"Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood" Critical Analysis

  "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood"

Critical Analysis

By Lucas Peterka

In "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood", by Sherman Alexie, Alexie wants us to know that YA books provide "damaged" teens with the weapons they need and desire to fight off whatever evils exist in their own lives. Alexie uses a speech he gives in Seattle to show us how YA books touch and affect the lives and emotions, in a positive way, of the "damaged" teen.

Alexie also uses his personal experiences as teen growing up in tough circumstances to establish the idea that YA books, being the "trustworthy friend" they are, help inspire kids to become something immensely greater. Alexie then talks about the hundreds of letters he receives from his teen readers to illustrate the impact YA fiction has on teens.

Alexie is attempting to persuade his readers to feel outrage at people who want to censor and limit YA fiction. One way Alexie tries to sway us to his side is by using personal experience to make him seem more personable. "As a child, I read because books... were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life.", was one sentence Alexie wrote to establish himself as an expert and to bring his readers closer to him by sharing his life. Another thing Alexie does to prove his point by asking rhetorical questions to the counter-arguers. He asks Meghan Cox Gurdon, author of "Darkness Too Visible", questions that were not intended to have answers. "Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape?", is one of these questions with the purpose of representing Gurdon and other censor supporters as dumb with multiple rhetorical questions.

After reading this article, I know YA fiction should not be limited because with the almost excessive representation of teens from all social classes and points of views, it's obvious that YA fiction does NOT affect the teen negatively. I've only further realized that even though YA fiction may be dark, teens need YA fiction to fight off whatever monsters exist in their lives even when those monsters aren't the worst ones out there.