A Response: The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Literature

But honestly, I don’t think it is fair for someone to say look how bad teen literature is and give only 3 examples.  I can turn right around and give her 3 positive examples of YA lit: Guitar Lessons by Mary Amato is a beautiful story of friendship and being true to yourself, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater is a beautiful fantasy series that has that literary feel to it she discusses, and Going Vintage by Lindsay Leavitt is a fun, flirty book with positive family and multigenerational interactions.  The thing is, 3 books proves nothing.  It isn’t a representative sampling. There are hundreds of YA books published every year, and they cover such a vast array of lives.  I think YA lit has its shortcomings, we definitely need more diversity for example, but I think it is so rich and bountiful and flourishing.

“This is why I am skeptical of the social utility of so-called “problem novels”—books that have a troubled main character, such as a girl with a father who started raping her when she was a toddler and anonymously provides her with knives when she is a teenager hoping that she will cut herself to death. (This scenario is from Cheryl Rainfield’s 2010 Young Adult novel, Scars, which School Library Journal hailed as “one heck of a good book.”) The argument in favor of such books is that they validate the real and terrible experiences of teenagers who have been abused, addicted, or raped—among other things. The problem is that the very act of detailing these pathologies, not just in one book but in many, normalizes them. And teenagers are all about identifying norms and adhering to them.”

Here’s the problem with using this example to make her argument: This is Cheryl’s life.  She was suicidal, she was a cutter, she was raped.  She is very open about it.  She writes about it to validate the experiences of those who have – who ARE – living lives exactly like this.  It’s not about framing or building a culture, it is about reflecting the very real lives of teenagers.  Not all teenagers, but some of them.  Yes, their stories make us uncomfortable – they should make us uncomfortable – but we don’t get to say you don’t get to tell your story because it makes me uncomfortable.  And I don’t think these stories normalize them at all, but by exposing them, by drawing back the curtain, we help teens that need it give voice to what is happening, to seek help, to find hope, to stop the crimes that are being committed against them in the dark by bringing them to light.