On #YASaves: Darkness in YA More Help Than Harm

On #YASaves: Darkness in YA More Help Than Harm

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who logged into Twitter over the weekend to find a new trend dominating the bookish conversations: #YASaves. I don't read many Young Adult novels, but I went ahead and read the desputed article on how YA has become too dark, I also read a rebuttal or two, then I decided to read some YA.

Back when I was reading YA regularly, I'll admit, it wasn't contemporary. I was reading YA of the wizards, knights, and spaceships variety. But this time I picked up something from 21st Century Earth, Courtney Summers' FALL FOR ANYTHING, in which our protagonist, Eddie, is coping (and sometimes not coping) with her father's suicide. Is this story dark? Yes. Is it written with care, sensitivity, honesty, and confidence that things can get better for Eddie? Absolutely. 

As I read, three things became very clear to me very fast:

1. It's easy to forget that the day-to-day life of a teenager is erratic, immediate, frustrating, and thrilling without additional adversity.

2. Tragedy and abuse are isolating. Only fellow teenagers can truly empathize with highly-visceral reactions to difficulty, but they may not know how to empathize with tragedy. Books offer a non confrontational form of support, normality, and a way to see past the confusion to the healing.

3. YA books dealing with issues like grief, self-harm, substance abuse, domestic violence, bullying and so on are invaluable tools for adults trying to understand someone younger dealing with difficult issues.

Sure, sometimes in YA the death of a parent is replaced with the death of a wizard guardian or substance abuse is told as addiction to time-traveling, but regardless of genre, the issues and the emotions are the same. These stories offer empathy, compassion, understanding, and shed light on difficult issues.

If you feel inspired to do some reading and decide for yourself whether dark issues in YA are helpful or harmful, I have a few authors to suggest:

Courtney Summers (FALL FOR ANYTHING, SOME GIRLS ARE, CRACKED UP TO BE)
Carol Lynch Williams (THE CHOSEN ONE, MILES FROM ORDINARY)
Rachel DeWoskin (BIG GIRL SMALL)

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Nominees Posted for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults

Nominees Posted for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults

We're thrilled to report that two of our favorite Young Adult titles have been nominated for YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults for 2012. Congratulations to Carol Lynch Williams (MILES FROM ORDINARY) and M.J. Putney (DARK MIRROR)!

YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee presents fiction titles published for young adults in the past 16 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. 

The final BFYA list will be announced at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference. 

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Top YA Picks for Winter 2011!

Top YA Picks for Winter 2011!

Spring is just around the corner so here's one last look at some of our favorite YA Winter titles!

Miles from Ordinary
Carol Lynch Williams

It's the first day of summer and Lacey has a new job at the library. Her mom, who seems so much better these days, has a new job, too. But hope of a normal life is too much to ask for as memories of the past rush in and Lacey's day turns from a new beginning to a desperate scramble to stay afloat.

 

 

Born at Midnight
C. C. Hunter

Welcome to Shadow Falls: a camp for vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and Kylie Galen. Shadow Falls is a place for teens to learn skills that will help them harness their supernatural powers, but Kylie has enough trouble balancing the affections of Derek the half-fae and Lucas the werewolf.

 

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