Joyful Literacy Experiences: Insights from the PEI in Multicultural YA Literature

Authors

• S. Rebecca Leigh, Oakland UniversityFollow
• Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar, University of Northern Iowa
• Danielle Alexander
• Yujie Mao
• Kim Stein
• Maria Mendola
• Xunmei Luo
• Quigxian Wang
• Yonghong Li

Abstract

The primary focus of this qualitative study was to determine how we could apply the theory of emotion and transactional reader response theory to the experience of coding and analyzing emotion in multicultural young adult literature. Seven graduate students in a doctoral class in the Midwest participated in the study for one academic semester, including their instructor and another faculty member from a different Midwestern university. Data included coding and analysis of eight Coretta Scott King medal and honor-winning novels and the Protagonist Emotion Inventory (PEI). Chapters were coded for eight basic emotions and the constant comparative method (Corbin & Strauss, 2014) was used to identify major themes. Results indicated two identifiable themes: (1) Intentional Joy, the silver linings that authors created for their protagonists that are essential to making circumstances bearable for characters including readers; and (2) Resilient Storytelling, the deliberate decision making of authors to write about emotionally challenging material through the development of resilient characters. Implications are that teachers should strive to increase reader engagement with text by including multicultural, young adult literature in their classrooms, which supports close reading of characters' emotions so that literacy joys can be drawn between the emotion in resilient protagonists’ lives and readers’ own lives.

Author Bio

Dr. S. Rebecca Leigh is a Professor at Oakland University. She is interested in arts-based literacy, writing, and literature for children and teens. She can be reached at leigh23@oakland.edu.

Dr. Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar is an Associate Professor of children’s literature at the University of Northern Iowa. She is the author of picture books An Invisible River to Cross (2026) and Dear New Friend (2025). In 2026, she wrapped up her jury service for the Outstanding International Books (OIB) committee of IBBY. She can be reached at tmatloob@uni.edu.

Danielle Alexander and Kim Stein are recent graduates of the LCL program and Yujie Mao is a Ph.D. Candidate. Maria Mendola, Xunmei Luo, Quigxian Wang, and Yonghong Li are doctoral students in the Literacy, Culture, and Language program at Oakland University in Rochester, MI.

Recommended Citation

Leigh, S. Rebecca; Matloob Haghanikar, Taraneh; Alexander, Danielle; Mao, Yujie; Stein, Kim; Mendola, Maria; Luo, Xunmei; Wang, Quigxian; and Li, Yonghong (2026) "Joyful Literacy Experiences: Insights from the PEI in Multicultural YA Literature," Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 58: Iss. 3, Article 8.
Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol58/iss3/8