Hi! My name is Kathleen, and I’m a PhD student in the Childhood Studies department at Rutgers University - Camden. I’m doing research about monsters – specifically, about monsters in YA lit and current events. This is where you might come in!
Are you an American 14-to-18-year-old reader of YA fantasy and science fiction? Do you especially enjoy stories about monsters? Are you also interested in talking about current events and politics?
If your answer is yes to all of these questions, then I hope I can interest you in Monster Book Club, a six-month virtual research study. I’m looking for about a dozen teen readers who are interested in talking about monsters wherever they pop up: in novels, in political narratives, and in the way people think about themselves and each other. Throughout the book club, we’ll read and discuss YA lit and news stories, all the while trying to define what it actually means to be a “monster.”
Cards on the table: you can probably tell from the fact that I’m writing a whole dissertation on this topic that I think monsters are pretty important. What I think is even more important is listening to teenagers’ opinions about topics that pertain to them. As far as I’m concerned, monsters fall into this category, whether they show up in the literature that is marketed to teenagers or the political conversations that determine the laws teenagers live by. So if you’re interested in participating, I truly can’t wait to hear your ideas.
I’m especially interested in putting together a diverse group of teen readers for the book club. Too often, research studies have focused only on majority groups (white people, straight people, cis people, able-bodied people, etc.). I don’t want to make that same mistake, especially because talking about monsters pretty much guarantees talking about issues that have to do with representation and inequality. It’s important to hear from people with a variety of life experiences when discussing these topics.
The study will take place on a private, password-protected Discord server. If you participate, your privacy will be of the utmost importance – all the participants will use pseudonyms in the server. Please know that this is a completely voluntary project! If you decide to join but later realize you want to leave the study, that is 100% acceptable and will not be penalized. You will also have the option of opting out of discussing certain books or news stories if you don’t want to talk about them with the group.
If all of this sounds good to you, please reach out to me here on tumblr, on my study Instagram (researcherreading), or directly via my university email: kmk353 AT scarletmail DOT rutgers DOT edu, so we can decide if joining the book club is something you’d like to do. (All of my contacts are available as links on my sidebar.) I can’t wait to hear from you!
