EXTENDED DEADLINE (OCTOBER 1, 2025) - Killing It In The Classroom: Teaching the Young Adult Detective Genre

We received a great number of literary criticism essays on the YA detective genre and are now asking for additional pedagogical essays! This teaching section will ideally provide concrete ways (through in-class activities, assignments, and lesson plans) to implement a YA detective novel, television show, or movie into a literature or writing course at the college level. We understand that devoting an entire course to teaching detective fiction isn’t feasible for many academics, so we welcome smaller ways to implement even one novel or television episode into a class. We already have some scholars lined up to address historical aspects of the genre, so we kindly ask that you only submit material focused on the specified years (2015-present day). 

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, teaching young adult detective novels, television shows, movies, and video games in the following ways: 

• Boy detectives – where are they? What does their absence mean for the genre? How does this impact your approach in the classroom? 

• Pedagogy that emphasizes anti-racism, structural violence, and/or cultural inclusivity 

• Teaching in a composition classroom 

• Teaching YA detective fiction in a creative writing classroom 

• The genre’s potential for agency (as evidenced by the characters or for readers to enact their own agency) 

• Racial and gender motivated crimes represented in the genre 

• Marginal positions (i.e. age, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, documentation status, nationality, etc.) of characters in the genre or consumers of the genre 

• Female detectives who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)

• Representation of disability (broadly defined) as a crime, mark of criminality, etc. 

• Intersections with the supernatural, gothic, historical, or romance genres 

• Relevance of the detective genre or its relation to young adult fiction 

• Representation of adolescence 

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words and a brief CV to Dr. Myers Enlow at myersenlow@gmail.com and Dr. Marla Harris at mhcrocombe@gmail.com by October 1, 2025. 

Final essays of 5,000-6,000 words (including notes and references) due early 2026, exact date pending publisher negotiations!