Freakin' New Yorker's gone to town on YA literature. Their Book Bench Reads is full of some of the most asinine commentary I've seen in a long time with respect to young adult books.

I tend to think of young-adult fiction as sort of facile—a straightforward style, uncomplicated themes and morals—but this had a complexity, an ambiguity, that surprised me

It fit my expectations in terms of length and enjoyableness, though: I assume that anything branded “young adult” needs to have a plotline that captures a teen’s attention, and also needs to be not too long or challenging.

That was just within the first few paragraphs.

[link]

I tried to register to post, but the site hates me, so I had to rant in my blog. Bah.

What an aggravating article, Barb. Heaven forbid a book be challenging and complex. We couldn't let our kids read anything like that. t rolls eyes

It wasn't even the "we couldn't let our kids read anything like that" that made me nuts, sj, it was more the "we're shocked, SHOCKED, we tell you, that not only are these books good and complex and that kids would be interested. but also that they'd be able to ingest and appreciate such works."

When I was a teen-ager, I assumed that the label was synonymous with preachy and boring, a companion to sex-ed classes. I still can’t imagine kids Lily’s age actually reaching for this book over “Tropic of Cancer.”

Apparently this person has read neither young adult fiction nor The Tropic of Cancer, which is, at best, a difficult book. These people appear to be from another planet, one without teenagers or books. Who the hell reads Tropic of Cancer, anyway?

It's certainly a contrast with this week's article [link] about whether the Newbery-winning books are too complicated and depressing for teens.

A good book is a good book for every age. Young adult is just a label, one that generally indicates that there are young people in the book and it has a plot. Are the moral stakes low in The Giver?

I have run out of words on the subject and am now just making rude noises and yelling.

Good grief, Barb. What utter pillocks.

Did you all see this response? I did rather love it, I have to say.

Barb, to build on your point, it also makes me mad because implies that the YA crowd cannot enjoy any of the books they read and discuss in school. To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men, for example, are two books commonly read in middle school that students tend to love, but clearly any book they read in their free time has to be insipid and simple. Grr. Believe it or not, stupid article-writer, some of us English teachers don't just force literature down students' throats like bad medecine. Some of us try to help our students gain the skills to read complex and meaningful books and enjoy them.

Coffee: Oh dear lord, Fay, that video is awesome.

I read everything from picture books to adult

I remember YA from the time when I was a YA. There was very little -- and much of it was simple and had a moral lesson. It is way more varied now.

I am a librarian . I like to categorize books. But it is only fun because it is complex, not easy, to put a label on a book. Oddly, most books have multiple labels.

I just finished reading Molly Gloss's The Hearts of Horses and I LOVED it. So beautifully written, so moving, such insight into peoples' lives in the West in the early years of the 20th century. Golly, that was fabulous; I wanted it not to end.

Highly recommended if you like horses, or the West (it's set in eastern Oregon), or like books where women do things and nobody makes a fuss about it.

Wow, that was great.

I will make sure to buy Jackson Pearce's novel next year. That video rocked.