How do American girls compose and amend their identities? In this text, prominent scholars in their respective fields examine the complex social and cultural constructions that shape girls’ lives both in and out of school. The book looks at matters ranging from embedded issues of class, race, ethnicity, immigrant status, and sexuality to popular culture and personal histories.

Exploring the scholarly literature on gender and education, the successes and failures of feminist pedagogy, and girls’ practices with both traditional and non-traditional texts, as well as the primary sources of a material culture, the authors expose the myriad forces that script girls’ gender, identity, and literacy. The distinctive contribution of this book is to open up new discussions of girls in American classrooms today and to critically examine their experiences as they navigate preconceived notions of who they are while forming their personal and public identities, thereby helping teachers to better understand and create classroom experiences that make girls visible to themselves and to others.

Contents

Foreword Rachel Simmons Acknowledgements Introduction Elaine J. O’Quinn Part I Girls and Literacy: A Historical Overview 1. "The Order of the Scroll": Surveying Girls’ Literacy Performances In and Out of School, 1885-2011 Jane Greer Part II Girls Made Visible 2. Teaching Historically Based, Culturally Rich YA Novels with Strong Girl Protagonists Linda J. Rice 3. Empowerment, YA Immigrant Literature, and Girls Rosemary Horowitz and Joanne Brown 4. Through a Lesbian Lens: Girls, Femininity, and Sexuality on a Reading Spectrum Beth Younger 5. Girls Around the Globe as Advocates for Political, Cultural and Social Literacy at Home Mary Napoli 6. Girls Composing Their Lives: Reading and Writing Contemporary Memoir Dawn Latta Kirby Part III Popular Culture, Technology, and the New Media 7. Girlhood, Agency, and Pop Culture Literacy: the Twilight Saga as ExemplaKapurch 8. The Challenges of Teaching Girls (Re)Presentation of Self and Others Through Media Studies and Citizen Journalism Shayla Thiel-Stern Part IV Feminism and English Classroom Practices 9. Complicating Gender Binaries in the Feminist English Classroom Karen Coats and Roberta Seelinger Trites

Author Bio

Elaine J. O’Quinn is Professor, English Department, Appalachian State University, USA.