I fiddle around with Twitter. A bit. Haven't tweeted much in the year I've been on it, but I like to follow authors, actors and bands I like. Keeps me somewhat in the loop with things I'm interested in. It's how I stay up to date with Shannon Hale's blog posts and book signings with other authors I like (James Dashner, etc.). And I find out interesting things from time to time. Like the fact that the New York Times published an article about why YA fiction is junk and full of smut and things we shouldn't be letting kids between the ages of 12 and 18 read.
I sincerely disagree. In fact, in the article, they cite S.E. Hinton as being the start of all the smuttiness in YA literature. In middle school, S.E. Hinton's first novel, The Outsiders, was my favorite book. It may have been a little gritty - dealing with class differences (the Socs vs the Greasers) and had things like smoking and gang fights and even a murder- but I have seen far worse stuff in adult literature that I feel isn't even worth my time because it doesn't change the way I view the world. Some of it is just smut.
I'm not going to say all YA literature is gold. Some of it isn't worth my time, either. But I have found a lot of books in the YA area at Barnes and Noble that have been worth my time. They've made me think and changed the way I think about the world. The Book Thief, The Hunger Games, almost everything I've ever read by Dianna Wynne Jones or Garth Nix and Shannon Hale, have done just that. And some of them are just fun reads, things that keep me reading and learning. What's wrong with that? Why do we have to discourage kids from reading just because one person thinks what's there is "fluff" and not "classic literature"? If we try to force things like classics on kids, they loose interest in reading, which can cause problems down the road.
I also have to point out that as an adult, I personally choose to continue to read books from the YA section precisely because they are less smutty than the alternatives I find in the Literature (grown up books) section of the book store. I can pick up most books in the YA section and find them filled with far less swearing and sexual content than most of the books in the literature section. I feel like I'm safe choosing books from the YA section because I won't be encountering as many F-bombs or sex scenes. Sure, some swearing and drug and sex content can be found in YA books. I take into account the fact that that is the world that teens are living in, to a degree, and it's what they relate to. I think kids need to relate to the things they read, in order to keep some of them interested in reading. And sure, I don't think parents should go around being unaware of what their kids are reading. If a parent is concerned about the books their kids are choosing to read, maybe they can read them with their kids and stay aware of what the books are about in a way that doesn't rely on "So and so told me that this book had (insert issue here) in it." This is how books get banned. Especially books that don't deserve it, because they teach really valuable things (This brings me back to the issue I wrote about when the book Speak was in danger of being banned by a school because one guy pointed to all these things in the book out of context. I have now read the book, and found nothing offensive in it. I would probably not let a 12 year old read it without talking about it with them, but it dealt with an issue that was relevant and important for teen girls). Most of the time, the people saying these things about the books have not actually read them, at least not in their entirety.
I am reminded of the fact that I heard such good things about The Time Traveler's Wife. I decided to read it based on the good that I had heard. Somehow everyone who told me how good the book was failed to mention that there was a regular stream of swearing including many uses of the F word, lots of talk about sex and drug use, and it was downright depressing (I won't condemn every part of the book. There were redeeming qualities. But be warned if you haven't read it yet, that is what you can expect).
I think the most important thing about literature is that it is accessible to the reader. That the reader can relate to the story and take something from it, even if that something is merely entertainment. And as in most cases with situations like this, I know I am not expressing everything I'm thinking as well as I could be. There are so many things to look at and consider when it comes to the things we choose to let into our homes, books included. I think Shannon Hale put it brilliantly in her post about the controversy surrounding Speak (found here with more thoughts on the matter found here and another blurb about book choices here. Actually, Shannon is full of thoughts on the matter of books and banning and the appropriateness of books in the YA section of your local bookstore. Lots of it is worth reading).
I will get off my soap box now, and let you think what you may. But I felt I had to share some of my thoughts again, as this is something that matters to me.
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