YA Books? Not My Responsibility!

When I was a teenager in the mid-90’s, I had my own little stash of vampire-themed novels.  While the vampires didn’t sparkle or play baseball, they were tormented dudes with a soft spot for teenage girls (and the supple part of their necks).  As a teenager who never quite fit in, the “outsider” element of the vampires appealed to me.  The vampires and I were forced to live a tormented existence together.  It made sense to me, but not to my mom, who was horrified to discover my vamp books.  She grabbed a trash bag, tossed my novels in, and I never saw them again.  

At the time, I hated my mom for it.  

But my mom was doing what mothers are supposed to do—she was being a parent.  She deemed this reading material inappropriate for her 14 year-old daughter, discarded it, and spent $30 buying me “appropriate” books.  It wasn’t until years later—really until the big debate over the WSJ article occurred—that I realized she did the right thing.  I mean, I don’t think those novels would have turned her Christian teenager into a Satanist or that the books in and of themselves were all that harmful.  Yet my mother cared about my mind, what it was being filled with, and paid attention to the books I read. Plus, honestly, after that, I started reading books like The Hobbit and Canterbury Tales.  No doubt she also saved me from substandard writing as well.

Young Adult (YA) books have come a long way since 1994.  Personally, I like YA novels, since discovering the wonders of the Harry Potter series, which I think is masterfully written.  I still compare most fiction, no matter the genre, to the articulate structure of the Harry Potter novels.  There is a wealth of novels that cater to young adults—and yes, many do have a slightly unsettling otherworldly theme—but not all do.  To lump all YA books into the same category is simply unfair--something the writer of the WSJ article did not take into consideration.

But...YA books aren't all teens with wands, fairy tale retellings, and chick lit for tween girls. 

 

While many of the covers of YA books are beautiful, some are not.  I don’t know a lot about the book  Anna Dressed in Blood, but if I was the parent of a teenager, I’d have to think pretty hard about letting my kid carry that one around.  And don’t even get me started on the cover of Scars, which I’ve heard is a good book (one I’ve even tried to win)—the cover COULD be triggering to kids who struggle with self-injury.  

However, that doesn’t mean that teens shouldn’t read Scars; it just means that we need to be careful.  And we should not let our preferences determine what literature is worthy or unworthy.

Despite my fascination with vampires as a teen, I don’t care for them now.  I mean, yes, I’ve watched the Twilight movies, but that’s about it.  I’m not really into werewolves or ghosts or dead-girl-dating-live-guy kind of stuff.  I’ve never been much into horror, suspense, or thriller stuff, so I pass. 

Yet as a Christian, I do take issue with angel/human or demon/human romances, which I believe completely distorts the Bible’s view of the role of angels and demons and their interactions with humans.  However, I know that not everyone is a Christian or holds the same beliefs as me.  This is a conviction, and yes, I do find the fascination with realm of the supernatural deeply disturbing.  In fact, I would advocate against teens reading these types of books, which I find a lot more dangerous than sparkly vampires.  And, yes, if I had a teen who owned these types of books, you’d better believe I’d toss ‘em into the closest dumpster.  Because that’s what responsible parents do. 

So, what do responsible authors, publishers, librarians, and book stores do?  Should be put ratings on books, like we do on movies and video games? Maybe.  Should publishing companies be careful about their marketing?  Definitely.  Should we ban books?  I mean, does that ever help?  And, what about kids with irresponsible parents who are sneaking off with the Sookie Stackhouse novels?  What do we do about those kids?  I mean, what do we do and who’s responsible?

I'm responsible and you're responsible.  You and me book blogger/review/lover/reader, we are responsible for writing reviews on our blogs and on consumer websites, for recommending books to our friends, for investing in the reading lives of young people.  By building trust with our readers and our book clubs, we are ambassadors for these books we treasure (and sometimes dislike.)  Our methods will always be different and we won't always agree on whether or not a book is appropriate for its intended audience, but I do believe we all want to see books empower ideas, stir imagination, and offer adventures of the mind, not to cause evil or to harm others. On this, I think, we can agree.

Actually, we’re all responsible because we're on this spinning village called Earth and it takes a village to raise a child.  Child, we are your village and for your sake, we better all start acting responsibly.

(Note: I wrote this post after reading Andye at Reading Teen’s excellent post, “YA Hurts or YA Saves: Chiming In on the Wall Street Journal Article.”  While many book bloggers are reacting to the article itself, I was interested in how Andye keeps tabs on what her kids read.  I appreciate Andye’s sensitivity in talking about this issue and support a parent’s right to guide her children how she sees fit.)