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Young Adult
Literature
CHRIS CROWE,EDITOR
THEPROBLEM
WITHYALITERATURE
Despite their incredible success, J. K. Rowling's
HarryPotterbooks,which,now that Harryis four-
teen yearsoldin HarryPotterandthe Gobletof Fire
can be comfortablyconsideredYAliterature,have
had plentyof criticism.The cited faultsof the Pot-
ter books are many,rangingfrom pedestrianwrit-
ing to occultcontent.
Attackson YAbooks are nothingnew. For
morethana centurytherehavebeen vocalparents,
teachers, and librarianswho have attackedbooks
writtenspecificallyfor teenagers.Theircomplaints
havevariedoverthe years,but mostobjectionsgen-
erallyfall into one of two categories:YAbooks are
bad because
1. They aren'tthe Classics.
2. They corruptthe young.
Of course,I haveto agreethatmanyYAnov-
els fallshortof the depthandartisticdevelopmentof
the greatworksof the literarycanon.And,yes,I sup-
pose therearesomeYAbooksthatmighthavea neg-
ative effect on certain teenage readers,but as a
passionateproponentof the field,I ampersonallyac-
quaintedwiththe "lure"of YAliterature.The lure,at
leastin the best books,is obvious:greatwriting,en-
gagingstories,memorablecharacters. GoodYAbooks
canknockthe reluctanceoutof reluctantreaders,can
provokecriticalthinkingin sophisticated readers,and
canprovidehoursof pleasureformostallreaders.
So, what'sthe problem?
One problemis whatto call these books.
In an earlier column (September 1998) I
talkedaboutsome of the labelsplacedon literature
for teenagersin the lastseveraldecadesandthe in-
herent weaknessesof each. The label, whether it
happensto be "YA" or somethingelse, existsmostly
for marketing.Publishersandlibrarianswantto get
januarY 2001
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booksfor teenagersinto the handsof teenagers,so
some sort of label is necessary. Still, as Chris
Crutcherpointed out in Voicesfrom the Middle
(December 1999),the YAlabelis as misguidedand
troublesomeas any other the field has had. "Most
teens I know don'tbelieve we see them as adults,
youngor otherwise,"wroteCrutcher."Socallinglit-
erature about them 'young adult literature'just
doesn't ring true to them" (18). Crutcher'sright.
Teenagersnaturallywantto be seen as adults,so any
label thatmarksthem-or the booksthey read-as
somethingless than adultis repulsiveto them.
Anotherproblemis quality.Becauseof a few
badYAapples,the entirefieldhascome underfire.
In an articlein US News (9 August1999) Holly J.
Morrispointedout thatYAbooksareoften a tough
sell to kidsandtheirparents:
[Y]earsof bad marketinghave made it difficultto
convince teens that there are young adult titles
worth reading. High schoolers, turned off by the
schlockyromance and horrorserialsthat crowd
YAsections in bookstores,often give up on books
altogetheror skip from kid books to John Grisham
and Stephen King. "Theyseem reallycheesy,"
says 16-year-oldLacey Pearlmanof Walpole,
Massachusetts,whose recent reads include In the
Lakeof the Woods,Tim O'Brien'sbrutal,adult
novel of post-VietnamAmerica."Whenyou see [a
Sweet ValleyHigh novel] next to what could be
a reallygood book, it persuadesyou not to get
[the good book]."
(www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990908/nycu/
books.htm)
It'sno surprisethatthe rangeof qualityis as
broadin YAliteratureas it is in adultliterature.We
havea handfulof classics,followedby a goodbunch
of brilliantnovels,followedby an impressivecollec-
tion of readableandentertainingbooks,but we also
havesomeYAnovelsmarredbyweakwritingand/or
boundin repulsivejuvenilecovers.Unfortunately, the
clunkersare the books that criticsof YAliterature
seem to be mostfamiliarwith. If someone'slooking
for lousy books to use to condemn the entire field, it's
easy to browse the shelves in a discount store and find
an armful of poorly conceived, badly written, mind-
less books labeled "YA."Most teachers and librarians
can quickly name popular schlock that often domi-
nates the elective reading of many teenagers. And
sometimes truly awful cover art is enough to con-
demn a book without even opening it. Whether we
like it or not, teenagers-and YA critics-often do
judge books by their covers, and amateurishor child-
ish or sloppy cover art convinces manykids that these
booksarenotforthem.Whenteenagersortheirpar-
ents see or readone "reallycheesy"YAbook,it'seas-
ier forthem to dismissthe entirefield.
