Literacy Matters Vol. 25 Winter 2025

We hope the texts and suggestions here provide a starting point for teachers and students to consider ways to incorporate diverse populations and experiences in the classroom through literature. While literature alone is not a silver bullet for providing equitable experiences in the classroom, remixed literature is one way to incorporate reading and discussion for social justice in the classroom. When students read diverse literature, it can lead to questioning systemic issues and allow an alternate viewing of social issues between peers and within communities (Glasgow, 2001). All students deserve representation in texts, whether that is through remixed literature or their own fan fiction.

the school year to include additional texts in lists they share with school and community members. Providing students with a choice of supplemental texts to read during a unit and providing parents with permission slips giving them a brief overview of the texts students can choose from is also suggested to ensure stakeholders have a say in the texts students read during class. Additionally, we recommend using tools like the National Council of Teachers of English book rationales (https://ncte.org/ book-rationales/) to provide detailed explanations for including specific remixed texts in the classroom. These book rationales can support teachers with writing justifications that districts or schools may request based on their text approval processes. References Bean, T.W., & Moni, K. (2003). Developing students’ critical literacy: Exploring identity construction in young adult fiction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46 (8), 638–648. Curwood, J. S., Magnifico, A. M., & Lammers, J. C. (2013). Writing in the wild: Writers’motivation in fan-based affinity spaces. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 56 (8), 677–685. https://doi.org/10.1002/JAAL.192 Dail, J. S., & Thompson, N. (2016). Talking back: Remix as a tool to help students exercise authority when making meaning. The ALAN Review , 43 (3). https://doi. org/10.21061/alan.v43i3.a.4 De Kosnik, A. (2019). Why it matters that black men and queer women invented digital remix culture. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies , 59 (1), 156–163. https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2019.0069. Flores, T. T., & Flores, F. G. R. (2021). Writing my world: An adolescent Mexicana’s process of writing to represent herself. In B. J. Guzzetti (Ed.), Genders, Cultures, and Literacies (pp. 135-147). Routledge. Garcia, A., Hatley, K., & Kaplan, R. G. (2016). Making the case for youth and practitioner reading, producing, and teaching fanfiction [Review of Toasterverse Stories scifigrl47.archiveofourown.org/users/scifigrl47/pseuds/scifigrl47; Transparent: A Divergent FanFiction (Book One) https://www.wattpad.com/ story/15251896-transparent-a-divergent-fanfiction-book-one , by G. S. Quiroz]. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 60 (3), 353–357. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/44011394.

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies everyday practices and social learning (3rd ed.). Open University Press.

Literacy Matters Literature Matters

Lammers, J.C., Magnifico, A.M. &Wang, A. (2022). Playful multiliteracies: Fan based literacies’ role in English language arts pedagogy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 66 (2) 80-90. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1253

Leigh, S. (2020). Fan fiction as a valuable literacy practice. Transformative Works and Cultures, 34 . https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2020.1961.

Nelson, E. T., & Opatz, M. O. (2023). Mirrors, windows, and mentors: Developing critical mentor text sets to cultivate students’writer identities. English Journal , 113 (1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej202332633. Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41 (3), 93–97. https://doi-org. libproxy.clemson.edu/10.3102/0013189X12441244 Thomas, E. E., & Stornaiuolo, A. (2016). Restorying the self: Bending toward textual justice. Harvard Educational Review , 86 (3), 313–338. https://doi. org/10.17763/1943-5045-86.3.313 Toliver, S. R. (2020). “I desperately need visions of Black people thriving”: Emancipating the fantastic through Black women’s words. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.

Sims-Bishop, R. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom , 6(3).

Glasgow, J. N. (2001). Teaching social justice through young adult literature. The English Journal , 90 (6), 54–61. https://doi.org/10.2307/822056

Wright, W. T. (2021). Popular culture remixes as an opening for critical dialogue with ELA teacher candidates. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 65 (1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1152

Glazier, & Seo, J.A. (2005). Multicultural literature and discussion as mirror and window? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48 (8), 686–700. https://doi. org/10.1598/JAAL.48.8.6 Kokesh, & Sternadori, M. (2015). The good, the bad, and the ugly: A qualitative study of how young adult fiction affects identity construction. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23 (3), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2015.1013 104

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