In this introduction to the special issue, "Youth Participatory Action Research on Puerto Rican Students' Experiences with Hurricane Maria: Shifting from Resilience to Resistance," we outline the theoretical foundations of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and explicate the guiding principles that are seminal in the corpus of YPAR literature. We propose a synthesized model based on these guiding principles called the arc of transformation in YPAR. The model is used to examine points of convergence and divergence in how these principles are employed across YPAR methods and pedagogies. We close by discussing the rising emergence of arts-based YPAR methods and how they encourage young people to engage in artistic, creative, and innovative approaches to youth-driven inquiry alongside community members, educators, scholars and researchers.