High School Students’ Competing Social Worlds: Negotiating Identities and Allegiances in Response to Multicultural Literature

Beach et al. consider how working class high school students’ identity construction is affected by discourses and cultural practices portrayed in multicultural literature and how such literature can serve to challenge their views related to race, class, and gender. They argue that traditional instructional methods in working-class schools fail students in a knowledge-based economy. Mainly, the book reports on a study of 14 working-class high school seniors and juniors in a literature course, and seven case study profiles are presented. The book is meant for educators and researchers and combines theory, research, and analysis. Instructional methods used in the course are also outlined, as is a description of the discussion of three novels read in the course: Love Medicine, Kindred, and Bastard Out of Carolina. A list of recommended literature is given in an appendix. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)