Uncreated Conscience

Lately I’ve been mulling over a question that seems to crop up in a lot of what I read for both work and pleasure, namely whether or not a definition of YA exists. Of course YA exists, but what it is seems to be a fluid idea, shaped by many different considerations: age of protagonist, marketing concerns, and the most controversial of all–reading level.

This morning on Twitter I posed the question of whether YA was a genre, a reading level, or a marketing category and the responses I got were great. People had varying opinions, of course, but what struck me was that in this roiling, frothing discussion, general a consensus was rising to the top:

YA is not a reading level; it is a specific perspective and aesthetic sensibility.

(more…)

A few days ago, Twitter exploded when The Wall Street Journal posted an article written by Meghan Cox Gurdon (and no, I’m not going to link it) about the so-called “darkness” of the subject matter in today’s YA being too poisonous for teens, as well as a none-too-subtle jab at the publishing industry for pushing these sorts of books in the market for implied titillation and exploitation.

And so it goes again.

Perhaps it’s because I’m not a parent, or perhaps it’s because I’m a reader who in some respects never left the YA shelves (grew up in it, stayed in it), but I get weary of the same judgmental arguments coming from hoity-toity, holier-than-thou “tastemakers” about what is or isn’t considered “appropriate” for children’s fiction.

I’m not going to touch on the bias against children’s fiction (although there is one), or the awesome #YAsaves conversations on Twitter. I’m going to address two bizarre notions that persist when it comes to conversations about books and reading: 1) that reading is supposed to be “good” for you, and 2) that what you read has a direct effect on your life.

(more…)

There must be something in the air (or perhaps the books we read and the media we consume) that is making many writers blog about the subject of sex in fiction (and specifically YA). Kody Keplinger (who wrote the wonderfully sex-positive THE DUFF) blogged about it (twice!) at YA Highway, Marie Lu asked why sex is considered “more shameful” than violence, and Karen Healey writes the most awesome kickass post about obligation, both teenage and adult.

We have a strange relationship with sex, and by “we”, I can only really talk about Americans because that is what I know and how I was raised. I think Coach Carr in Mean Girls sums up our weird attitude perfectly.

At your age, you’re going to have a lot of urges. You’re going to want to take off your clothes, and touch each other. But if you do touch each other, you WILL get chlamydia… and die! [...] Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don’t have sex in the missionary position, don’t have sex standing up, just don’t do it, OK, promise?

Sex is wrong! Sex will lead to consequences! But, uh, we feel uncomfortable talking about it, so be safe. Or better yet, let’s avoid it altogether! And if you can’t avoid it, then let’s avoid speaking of it at all!

(more…)

You know how when your body is deficient in certain nutrients, it will start craving foods rich with said nutrients? There must be a serious lack of literary contemporary YA in my reading diet, because lately, that’s all I’ve been craving.

Today my colleagues and I were discussing the vague sense of ennui that had fallen over us when it came to reading, submissions and published works alike. It isn’t that the works we’re getting aren’t good or exciting or whatnot; it’s just that what we’re getting is not satisfying that particular craving. And in my case, that craving is so bad it’s starting to overshadow everything else.

I like commercial books and always have, but recently I feel as though I’ve glutted myself on them. Fantasy and science fiction and high concept are all well and good, but they are fast-paced, involved, and a little exhausting. What I need now is something else, something that delves into the meaning of our existence as human beings, something that sinks itself into my ribcage to tear at my heart. I want to feel now, and I want my feelings to illuminate greater truths about life.

You know what I want? I want a book equivalent of that small indie film about “one great summer” that changed our lives forever. That intense, coming-of-age longing that comes with a great story about growing-up. I want it literary and affection and funny and—OMG.

You know what I want?

(more…)

On Twitter, I eavesdropped a little on a conversation between Barry Goldblatt and Malinda Lo about gay boys vs. gay girls in fiction (and specifically teen fiction). This, of course, got me thinking.

Cagney and Lacey, probably one of my first slash pairings ever.

LGBTQ characters are far from common, although thankfully they seem to be growing in visibility, although I feel (and this may not be true), that there is a bias towards gay boys, rather than gay girls. In YA, at least, I see many more gay boy characters than I do gay girl characters. Off the top of my head, I can think of several YA books with gay boy characters who are significant to their respective books, but I am having a little more trouble with books with gay girls.

I say significant to their books, not characters who exist as a walk-on to fulfill some sort of diversity quotient. Argh, tokenism.

(more…)

Now, my favourite books were Alice in Wonderland and The Secret Garden when I was younger, but my kitchen isn’t very well-stocked, nor do I have any houseplants. Clearly I ought to remedy this. (But there are so many books on this list I adored as a child! I couldn’t possibly choose one.)

This is a brilliant idea; perhaps I should give it a try myself at some point.

Internets! You should check this out.

Dear internet, you have probably seen me tweet about Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo‘s joint venture Diversity in YA, but I want to take the time to mention it again and explain why it is important to me.

(more…)

Things I have learned from YA Trivia Night:

1. I am really good with middle grade books published before 1997.
2. If it’s fantasy, I’m all over it.
3. I have appalling gaps in my children’s fiction knowledge including, but not limited to:
   • Picture books. No really, my knowledge of picture books (past and present) is abysmal.
   • Contemporary YA. If it doesn’t have magic, I probably won’t read it.
   • Contemporary anything really.
4. Scholastic’s offices are really shiny!

Alas, my team did not win a Golden Bunny, but we did draw a rockin’ picture of Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: Next Generation as an answer to a Reading Rainbow question.