I plan to be a diva someday . . . - Why Young Adult Books Aren't Adult Books . . . and they aren't Happy Meals either!

melissawyatt posted this review which appeared in The Guardian in which the reviewer, Frank Cottrell Boyce (a children's author of Millions, among others) bemoans the fact that the book in question is being published as YA and, indeed, seems to bemoan the very existence of YA literature, which he compares to a kids' meal.

I'm sorry that Mr. Boyce believes that YA novels are beneath the teenagers who read them, and I am even more sorry that there are so many adults out there who want to use what amounts to elitism as an excuse to deny teenagers a choice of reading material.  I do not really understand the problem with having several different categorizations for books, all of which may appeal to different readers of the same age (Do we "ghettoize" mysteries by shelving them separately?).  But I know that there are many people, including parents, who would much prefer that their kids skip right to adult books.  As long as it's their own kids, that's fine, but there is a place for young-adult literature, and it's on the shelves.

I agree with Mr. Boyce in one particular.  I believe there are a few books published as YA, which would have been better published as adult.  If a book is written from an adult perspective, it is an adult book.  The mere fact that teens will read such a book does not make them young-adult, just as the mere fact that some teens enjoy To Kill a Mockingbird does not make it young-adult literature.  I agree with Mr. Boyce that nothing will ever make To Kill a Mockingbird a YA.

What I disagree with Mr. Boyce about is that all teens should be reading adult books.  It is a question of taste and readiness.  There are definitely teens who don't have much use for young-adult literature.  My own daughter, age 12, is a great reader, and she already reads almost exclusively long science fiction and fantasy novels (McKinley, Lowry, Westerfeld), hated the Sharon Draper novel assigned her in her 7th grade class, and just today told me that a realistic novel we'd both read and I enjoyed was "too easy."  So I'm going to guess that she will leave YA literature behind entirely, long before she leaves her teen years behind.  That's fine.  I'm well aware that some teens prefer adult books.  I read mostly adult books when I was a teen too.  It was only when I got older that I came to appreciate the economy and immediacy of young-adult literature.

But I do enough school visits to know that this is not true of every every kid.  There are plenty of teens who read YA literature (I visit mostly high schools), who like my books and love Sharon Draper's.  These are kids who like to read young-adult literature because it relates to their lives in a way that Jane Austen or even Pat Conroy, John Irving, and Amy Tan (all authors whose novels often feature younger protagonists) do not.  It is about them.

Just today, I got the following e-mail from a teen I'll call "Tiffany" (I feel comfortable reproducing it because she also posted most of it to my website message board):

"i live in the ghetto which is _________,texas and i hate to read but thanks to  your book "beastly" im addicted.  its just non stop.  i cant stop reading because i HAVE to find out what happens next!  right now im on page 256 im reading while typing, im gonna go ahead and tell you i may not have read any other books but beastly but i promise you im your biggest fan i love you and i dont even know you.  its like the tragically true "real" story of beauty and the beast i lost interest in princesses and stuff like when i was 9 but now im 13 and thanks to you -dont tell anyone!- i like them again...."

Okay, now first off, I'm not saying my book is special, because I know a lot of other authors get letters like this too.  My book was just the book this particular girl happened to find.  It could have been another book that had this effect on her.  

But the point is, this is a girl who was lost to reading.  She claims never to have read any other books.  Any others.  But now, she's read one, and it was a YA book.  Maybe she'll read another book by the same author or in the same genre (and I'll certainly be recommending some to her).  Maybe eventually, she'll move on to the adult books Mr. Boyce thinks are so important.  Maybe she won't.  In either case,  reading some books for pleasure will probably improve her reading skills.  In turn, this will improve her writing skills.  That might improve her grades.  Eventually, she may get a better job or even go to college because she became a reader, and that happened because of young-adult literature. 

But Mr. Boyce would like to throw Tiffany a copy of The Handmaid's Tale.  And if that's too difficult for her, well, she should look forward to a career handing out the Happy Meals he compares our books to.  Sorry, Tiff.  Books just aren't your thing.

Do only teens who can read beyond their level deserve books?  Are books only for teens who grew up in homes where reading was prized and modeled by parents who looked forward to helping their kids with phonics?  Or can one discover reading at any time?  Do we really want to place reading out of reach of some teens by making the bookshelves only about children's books and adult books?*

The reason restaurants have kids' meals is because there are kids who are beyond the stage where they eat the baby food and Cheerios their moms bring for them, but they're not quite ready for adult meals.  Now, if a child is unusually large for his or her age, he can certainly order off the adult menu, just as a teen can certainly pick up an adult book.  They have a choice.  But for many kids, the kids' meal is just what they need, and for many teens, young adult literature is what they need too.

And, as far as it goes, the Happy Meal doesn't have nearly the calories and fat you'd find in a Big Mac Value Meal.  I believe it is the same with young-adult literature.  Less fat.

I also think that Mr. Boyce should be careful what he wishes for.   Boyce is, as I mentioned, a children's author.  His scorn of YA fiction leaves his own novels safely on the shelves.  Of course younger kids should be able to read children's books.  In fact, if there were no young-adult literature, perhaps they would continue to read his books a bit longer rather than switching right to Atwood.

But I know any number of parents who prefer that their kids read above their level, if only so that they can brag to their friends about how advanced Little Susie is.  And, indeed, the parents who push their kids to read ahead are often the parents who can best afford to buy hardcover children's books.  I recently saw a girl in my younger daughter's (3rd grade) class reading a "junior" version of Pride and Prejudice  (There is so much wrong with that that I don't know where to begin -- what possible interest can an 8-year-old have in the problems caused by a fee tail estate in 18th century England?  Okay, I guess I did know where to begin).  If there are no young-adult books for these parents to shun in favor of adult books, perhaps it will be children's literature they will leave behind.  Maybe these kids will read Harry Potter in kindergarten and move right on to War and Peace.  

That would be great, right?




*I should say that I think there are plenty of college-bound teens who read YA literature too.  I have an author friend whose daughter eventually went to no less than Harvard, and she read quite a bit of YA literature.  I'm going to guess that since she went to college as an English major, she read other books too.  She liked both.

Current Mood: contemplative