Summer Research in Young Adult Latine Literature

By Jizelle Villegas ’26

This summer, I was a Research Fellow for the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The internship was an intense 10 week-long fellowship where I had the opportunity to write a research paper about Latine Young Adult literature and how different components of the books complicate stereotypical narratives associated with the Latine community. My research paper is titled: Complicating Stereotypes in Young Adult Latine Literature.

I read four books in total, two in Realist Fiction and two in Fantasy: Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas and Last Sunrise in Eterna by Amparo Ortiz. All of these books caused me to feel a lot of emotions, but my favorite was probably Cemetery Boys. The book had important themes, a cute queer love story and a good blend of culture and fantasy. I chose a mix of Realist Fiction and Fantasy because I thought that the Realist books would perpetuate more stereotypes due to them being situated in more realistic scenarios, whereas Fantasy has different world-building practices that can create space for non-stereotypical representations. I took thorough notes on each of the books and found parallels and differences in narratives.

I had Professor Michelle Robinson, at UNC Chapel Hill, as my advisor and aid me in the duration of this long project. In the end, my paper was 31 pages long and went through many phases of revision. We met weekly to talk about the progress of the paper, what analysis I conducted and the meaning behind this research, like my motivations and what I want to achieve with this research. I attended theory, professional development and communication workshops throughout the week with other MURAP faculty, and attended online GRE prep. Classes like this also helped me understand theory and higher academia in a better sense and it made me feel like I can belong in higher academia, whether that be a Masters of Fine Arts or a PhD program in my respective field. 

Chapel Hill was a really beautiful college town with many shops down on Franklin Street. It was also a very different culture than Macalester, even though I was on its campus for the summer. There were many students still taking summer classes. UNC has a huge campus and it took a while to walk from one side of campus to the other, but the greenest trees, Carolina blue sky, and my suite mates made the walks to our classes enjoyable. 

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to conduct this literary research within a genre of books that I have always sought comfort in growing up, and still read to this day. There is so much complexity in YA literature and I feel that it’s sometimes not given the attention it deserves because it’s marketed towards kids. 

If you are a rising junior or senior BIPOC student and would like the opportunity to do research you’re passionate about, you should apply to MURAP! It was the best thing I could have chosen to do for my summer before senior year, as it makes me believe that grad school is more of a possibility and is achievable.