Comments on: YA throwdown–part II

By: DBurks

DBurks — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:18:32 +0000

Aren’t most people all over the blogs missing the point? A sale was lost because of perverse appearances. No matter what the book contained it was presented in a way that made the purchaser turn away. Publishing is about selling books. Every young adult reader has at least six middle aged relatives who occasionally need to buy a gift for them for less than twenty dollars which can be sent through the mail, does not come in sizes and can be purchased without a lot of time or thought. A book is an ideal choice, but the buyer usually has no knowledge of the subject or the writer or current issues among teenagers. The gift is a token of some minor occasion like a birthday, and the giver never wants to be controversial or embarass the parents. There are millions of potential buyers for a book that promises adventure and excitement so why present it as dark, perverse and wicked? So, gift cards proliferate, and a book sale is lost. At best a safe classic from the nineteenth century is purchased, but Rudyard Kipling, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne and Jack London deal with every dark and dangerous issue imaginable. Publishing is about selling books; we should make it easy.

By: Amy Armstrong

Amy Armstrong — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:43:01 +0000

I’m so glad I’m not alone in being totally cheesed-off by Gurdon’s rebuttal. It was such gratuitous BS, and I kept wondering, Why is she even bothering? She’s just repeating herself?

Still, I’m grateful for her obnoxious posts. They’re terrific sources of blog traffic for me since I started posting the link to my response in her comments. Tee hee!

By: Stephanie Scott

Stephanie Scott — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 16:39:40 +0000

Right after the first WSJ “dark YA” piece was published, I checked out the book section at Target; an entire aisle is devoted to YA. One half of the books had dark colored covers with the typical paranormal themes. The rest of the books showed an array of pinks and purples on the jackets, not even hinting at a “dark” theme. I picked through half a dozen of them and saw no mention of cutting, suicide or whatever else could be thought of as poison to our teens :/ Even sifting through the “dark” books I found most to be fantasy and romance.

In a half-assed search I found many books I’d feel comfortable giving to my friend’s teenage daughters. AND these were easily accessible. Even WalMart has YA books now.

I found the rebuttle article by Gurdon to be smug and off-putting. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I still feel her research is more of pick-and-choose variety to illustrate whatever point she’s making. Is it her goal to further frustrate parents and discourage their kids from reading?

By: John

John — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:30:15 +0000

Wow, ask and ye shall receive! Thanks for chiming in everyone. Not that we’re competitive about how many comments our blogs get or anything… but seriously, wish the “discussion” on the WSJ site were as thought-provoking (and polite) as this!

By: Clix

Clix — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:13:06 +0000

Lord of the Flies, maybe? That one featured kids killing each other… and they weren’t even pushed into it. I’m sure there are others, but that one (and it’s a Classic, too!) popped into my head immediately.

By: therealjasonb

therealjasonb — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:18:04 +0000

So while I agree her argument is a bit over the top, has YA lit gotten darker? I don’t really keep up, but I remember reading stuff like A Wrinkle in Time, the Chronicles of Prydain, the Pern books, etc. and I don’t remember them being quite so dark. I mean, none of them featured teenagers killing each other at any rate. Then again, those books were probably around but I just didn’t stumble upon them. I’m guessing the issue is probably magnified since Hunger Games is so popular everyone (apparently) is trying to copy it. (Which is strange, since I found it sort of boring. Oh well…)

By: Kerry Gans

Kerry Gans — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:39:49 +0000

Yes, “credible” was the word I was searching for and my brain refused to find this morning

In my own thought process, though, I do wonder if using research to make her argument “credible” may have also made some people more accepting of her opinion? Sort of “Oh, well, the experts agree with her, so maybe she’s right after all?”

But you’re probably right, Sarah – people are just tired of the argument. We all have better things to do, and, really, her opinion is not going to change what publishers sell. Only if teens stop buying “dark” books will publishers stop selling them.

Kerry

By: Clix

Clix — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:37:50 +0000

I’m glad this one’s placed in the “Opinion” section. And her statement that she’s interested in discussing ANYTHING is a bald-faced LIE. I’m so over it. 😛

By: Lisa Marie

Lisa Marie — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:40:51 +0000

::Cheers for Amy!::

Parents — even us “hip aunties” — must know what’s appropriate for children, given their age and level of maturity. My folks always knew what I was reading, and certain books were forbidden until I was older. Of course back in that particular day, it was Judy Blume’s “Forever” or any book that dealt with teen sex. To my mind, they made the right decision. I shouldn’t have been reading about teen sex when I was 13, 14 or 15 any more than I should have been going to see R-rated films.

Obviously, these were simpler times. Sigh.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:38:21 +0000

I’m with Saundra and many others here – this one was clearly marked Opinion and as such didn’t anger me quite as much. And I wasted enough energy over the first one.

I don’t think Gurdon was saying anything other than there are bad things out there and sometimes it influences good people. I agree with that, actually. Thankfully, our kids don’t live in a vacuum. Anything we just throw at our kids without context — books, movies, tv, music – any of those things can send the “wrong message” if we just leave our children to figure out everything completely on their own. Really, when I look at the long list of influences on my children, even the darkest YA book is going to be near the bottom of my list of worries. But I thought that was why parents parent – we’re not just here to buy food and clothes and that’s it.