This article reports on one undergraduate student’s journey toward critical literacy about rape culture as a result of reading and discussing a young adult novel in a book study with peers. Using ethnographic and case study methods, the author examines the personal and cultural resources the student brought to the experience, the critical stance she developed, the critical social practices in which she engaged, and the contextual resources that supported her critical literacy growth. The study described herein brought together research about critical literacy and young adult literature to better understand the nature of critical literacy in practice and its effects upon young adult students, with the goal of providing literacy educators with a rich description of what it looks like as a student develops critical literacy. This study also demonstrates the potential of young adult literature as a lens for contending with complex social issues in a college classroom.

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Numerous scholars have called for young adult literature (YAL) to be a pedagogical avenue for educating secondary and postsecondary students about sexual violence, who are often socialized into harmful beliefs about victims. In this study, we draw on Manne's theorizing of “himpathy” and “herasure” to explore the ways in which YAL considers the ideological and systemic dimensions of misogyny leading up, during, and after incidents of sexual assault. The results of our critical content analysis of eight contemporary novels reveal several themes that offer insight and implications for English educators who want to use YAL to unpack misconceptions about sexual violence.

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