The Is YA Too Dark & Edgy Controversy

By Jenny Ramaley

Since we’re focusing on Hot, Hot, Hot topics this month, how about the brouhaha a couple of weeks ago when Meghan Cox Gurdon posted her thoughts about violence and depravity in YA novels? If you missed it, here are a few select paragraphs from her article, followed by responses from author Sherman Alexie and editor Cheryl Klein from Arthur A. Levine Books:

Darkness Too Visible

Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?By Meghan Cox Gurdon
Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com Bookshelf), June 4, 2011

 “The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless. If a teen has been abused, the logic follows, reading about another teen in the same straits will be comforting. If a girl cuts her flesh with a razor to relieve surging feelings of self-loathing, she will find succor in reading about another girl who cuts, mops up the blood with towels and eventually learns to manage her emotional turbulence without a knife.

Yet it is also possible—indeed, likely—that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures. Self-destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue. That is not to discount the real suffering that some young people endure; it is an argument for taking care. . . Every year the American Library Association delights in releasing a list of the most frequently challenged books. A number of young-adult books made the Top 10 in 2010, including Suzanne Collins's hyper-violent, best-selling "Hunger Games" trilogy and Sherman Alexie's prize-winning novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. "It almost makes me happy to hear books still have that kind of power," Mr. Alexie was quoted saying; "There's nothing in my book that even compares to what kids can find on the Internet." . . .

Oh, well, that's all right then. Except that it isn't. It is no comment on Mr. Alexie's work to say that one depravity does not justify another. If young people are encountering ghastly things on the Internet, that's a failure of the adults around them, not an excuse for more envelope-pushing.”

Here’s the link to her entire article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html?KEYWORDS=Meghan+Cox+Gurdon

Author Sherman Alexie took issue with her thoughts. Here’s part of his response, and the corresponding link to his entire article:

Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood

By Sherman Alexi

The Wall Street Journal (wsj.com Speakeasy), June 9, 2011

“As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.

And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/09/why-the-best-kids-books-are-written-in-blood/

Sherman Alexie is the author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” winner of the 2007 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. He is currently at work on a sequel. His website is here.

                                

Here’s part of what Cheryl Klein thinks about the “is YA Too Dark” controversy, posted on her blog at http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/ from Monday, June 13, 2011.

“And then with #YASaves itself . . . Is there dark stuff in YA, all about sex and death? Sure. But there is also I Now Pronounce You Someone Else and StarCrossed and Eighth-Grade Superzero and July’s The Rites and Wrongs of Janice Wills, to name four books off my own list that are terrific and smart and not at all about angst; and I feel a little bit frustrated that YA is being tarred as a dark genre when there is such an incredible diversity that people just aren’t educated to see. (Or they can’t find the books in stores, because the darkness is what sells and therefore what gets on shelves.) If you’re scared about the darkness, by goodness, do more to celebrate the light. Read review magazines or YA blogs to find titles you approve of. Tell your local bookstore (whether a chain or an independent) that you’re looking for those kinds of books. Request specific titles, if you need to, and then buy them. Give those as gifts to friends whom you’re trying to educate about the genre and to teenagers. . . .
          Finally, the hard fact I always come back to whenever discussions like this come up: We (meaning writers, editors, publishers, even booksellers and librarians) cannot control readers’ reactions to the books they find through us. There may be readers who read books about cutting or bulimia or feeling suicidal (to pick three forms of darkness at random) and use them to start or continue those practices themselves. This is horrifying and sad but true. There will also be readers who already practice cutting or bulimia or who feel suicidal, who will truly benefit from seeing their experience reflected on the page and given that recognition by someone else; who will connect with that character, and be helped by seeing that character start to move back toward hope and out of the sickness, and may start to take that step themselves. This is inspiring and brave and also true.”

