Should Access to Young
Adult Books Be Limited?
By Lucas Peterka
Young
Adult literature has become a highly debated topic due to the dark themes
appearing in their contents. Arguments have broken out across the world about
whether or not these themes should be available to all readers. Are some to
young and naïve to handle these topics that plague millions in the real world?
Many believe the average YA reader not able to grasp these issues. But YA
literature should be accessible to all who want to read it because children
have the level of maturity necessary to comprehend and interpret the darker
ideas introduced in YA fiction. And while many read to understand, large
numbers of children, teens, and young adults read YA fiction to find comfort in
the similarities they share with the characters.
Many
teens who have been “damaged” by traumas that appear in YA fiction, read about
the same topics and find inspiration in those books. We can see this inspiration
affecting readers in Sherman Alexie’s article “Why the Best Kids Books Are
Written in Blood”. “After the ceremony many of the graduates shook my hand,
hugged me, took pictures with me, and asked me questions about my book and my
life.” Sherman Alexie is the author of YA book “The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-Time Indian” and routinely speaks to graduating seniors at different
high schools across the nation. The seniors in this particular Seattle high
school have been affected by the many dark themes featured in Alexie’s book. These
graduates, as we see in the quote, have been deeply touched by Alexie’s YA
book. The warmth and admiration can only be explained by a positive, lasting,
impression. This welcome shows us that YA fiction and authors have been received
warmly by the teen YA reader community. Alexie’s book has helped many “damaged”
readers with dark themes existing in their own lives. Counter arguers, however,
say the dark content of these books is giving the teen audience “bad” ideas.
But the content of YA literature is not negatively affecting the ideas of
teens, for Alexie states “kids… have sent me autobiographical letters… as dark
and terrifying, and redemptive as anything I’ve ever read.” We can see from the
quote, that the dark themes many complain about, are embedded in the lives of
readers, sometimes even more severe than depicted in literature. How can you
prevent ideas from forming in the minds of teens, due to YA fiction, when their
lives constantly influence their ideas worse than a YA book could?
Authors
of YA fiction realize how important YA novels are to many teens. Either from
personal, traumatic experience or from working with teen readers. According to
Husna Haq’s “Should Young Adult Books Have Age Ratings?” Patrick Ness, YA author
of “A Monster Calls”, told BBC Breakfast “Children are great
self-censors. They know what they can read and they know what they want to
read, and if you don’t give it to them, they’ll find it somehow.” Ness, having
worked with the readers of his YA novel, sees the important role YA fiction
serves in a teen’s life. Teens know the ideas they want to read about and what
they don’t. If it’s something they do want they will read it. Bans may be proposed,
maybe passed, but because of its importance, YA novels will still be read by
teens because of the critical role it plays in their lives. Supporters of the
limits, however, find the author opinion void because they don’t understand
teens like the way parents and teachers do, the main population of “pro-banners”.
That claim though, is bogged down by the fact a very important group of people
is left out of their argument. Teens. Sherman Alexie, having been a teen reader
of YA fiction, stated in his article “As a child, I read because books- violent
and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not- were the most loving and
trustworthy things in my life.” Sherman Alexie, his “dark” books being an
autobiographical story, grew up in conditions that were not ideal. We can see
from his quote were incredibly important to him as a young teen reader. In a
world where nothing was for sure and monsters attacked every minute of the day,
Alexie found peace within the pages of YA literature. “They taught me how to
battle the real monsters in my life.” Alexie says in his article. Alexie shows
us that while YA fiction may have affected him, and many others with similar
stories, it was for the better. Helping Alexie overcome the monstrous obstacles
standing in his way. “And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember
what it felt like to be a teen facing every day and epic dangers. I don’t write
to protect them. It’s too late for that. I write to give them weapons.”
YA
books help the more privileged teens realize the realities that plague their
less fortunate peers and may even help them fight off monsters in their own
life. Some supporters of the banning, however, claim that by exposing teens to
YA fiction, trauma and immature ideas are introduced. One especially gruesome
excerpt from Andrew Smith’s “The Marbury Lens” is used by Meghan Cox
Gurdon in her article “Darkness Too Visible” to represent all YA novels. “Covered
with impaled heads and other black-rot body parts: hands, hearts, feet, ears,
penises.” Many argue that all YA books contain gruesome enough material to make
the less exposed to the world to go “crying to their mommy”. This argument, while
being true in some cases, is not true for so many more instances and is not
representative of all YA literature. We can see this argument being disproved
in Alexie’s article, when he writes about a conversation he had with a
millionaire’s child. “He quietly spoke to me of his agony. What kind of pain
could a millionaire’s child be suffering?… ‘I want to be a writer.’ He said ‘But my father
won’t let me. He wants me to be a soldier… ‘I want to be myself, just like in
your book.’” While some YA books may contain some disgusting details, so many
more inspire teens to stand up for themselves. YA books help them realize relationships
between themselves and the world around them. That teen, seeing a
poverty-stricken boy rise up and claim what he wanted and deserved, inspired
him to search himself and find what he really wanted to do. A YA book, changed
his life.
The
themes in YA books can be dark at times, sometimes even incredibly gruesome and
disgusting. But most times, the scenarios YA books depict are reality for
millions of people. When you compare the gain of knowledge and hope YA books
provide, to the delusion that YA books inspire horrible ideas in the malleable
minds of teens, we can see which one is more logical. The teen and young adult
readers have a right and need to learn about all the monsters that roam the
earth, and draw inspiration from those who conquer them. The contents of YA
books provide the best lessons, lessons from life, to all who read them. And
for those who don’t, well… They’re missing out.
No comments:
Post a Comment