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I think that there is an 80% to 20% chance that favors students reading a Patrick Ness novel outside of school for pleasure rather than inside of school as a requirement. First, as Applebee’s (1992) article suggests, the literary canon taught in high school does not change frequently. Yes, more YA lit is being brought into schools, but it often appears in the schools as part of classroom libraries and is available for silent sustained reading time. In fact, Hazlett, Johnson, and Hayn (2009) found that “young adult literature was used only for independent reading or Silent Sustained Reading, to complement adult classics, or to fill summer reading lists” (para. 31), it was not being used as the basis for an instructional unit. To me, I see this finding as connecting back to Applebee’s (1992) study in that teachers typically continue to teach canonical texts and YA novels are not considered in the same regard as those canonical texts. In reference to Ness’ novels, I do not foresee them breaking the “barrier of instruction” that would need to happen in order for them to be taught for academic reasons. As such, I predict that Ness’ novels will remain in the “pleasure reading” classification for some time.

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The age range I feel that is most appropriate for Ness’ novels is 8th-12th graders (14-18 year olds). First off, Ness typically writes novels that are set in alternatives places, such as on other planets or in an afterlife context. As these settings can become nuanced with specific details regarding the order of the environment, I see that characteristic as being more geared towards an older adolescent audience. Second, there are a variety of themes that cater towards an older adolescent demographic. In More Than This, the protagonist comes out as gay, and there are multiple flashbacks to his life before he died that contributed to his decision for committing suicide. Another example is from The Chaos Walking Series trilogy. In it, Ness uses a sophisticated writing feature to represent “noise” and this “noise” becomes a key element throughout the trilogy. Though it is well written, I do think that older adolescents are better able to understand the significance of the “noise” throughout the trilogy. Finally, the length of Ness’ books are notable. Several of his novels are well over 300 pages. Given that younger adolescents are able to read very long novels (e.g., the Harry Potter series), nevertheless, reading longer novels requires a certain stamina that older adolescents are more likely to have developed.

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Ness was awarded the Booktrust Teenage Prize in 2008, which is presented annually to British YA authors, for his novel The Knife of Never Letting Go. This novel is the first in the Chaos Walking series.

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This image is of Patrick Ness promoting his book, A Monster Calls, which has since been made into a movie. This image is important because it shows the dedication Ness has to his work and his desire for it to be a success. (Though, I think most authors would want that too!)

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Ness, P. (2013). More than this. Somerville, MA: Candelwick Press.

More Than This is about a boy named Seth and his experience. After committing suicide by swimming into rocks, which was a result of his sexuality being “outted” by friends, Seth awakes in what he at first refers to as hell. He quickly meets two other characters, a girl named Regine and a boy named Tomasz, who both died and found themselves in the same place as Seth. As Seth discovers, the place he finds himself is not hell, but a reality of sorts where people are plugged into tubes and live their lives in a virtual reality setting. The antagonist of the novel is referred to simply as The Driver, and that character is the care keeper of this place who ensures that people do not become unplugged and aware. Throughout the novel, Seth, Regine, and Tomasz work to defeat The Driver and take control of the machine, which connects people to their virtual lives.