Here’s Jenny’s Two Cents:

I certainly enjoyed reading all kinds of books when I was a teen. Reading Go Ask Alice did not make me want to go out and experiment with drugs, but it did help me understand what was going on when an older girl I knew ran away from home with a drug dealer. The Outsiders didn’t make me want to stab any rich kids, but it gave me comfort growing up in an area where clear class lines existed between the haves and the have-nots.

Picking what YA books to read (and encouraging young readers to check out) is like my thoughts on drinking alcohol or eating rich foods – all things in moderation.  Just as devouring four Godiva chocolates at one sitting will make my stomach churn, reading four dark, heavy YA novels in a row will make me depressed.

Mix it up.

i.e. after reading 13 Reasons Why, try Twilight.

Sex and YA Novels

By Jenny Ramaley

A  few weeks ago, some of us Route 19 Writers gave ourselves an assignment: write a sex scene.

(not porn, mind you, but a literary scene with story, character, etc.)

         Huh, you might be thinking. Don't most of you write for children?

         Yes.  But Carol is working on an adult murder/mystery/suspense/thriller and we were encouraging her to raise the 'steamy' level in some of her scenes where the characters were peeling off various layers of clothes. "Hey," she protested. "It's not that easy. You guys should try it!" And being a supportive group, the rest of us, even the picture book gals, thought, "Yeah, this would be a good experience, a challenge that will loosen up our writing."

         Long story short, we had a blast one evening drinking wine and reading each other's stories out loud. Overall, group members surprised themselves. We produced good stories, rich in character and setting, where the physical act meant something – whether it was misguided love, first kisses, pure lust or corporate climbing.

         The project was especially useful for those of us who write YA novels, because sooner or later we're faced with a physical situation in our stories. Whether a character suppresses his or her desires or tries to satisfy them, all teens have raging hormones. Because of our 'assignment', I spent some time picking through YA books to see how different authors handle sex in their stories.

         First I turned to Gossip Girl. Although written in 2002 by Cecily von Ziegasar, the concept was brainstormed and controlled by Alloy Entertainment. The book morphed into a well-known print and TV series with a reputation for copious amounts of drugs, alcohol and sex. The story focuses on a group of neglected rich New York teens and drips with sexual innuendo. But if you really study the book, there's a lot more talk than action.

         Here's the scene where Serena has sex for the first time with her old friend Nate, who is also her best friend's boyfriend:

They both had sex for the first time. It was awkward and painful and exciting and fun, and so sweet they forgot to be embarrassed. It was exactly the way you'd want your first time to be, and they had no regrets.

         If you ask me, that sounds pretty vague. And tame.

         Compare that scene with another first-time experience found in Forever, the YA book written by Judy Blume in1975:

I whispered "Are you in . . . are we doing it?"

"Not yet," Michael said, pushing harder. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't worry . . . just do it!"

"I'm trying, Kath . . . but it's very tight in there."

"What should I do?"

"Can you spread your legs some more . . . and maybe raise them a little?"

"Like this?"

"That's better . . .much better."

I could feel him halfway inside me and then Michael whispered, "Kath . . ."

"What?"

"I think I'm going to come again."

I felt a big thrust, followed by a quick sharp pain that made me suck in my breath. "Oh . . . oh," Michael cried, but I didn't come. I wasn't even close.

         Due to its explicit, almost clinical, physical scenes, I can't help but wonder if this story would be published in today's conservative anti-sex-education world. Marcy said this book has been hard to find the book in recent years, but it's still highly in demand. I found my copy on a shelf at Target a few weeks ago.

         Although our pop culture drips with sex – think MTV rap videos, Jersey Shore and a relentless avalanche of sexy advertising -- teenagers still seem to covet information about the nuts and bolts of sex from sources other than reality TV and Glamour magazine. Carefully crafted YA books that deal with the subject of sex openly, honestly, with the pros and cons of these decisions worked into the stories can help fill this need.

         I wonder if any teens will be searching for Gossip Girl 36 years from now.