Disturbing the Peace: The Function of Young Adult Literature and the Case of Catherine Atkinsʹ When Jeff Comes Home

Our criticism and evaluation of young adult literature is tempered not only by the scope of our knowledge of adolescent literature in general, but also by our notions of adolescence, itself. Adolescent literature that, in Michael Cartʹs terminology, “shatters the shibboleths” of adolescence and adolescent culture, has the potential to re-shape the paradigms that delineate teen culture. Catherine Atkinsʹ When Jeff Comes Home is an example of such revolutionary YA fiction. With When Jeff Comes Home, Atkins not only re-writes and redefines the rape novel for young people, she re-casts the victim role with societyʹs anti-victim—the able-bodied, athletic, upper middle class white male.