Anotherproblem,for some people at least,
is that YAbookshaven'tbeen aroundlong enough
to be canonized. In a recent syndicatedcolumn,
KathleenParker'sattackon YAliteratureparalleled
the concerns of many adults; she's upset about
"... the latest fad of shelving literaryclassics in
favor of contemporary,more fun-to-read books,
which is now being advancedby the nation'soops-
educationists."She adds, "[W]e do children no
favorby continuallyloweringthe barto accommo-
date their appetite for entertainment"(Salt Lake
Tribune26 Mar.2000: AA1).Parkerprobablydid-
n'treallymeanto suggestthatliteraryclassicsaren't
entertaining,but her argumentrelies on the tradi-
tionalviewsthatif somethingis entertaining,it cer-
tainlycan'tbe worthwhile,and that hardwork,in
this case readingthe classics,thoughinherentlyun-
pleasant,is ultimatelygood for you.
If someone's looking for lousy
books to use to condemn the
entire field, it's easy to browse
the shelves in a discount store
and find an armful of poorly
conceived, badly written,
mindless books labeled "YA."
Not all teachers of literature agree, of course,
and many use challenging YA books in meaningful
ways and classic works of literature in entertaining
ways. Often, however, some teachers and concerned
parents (including me) have seen the adverse effects
the classics can have on unprepared or reluctant
readers. Because of this, we are sometimes guilty of
what David Laubach lamented in an issue of Cali-
fornia English: "In their desire to push young adult
literature, these [NCTE] authors make the classics
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villains"(Fall 1997: 15). Though most teachers
wouldneveradvocatethatYAbooksshouldsupplant
the classics,their defensive stance,which calls for
the more reasoneduse of the classics and the in-
creaseduse of goodYAbooks,probablymakescrit-
ics feel that YAbooks are threateningthe place of
the classicsin schoolcurricula.
One of the most vociferousand articulate
criticsof the HarryPotterbooks,Britishwriterand
criticAnthonyHolden,uses the same "classics"ar-
gument as Parker.In defendinghis actionsin the
Whitbreadjudging(which,in a heated debate, se-
lected SeamusHeaney'snew translationof Beowulf
over one of Rowling'snovelsfor the prestigiouslit-
eraryprize),wrotein TheObserver:
We are a countrywith dramaticallydeclining stan-
dardsof literacy,increasinglydraggeddown to the
lowest common denominatorby the purveyorsof
all forms of mindless mass entertainment.The suc-
cess of the Potter books is just another dispiriting
proof of the Murdoch-leddumbing down of all our
lives ... These are some of the reasonswhy I said,
during and after the Whitbreadjudging, that a vic-
tory for HarryPotter "wouldhave sent out a signal
to the world, like the monarchyand the Dome,
that Britainis a countrythat refuses to take itself
seriously."I did not, as reported,furtherargue that
children'sbooks cannot be great literature.Of
course they can, if they are well-written,stretch
the reader'simaginationand open virginminds to
the magicalpower of words.
(www.observer.co.uk/review/story/
0,6903,335923,00.html)
EventhoughHoldenadmitsthatsomebooks
for youngreadershave risento "classic"status,the
problemis the "classic" label.We do havesomenov-
els that are indeed classicsin YAliterature,but the
fieldsimplyhasn'tbeen aroundlongenoughto stand
the test of time the way Beowulf, Shakespearean
plays, Pride and Prejudice,War and Peace, and
other workshave. So, while there are some classic
YAstories,there reallyareno booksthatfit into the
generallyacceptedclassificationof literaryclassics,
and for many critics of the field, this is a serious
problem. There are adults who believe that young
people should read the classics and nothing else.
They feel that the reading and study of anything less
than canonized literature handicaps readers' cul-
tural literacy, weakens students' minds, and wastes
valuable educational time and resources.
Although the "classic"argument against YA
books has not diminished much lately, it has been
overshadowed by a more recent concern about
JOUrnal
EINGLISH
"bleak"booksbeingreleasedby YApublishers.One
of the firstto note the increasein bleakYAnovels
was Sara Mosle, writing in the New YorkTimes
Magazine(2 August 1998). This is how she began
her article:
Somewherein Americatonight,in a deliciousrite
of childhood, a teen-ager will curl up in a window
seatoroverstuffedsofato devoura young-adult
novel ... about murder,incest, rape or drug addic-
tion. These are the subjects of a spate of recently
published young-adultnovels... (34)
Her observationaboutthistrendin YAliteratureled
to an outburstof similargeneralizationsaboutthe
currentstateof the field:
* ... the trend in teen-age literaturehas
been towardstark,reality-basedfiction.
books, or the books
"Young-adult"
aimed at readers 12 years old and
older,consistentlyexplorethemes
such as rape, mental illness and murder.
