We kicked off class by talking about young adult literature as a genre now. (Like, right this very second. And this second. And the next few seconds as well, just to make sure.)
When we were asked what we read and why, the following was said:
"It could have bad grammar or poor styling, but if the characters were good..."
"Covers were, a lot of times, what attracted me to books."
"Who wants the pretty popular girl to get the guy? We want the underdog!"
"[The books I was reading] had a romanticized view of death. ... what the hell was I thinking!? [Death] isn't romantic!"
"Nobody told me what I should read. I wish I had been on better terms with my librarian!"
" 'I wanna be an adult!' I didn't want to be a teenager, even if the characters [in the adult books I was reading] were my age."
We came to the conclusions that a lot of people read as a form of escapism from the world around them. It works to their benefit, and it can help educate with a strange form of wisdom - it teaches us without being overly didactic. (Good literature should disrupt our way of thinking, or make us think!)
We also talked about how we all got our books from the library. (Libraries, my class is sending a lot of lovin' your way!)
The professor also talked about the "four major players" in creating young adult literature:
- librarians (the new generation, not the old grumpy ones who have never read YA)
- publishers
- booksellers
- authors
And how, conspicuously absent, is the best player of all: the reader. Our opinion is often discounted because, unlike adults, we can't be both the ideal reader and the publisher or the bookseller or the librarian.
Thankfully, the internet is changing that. (Apparently we'll be looking at how teenagers review things on Amazon, etc., and how that can change what's being put out. Eek!)
We also mentioned, briefly, about how the genre as a whole seems to be character based and issue driven. YA lit tends to talk about a social problem, and the characters are always teenagers. (Unlike in adult literature, where you can have teenage protagonists.)
Next week, we start discussing Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, both as an historical artifact (what was life like then? the writing style?) and as a piece of literature ("formal features and thematic content")!
A Question For The Comments:
What books did you read as a teen? (Or, if you still are a teen, what are you reading now?) Why? How did you get access to them? Why were you drawn/repelled to them? What purpose did it/does it have in your social, emotional, and intellectual development?
Did you miss a class?
(Syllabus)
(Day 1)
I'm sorry but your prof just hit on one of my all-time biggest pet peeves.
ReplyDeleteYA isn't a genre. It's an age-range. We'd never say adult books are a genre. No, they are sci fi or literary or realistic or romance or western or fantasy.
YA's the same way. Every genre of books is written for the YA mark-up (except maybe erotica.) But when we call YA a genre, instead of an age-range, it makes books written for teens that much easier to dismiss. :(
I'd rather call it a genre than an age-range. Age-range makes it sound more like a children's book. (Age 0-3, 4-6, 8+, etc.) Genre makes it sound better, I think.
DeleteMmm, we're not sure we entirely agree that YA isn't a genre. We understand the objection, but we think it's sort of a moot point.
Deletegenre - "a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter."
YA lit, though it is a wide umbrella that covers many sub-genres (fantasy, romance, contemporary, scifi, etc.) can still be considered a category. That doesn't necessarily mean it's being dismissed. It's all in how the term is used/perceived.
And actually, people ARE starting to call "adult" fic it's own genre. Which we think speaks to how powerful and popular YA lit is getting. :)
Um, market. Not "mark-up."
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teen I read "issue" books-- books like Speak and Go Ask Alice. I read them because nobody was talking about the issues tackled by the books, not my parents and not my teachers. And yet, many of my friends were facing these issues every day!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager, I didn't go to the library =[. But, I did get an allowance. So, I would save and save and save until the day my mom would take me to the bookstore. Then I would easily drop $70 on books. Even though I bought my own books, my mom was still aware of the books I was reading. Perfect way to start a dialogue! And yet, there was no dialogue.
I also read books like Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging because they were light-hearted and hilarious.
And just to add to the genre vs. age range bit. I mean, I know YA technically isn't a genre, but I prefer genre to age range. I see age range as limiting. Like, if you're older or younger than the "age range", then reading the book is inappropriate.
When we were teens, we read widely. Sarah and Kristan read mostly adult lit, classics, etc. -- English nerds who loved it. Ingrid was a little more mainstream, reading some early YA fic (like The Outsiders) but also things like Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood that were "for adults" but had crossover appeal to youth. Stephanie mostly read fantasy.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm still a teen but I read just about anything except paranormal. I'm on VERY good terms with my Librarians and so we discuss books all the time. My current favorite genre is dystopian novels which pretty much stemmed from The Hunger Games which I got exposed to through my library book club. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this: "librarians (the new generation, not the old grumpy ones who have never read YA)"
ReplyDeleteI also love chatting with teens about books - and seeing what they like. Often we like the same books.
Loving these posts! I think the take-home message re. genre vs. age-range is that this is one of the button issues for YA advocates still.
ReplyDeleteGenre doesn't have to conjure up associations with pulpy fiction... and I'd pick it over age-range, too, since I'd be thrilled to have lots of older readers reading my stuff. It's not "just" for teens; my students are just the ones I imagined as the audience while writing.
To answer the question re reading as a teen: I didn't even know YA existed, beyond Cynthia Voigt and Judy Blume. I was before the time, I guess, when it had a proper place in the library and so I just read out of the adult section. I started reading YA when I began teaching high-school kids, and that's when the love began!
Thanks again for letting us peak over your shoulder. :)
Love love the library. I also get ALL my books from there. As a teen I read Fear Street and I got them from my mom and dad. Actually... I didn't read as a teen. I read in middle school. High school i was too busy trying to be cool and then during college I started reading again!
ReplyDeleteAngie