The first chapter, on the one hand, concentrates on adolescent identity, on ensuing reading habits and teenagers’ fascination with complex subjects. On the other hand, it also examines the critical reception of teenage fiction and its growing recognition as a genre of its own.

The second chapter consists of a close analysis of a work of teenage fiction in order to investigate the validity of the arguments developed in chapter one. The selection of The Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix is motivated by the key role played by death in these books and by its great popularity in the teenage fiction publishing world.

The subchapters about this trilogy are organized around three major topics: death, youth and gender.

The conclusion will attempt to link the findings from this example of teenage fiction with the theoretical issues exposed in the first chapter.