(Julia Duin, Insight on the News 31
Jan.2000: 26)
* These books [ThePerksof Beinga Wall-
flower, TheBuffaloTree,TheFacts Speak
for Themselves,Smack]and othersthat
featurestarkthemes, complexplot lines
and ambiguousresolutionsare edging
out the happyendingsand conventional
moralsof the old-styleteen "problem"
novels,whichwould obsess over some-
thinglike divorce,or an accidental
pregnancyfor 120 pages."(DavidSpitz,
Time19 July1999:79)
* These examples[ThePigman,TheGoats,
I KnowWhythe CagedBird Sings]arelit-
eraturein the sense thatNationalEnquirer
reportson PamelaLee are.Thisis the
trashthatplantsthe destructiveseeds of
violence,theft, and sexualperversionin
the stillmalleablemindsof children.
(MarianneM. Jennings,DeseretNews
13 Sept. 1999: A9)
These bleak generalizations about novels for
teenagers have fanned the criticalfires of adultswho
are already worried that YA books corrupt the
young. Unfortunately, this negative press has also
caused concern among some people who previously
had no problems with YAliterature.
Attempts like Kimberly Coniff's in Brill's
Content to explain this new bleakness in YA books
have done little to pacify critics:
* januar ool2001
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The trend towardhard-coreliteratureis partlya
ploy to lure those older teens back to the young-
adult category ... This is today'snew teen novel:
gritty,immediate, and brazenlyhard-core.The
charactersdeal with any number of controversial
issues, from incest and sexual abuse to suicide and
murder.Suddenlythose dog-earedpages of Judy
Blume'sForever don'tseem so racyany more.
(Sept. 1999: 23)
Coniffmakesit soundas if publishersarepandering
to the moreprurienttastesof today'sadolescents.If
adultswho aren'tfamiarwith YAbooksbelieve her
assessment,they'resureto be willingto join the as-
saulton YAliterature.How manyparentsor teach-
ers want their children or students reading and
studyingwhat,accordingto these bleakgeneraliza-
tions,is essentiallyR or NC-17 ratedmaterial?
Thisoverlynegativeperceptionof today'sYA
booksis a big problem.
Fortunately,not all YAbooksare so awfully
bleak, not allattemptsto explainthe bleaktrend
and
in YApublishingfeed the negativehype.One of the
most articulateandthoughtfulsupportersof YAlit-
erature,MichaelCart,weighedin on thisphenom-
enon in his Booklistcolumn(15 Sept. 1999):
Why has all this happened? To some in the media,
it is a product of publishers'franticefforts to
"tempt"or "lure"(such words crop up repeatedly
in reportsof this phenomenon) teens back to read-
ing by publishingR-ratedbooks. Concerned adults
are invited, thus, to view publishingpersonified as
a dirtyold man, approachinga group of teens and
wheezing, "Hey kids"(luridpause), "wantsome-
heh, heh, heh-books?"
Although I don'tdoubt that marketforces are
a part of the edgy book phenomenon ... I also
think sensationalizingby the mainstreammedia
impugns the integrityof the editorswho are de-
voted to young-adultliteratureand patronizesthe
teens themselves. (248)
Publishersare indeed turningout some verybleak
books, but those dark stories aren't the only kind
they're publishing. The problem is that the media
hype surrounding bleak books has obscured the
many other fine YA books being published each
year. The robust YAmarketcontinues to offer a wide
range of books for all kinds of readers.
Bleak stories are nothing new; just take a
closelookat OedipusRex,TheTragedyof KingLear,
or The Grapes of Wrath. The literarycanon is not as
bleak as these works, and it would be unfair to cat-
egorize the entire canon as dark, negative, and cor-
ruptivebased on a few prominentstories. Not all The CenturyThat Was:Reflectionson the
teenage readers are ready for stories as heavy as Last One HundredYears.JamesCrossGiblin,ed.
these, just as not all teenagersare readyfor Weird (Atheneum,2000). Elevenessayson variousaspects
on the Outside,TheFacts Speakfor Themselves,or of the twentiethcentury:RussellFreedmanon nine-
WhenShe WasGood.Some kids,however,are ma- teenth centurypredictionsof life in the twentieth;
ture enough,smartenough,andthoughtfulenough Eve Buntingon immigrants; AlbertMarrinon World
to read these classicand YAdarktales and benefit WarI; BruceBrookson sports;Jim Murphyon the
from the experience.It'sup to parents,librarians, evolutionof transportation; PennyColemanon the
and English teachers to know books and to steer expansionof women'srolesandrights;WalterDean
young readers to the literature-YA or classic-for Myerson civilrights;LoisLowryon fashion;Milton
whichthey'rebest suited. Meltzeron the presidentsof the lastcentury;Kather-
ine Patersonon religion;and LaurencePringleon
Discoveries:New or Overlooked eco-heroesof the twentiethcentury.
