Degree Name

Department

Linguistics

College

Humanities

Defense Date

2023-05-24

Publication Date

2023-05-31

First Faculty Advisor

Dr. Jacob Rawlins

First Faculty Reader

Dr. Jane Lopez

Honors Coordinator

Dr. Don Chapman

Keywords

publishing, BIPOC, young adult literature, diversity, people of color in literature

Abstract

The publishing industry in the United States has long been dominated by white voices, resulting in a significant lack of representation for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the form of both authors and characters. This project aims to survey young adult BIPOC readers to explore their experiences with representation in the young adult (YA) genre and assess the impact of representation on their consumption of literature. Through assessing quantitative and qualitative answers to an online survey, the results reveal correlations between representation, enjoyment of literature, and the frequency of YA literature consumption among different BIPOC groups. These results provide valuable information on how to better address the need for more visible representation in YA publishing and encourage the YA and broader publishing industry to make space for BIPOC voices and stories.