The other day in class we were asked to find an excerpt from Looking For Alaska that we felt helped define the book as literature. What we discovered is that it is almost impossible to create a simple definition of Literature, it is something that must be looked at from several different perspectives. I believe that this holds more true for the more specific Young Adult Literature. One important factor when defining what is YA Lit is the level appropriateness. If a YA book is made into a film could it be rated R?
It is no secret that many YA books, including Looking For Alaska, address adult situations, but the question is do they do it an a way that is appropriate for the intended audience. Looking For Alaska addresses teenage alcohol and drug usage, death, sex, and other questionable topics while still being considered a novel for young adults. There are however other novels that discuss these same topics and have characters that are in the same age group as the characters in Looking For Alaska and yet these novels, namely Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne, are considered to be adult novels.
I mention Youth in Revolt because it brings us back to the initial question, if a YA novel was made into a film can it be rated R. Youth in Revolt though it covers similar subject matter it apparently does it in a more “mature” way. When Youth in Revolt was released it did receive an R rating, and I believe that it would be very possible for Looking for Alaska to be given the same rating. It seems to me that the line between what is and what is not YA lit is a little arbitrary.
-Danny Commes
-Danny Commes
I have also thinking about this topic a lot lately. When I was in middle school, I don't ever remember reading anything too taboo, but as I got older obviously the topics got a bit more taboo. My parents were somewhat active in my reading, by always asking what I was reading and what it was about, but they never really inquired much further to see if it truly was appropriate. Some of the YA books I have read more recently seem like something my parents would not have wanted me to read as a high schooler or middle schooler. The most recent example I can think of is Looking For Alaska. I really enjoyed the book, but some of the scenes in the book would not have been appropriate according to my parents. Because I am going to be a middle school teacher, I have been wondering more and more often if some books would be appropriate in my classroom library.
ReplyDelete-Alisa Richter
I appreciated that John Green did not censor the sex or drug/alcohol scenes in Looking for Alaska. Even if these topics are sensitive to teens, they are topics that most teens are exposed to in some manner, realistically speaking. Even if teens are not sexually active and/or do not drink, smoke, etc., teens are still aware and curious about these things. If these things had been censored in the novel, I think it definitely would have lost a lot of its realism that we praised in class. For these reasons, I would consider Looking for Alaska to be "appropriate" for teens.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danny that sometimes that "line" that separates YA from adult it a little arbitrary. I wonder how much marketing has to do with it versus which topics a book covers.
I think another factor in what adults deem "appropriate" YA literature has to do with the consequences of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. In a lot of the books I've read promiscuous or "bad" teens usually suffer some sort of consequence... i.e. Alaska's death is a horrible consequence for Alaska, Pudge, etc. It seems to me as long as an author doesn't directly condone these things, then parents will let them slide.
ReplyDeleteShannon's comment got me thinking. I agree that the reaction to "edgy" or "controversial" material in YA books has a lot to do with how that material is presented. A good word to invoke here is "gratuitous": if a scene of sex or violence or substance abuse is just thrown in, and readers can't find a way to relate that scene to the essential journey or development of the character, then the material can probably be labeled as gratuitous, or sensational--thrown in just to shock or titillate. Not good.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if bad things happen to characters who operate on the moral edge, there's a risk the book will come across as moralizing or preachy, as in YA problem novels of the past where characters were "punished" for having premarital sex by catching a STD or getting pregnant. Patty Campbell will be the first to tell us that this moralizing quality is the sign of a bad book. Books for kids and teens do not need to be didactic (another good word to know in this discussion) to have an important and worthwhile impact on young readers.
So that leaves a lot for us to think about as we evaluate "edgy" content we encounter in YA lit.
I think it is so good that books don't have ratings! I wasn't allowed to watch PG-13 movies until I was 15 or 16, but my parents didn't ever check what I was reading! I'm sure that if books had ratings, I would have been even more censored growing up!
ReplyDeleteYouth in Revolt is not and never was a YA novel. It has characters who are teenagers, but it is a novel intended for adults.
ReplyDelete