YABooksWorthReading The White Dove, Lois Thompson Bartho-
lomew (HoughtonMifflin,2000). Set in an alterna-
Biographyfor You,LaurieLanzenHarris,ed. (Om- tivetime andplace,thisis the heroicadventurestory
nigraphics,Spring2000). This perfect-boundpa- of Tasha,the white dove, and her escape from an
perbackprofiles eleven contemporary personalities, oppressivedictatorwho hopes to establishhimself
includingauthorsBeverlyCleary,J. K. Rowling,and as king of Lomnor.It'sa well-writtenclassictale of
ChristopherPaulCurtis,athletesLanceArmstrong, good versusevil.
Mia Hamm, and Rebecca Lobo, and celebrities TimeCapsule:ShortStoriesaboutTeenagers
and
Brandy Will Smith. Each profileincludes pho- throughout the Twentieth Century, Donald R.
tos and a briefbibliography. Gallo,ed. (Delacorte,1999).Anotherof Gallo'scre-
Buried Onions, GarySoto (HarperCollins, ativecollectionsof YAshortstories,thisfeaturesten
1997). If yourstudentslikedVictorMartinez'sPar- stories,one set in eachdecadeof the twentiethcen-
rot in the Oven:Mi Vida,they'resureto love Soto's tury,written by popularYA authorslike Richard
book,the storyof nineteen-year-oldEddie'saimless Peck,GrahamSalisbury,ChrisCrutcher,andBruce
and sad existencein the barriosof Fresno,Califor- Brooks.The themes vary,but each storywill give
nia.This is one of Soto'sbest novelsyet. readersa vividinsightinto a particularperiodof the
Earth'sDaughters:Storiesof Womenin Clas- lastcentury.
sicalMythology,BettyBonhamLies (FulcrumPub- Tomorrowland:Stories about the Future,
lishing,1999). Finally a book of mythology that will Michael Cart,ed. (Scholastic,2000).A collectionof
appealdirectly to female readers.This is a collec- ten shortstoriesset in the future,thisis a greatcom-
tion of more than sixty Greek and Roman myths panionto Gallo'sTimeCapsule.Carthas gathered
with women as centralcharacters.The storiesare thought-provokingstories from Jon Scieszka,
arrangedinto sixthematiccategories. KatherinePaterson,Lois Lowry,JacquelineWood-
Stop Pretending: What Happened When son, and othertalentedYAwriters.
My Big SisterWentCrazy, SonyaSones (Harper- Safe at Second, Scott Johnson (Philomel,
Collins,1999).Toldin a stylesimilarto KarenHesse's 1999). This is a great coming-of-age story about
Newbery Medal-winningOut of the Dust, this is two baseballplayers-Todd, a high school pitcher
the movingand lyricalaccountof a youngersister with majorleague potential, and his best friend,
watching her older sister's downward spin into Paulie, whose love for baseball is exceeded only by
insanity. his lack of talent for the game. Both boys' lives are
The $66 Summer, John Armistead (Milk- thrown a curve when a line drive smashes into
weed, 2000). In the 1950s, white, thirteen-year-old Todd's face, blinding him in one eye. The two
George spends the summer with his grandmother friends are forced to reexamine their friendship and
in a small Alabama town. While trying to earn extra their futures.
money with his best friend, who happens to be Vanishing, Bruce Brooks (HarperCollins,
AfricanAmerican, George stumbles into events that 1999). Alice and Rex are both very smart and very
reveal a secret murder and the latent racism of this sick, but there is one essential difference between
small town. them. Something malignant is killing Rex; Alice is

EIGLISH journal

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 starvingherself to death. As in many of Brooks's
stories,these two charactersareprecociousandin-
sightful,and their conversationsabout life, death,
love, and familieshave a beneficialeffect on them
and on the reader.
Whirligig, Paul Fleischman (Henry Holt,
1998).Thismaybe one of the mostcreativeYAnov-
els since LouisSachar'sHoles.Whiledrivinghome
drunkanddepressedfroma highschoolparty,Brent
causes an accidentthat kills a high school girl.His
sentence is to place a whirligigin her memoryat
each of the four comers of the United States.The
experiencechangeshim froma self-centered,self-
pityingadolescentinto a thoughtfulyoungman.

Literacy for All Kids

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