field, is (exact)] children's

[Subject, is (exact)] science fiction AND [Subject, contains] children's

[Any field, is (exact)] historical fiction AND [Any field, contains)] young adult

[Subject, is (exact)] historical fiction AND [Any field, contains) young adult]

[Subject, is (exact)] historical fiction AND [Subject, contains) young adult]

To search for children's or young adult books by genre do a keyword search using the name of the genre and either 'children's or 'young adult'.

For example to locate a children's or young adult science fiction books do one of these keyword searches:

• science fiction childrens
• science fiction young adult

Search ASU Library One Search.

Following are subject headings that can be searched to locate children's and young adult literature in the library catalog.  Often searching by keyword is as fruitful in locating titles and an easier search to perform.  The keyword "juvenile" can to added to any topic search to find books suitable for young people.  The subjects listed below are divided between those used to find titles FOR children and those used for finding books ABOUT children's and young adult literature.

To locate books FOR Children & Young Adults use these subjects:

• Children's Books
• Children's Stories

This is used instead of juvenile fiction which is generally either a sub-heading under a topic [eg. Arizona-juvenile fiction] or it is used in conjunction with a topic [e.g. juvenile fiction horses]

• Picture Books for Children
• Children's Poetry

To locate books ABOUT Children's and Young Adult Literature use these subjects:

• Children - Books and Reading
• Children's Literature

This subject also locates some books for children

• Teenagers - Books and Reading
• Young Adult Fiction

Generally followed by a qualifier in the manner: Young Adult Fiction, American

• Young Adult Literature
• Juvenile Literature

This is similar to searching juvenile fiction; it cannot stand alone as a main subject in the same way the subjects above do; it must be combined with a topic  If you want to find all titles that are juvenile literature there are 2 options:  search juvenile literature as a keyword OR search it together as part of a topic. For example, if you want to find juvenile literature about a topic you can do a subject search like this: flags-juvenile literature or Africa-Juvenile Literature. Juvenile fiction or juvenile literature can be searched alone as keyword phrase but they are "monster" searches retrieving thousands of titles.  It is best to combine one of these phrases with a specific topic [e.g. families juvenile literature].

A genre is a category of literature which is defined by the pattern or structure of a literary work. Each genre contains universal elements of form and content.  Generally there are two main sub-categories: fiction and non-fiction.

According to Galda, Cullinan & Swipe in their 2010 book, Literature and the Child the following constitute the genres in children's and young adult literature:

Genres in Children's and Young Adult Literature