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Re: Lessons in YA Literature
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From: Alixwrites_at_aol.com
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:02:53 -0400 (EDT)
I agree with Todd. A lot of teens *like* problem novels, and I don't really understand why the term has come to be a pejorative one. Like, it's okay to put out the five-THOUSANDTH identical vampire novel, just don't let that vampire learn that it's wrong to bite people and turn them into the living dead. I've found that reluctant readers and teens from lower socio-economic backgrounds particularly respond to novels which feature real problems they or their friends might face, finding other novels to be less relevant or even "silly." I don't think that makes the novels with lessons any less than the ones which merely entertain -- unless the lesson is all there is to the book.
Most young-adult novels are coming-of-age stories and, as such, good ones necessarily involve the main character experiencing some sort of personal growth. We wouldn't want the main character to be the same at the end as in the beginning. This is true even of coming-of-age novels written for adults (Think: The Great Santini), but it is more pronounced in novels especially for teens. Richard Peck said (I'm paraphrasing here, but I think I have it right), "A young-adult novel is the story of a step," meaning a step toward adulthood. That step necessarily involves the character learning something. And if the teen reader learns something through someone else's experience, instead of having to suffer through it himself, I think that's fine. Great, even.
Best wishes, Alexandra Flinn _www.alexflinn.com_ (http://www.alexflinn.com)
Loved Beastly? Read Kendra's story -- Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles, available Valentine's Day, 2012 from HarperCollins
In a message dated 8/19/2011 10:13:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, toddbcpl_at_gmail.com writes:
Interesting discussion for sure.
To play devil's advocate for a moment (and this by no means defends Lisa Belkin); I think we overestimate how put off teens are when reading something that teaches a lesson, or that we call didactic. We have our adult experiences of reading too many works that are overtly lesson-teaching, and while there will be plenty of examples of writing that is rather obvious for teens, other works have lessons that can be crystal clear and many teens won't mind at all.
Quick reads for teens that they select as entertainment are sometimes quite lesson-heavy -- for example, Lurlene McDaniel, and the Kimani Tru series. Teens don't seem to mind the didacticism in those works. They (hopefully?) won't consider them the height of great literature, but at the same time I doubt they worry all that much about being taught a lesson by the authors.
Todd
-- Todd Krueger Collection Development Baltimore County Public Library Towson MD 21204 _toddbcpl_at_gmail.com_ (mailto:toddbcpl@gmail.com) YALSA Michael L. Printz 2012 Award Committee Member
Received on Fri 19 Aug 2011 11:02:53 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:02:53 -0400 (EDT)
I agree with Todd. A lot of teens *like* problem novels, and I don't really understand why the term has come to be a pejorative one. Like, it's okay to put out the five-THOUSANDTH identical vampire novel, just don't let that vampire learn that it's wrong to bite people and turn them into the living dead. I've found that reluctant readers and teens from lower socio-economic backgrounds particularly respond to novels which feature real problems they or their friends might face, finding other novels to be less relevant or even "silly." I don't think that makes the novels with lessons any less than the ones which merely entertain -- unless the lesson is all there is to the book.
Most young-adult novels are coming-of-age stories and, as such, good ones necessarily involve the main character experiencing some sort of personal growth. We wouldn't want the main character to be the same at the end as in the beginning. This is true even of coming-of-age novels written for adults (Think: The Great Santini), but it is more pronounced in novels especially for teens. Richard Peck said (I'm paraphrasing here, but I think I have it right), "A young-adult novel is the story of a step," meaning a step toward adulthood. That step necessarily involves the character learning something. And if the teen reader learns something through someone else's experience, instead of having to suffer through it himself, I think that's fine. Great, even.
Best wishes, Alexandra Flinn _www.alexflinn.com_ (http://www.alexflinn.com)
Loved Beastly? Read Kendra's story -- Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles, available Valentine's Day, 2012 from HarperCollins
In a message dated 8/19/2011 10:13:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, toddbcpl_at_gmail.com writes:
Interesting discussion for sure.
To play devil's advocate for a moment (and this by no means defends Lisa Belkin); I think we overestimate how put off teens are when reading something that teaches a lesson, or that we call didactic. We have our adult experiences of reading too many works that are overtly lesson-teaching, and while there will be plenty of examples of writing that is rather obvious for teens, other works have lessons that can be crystal clear and many teens won't mind at all.
Quick reads for teens that they select as entertainment are sometimes quite lesson-heavy -- for example, Lurlene McDaniel, and the Kimani Tru series. Teens don't seem to mind the didacticism in those works. They (hopefully?) won't consider them the height of great literature, but at the same time I doubt they worry all that much about being taught a lesson by the authors.
Todd
-- Todd Krueger Collection Development Baltimore County Public Library Towson MD 21204 _toddbcpl_at_gmail.com_ (mailto:toddbcpl@gmail.com) YALSA Michael L. Printz 2012 Award Committee Member
Received on Fri 19 Aug 2011 11:02:53 AM CDT
