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On the Edge: Radical Reads
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From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 14:06:46 -0500
At the beginning of the month, Jennifer Armstrong posed the question "whose edge does this edginess describe?"
One response to this question can be found in in Joni Richards Bodart's "Radical Reads: 100 Young Adult Books on the Edge" (Scarecrow, 2002).
Bodart defines "radical" young adult fiction as "edgy, raw, and relevant to the young adults who read it....There are no easy answers or pat endings in these books, and many characters don't live happily ever after. They are called dark, bleak, gritty, depressing, and hard to read. " She cites a long list of issues that such books address, from incest to and abuse to suicide, sex and sexuality. This harsh realism is one of th reasons adults find thes titles controversial. Those trying to protect youth from the realities of life today reject them immediately."
Brodart bravely acknowledges the silent censorship that does exist when books aren't purchased by professionals for fear of what might happen. Bodart's resource aims to make the 100 selected titles in her volume more readily accessible to youth, and defensible against would? censors by providing detailed information for both promoting and defending them.
Finally, Bodart cites Eliza Dresang's "Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age" (H.W. Wilson, 1999) as another means of understanding what is happening in these titles: "According to Eliza Dresang...these books break boundaries in many ways-- in format, in topic, in treatment, in letting youth speak for themselves, and in giving voice to those who were previously unheard. They challenge the reader, and show how much their authors respect their audience."
It seems to me that one reason the topic of "edgy" young adult literature has found its way into our common consciousness as professionals is because we are seeing more and more books that hold up to literary scrutiny pushing our personal and/or societal comfort zones. (And what greater way to show respect for young adults than to write truly fine literature for them--books that will push their boundaries of understanding and experience, and resonate with truth.)
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 13 May 2003 02:06:46 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 14:06:46 -0500
At the beginning of the month, Jennifer Armstrong posed the question "whose edge does this edginess describe?"
One response to this question can be found in in Joni Richards Bodart's "Radical Reads: 100 Young Adult Books on the Edge" (Scarecrow, 2002).
Bodart defines "radical" young adult fiction as "edgy, raw, and relevant to the young adults who read it....There are no easy answers or pat endings in these books, and many characters don't live happily ever after. They are called dark, bleak, gritty, depressing, and hard to read. " She cites a long list of issues that such books address, from incest to and abuse to suicide, sex and sexuality. This harsh realism is one of th reasons adults find thes titles controversial. Those trying to protect youth from the realities of life today reject them immediately."
Brodart bravely acknowledges the silent censorship that does exist when books aren't purchased by professionals for fear of what might happen. Bodart's resource aims to make the 100 selected titles in her volume more readily accessible to youth, and defensible against would? censors by providing detailed information for both promoting and defending them.
Finally, Bodart cites Eliza Dresang's "Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age" (H.W. Wilson, 1999) as another means of understanding what is happening in these titles: "According to Eliza Dresang...these books break boundaries in many ways-- in format, in topic, in treatment, in letting youth speak for themselves, and in giving voice to those who were previously unheard. They challenge the reader, and show how much their authors respect their audience."
It seems to me that one reason the topic of "edgy" young adult literature has found its way into our common consciousness as professionals is because we are seeing more and more books that hold up to literary scrutiny pushing our personal and/or societal comfort zones. (And what greater way to show respect for young adults than to write truly fine literature for them--books that will push their boundaries of understanding and experience, and resonate with truth.)
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Tue 13 May 2003 02:06:46 PM CDT
