• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sugarbeat's Books

The Home of the Romance Novel

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Review Policy
  • Review List
  • My Books

Disappointing article about YA in the Wall Street Journal

By Barb Drozdowich

The Wall Street Journal posted an opinion piece about YA literature on Saturday.  I was first made aware of this article when I signed onto my twitter account and found message after message with the hashtag of #YAsaves flashing by.  I live on the west coast, so Twitter isn’t usually all that active on a Saturday evening in my time zone.  I was curious, so I found a link to what everyone was talking about and found the article titled “Darkness Too Visible” by Meghan Cox Gurdon.

To say I was disappointed that this article was published by what I consider a reputable publication is an understatement.  I realize that everyone has to make money, but I was appalled that an opinion piece such as this was published in the WSJ.

Was the article all bad, not at all, but it had some parts that I would like to discuss.

1) The article opens with a statement from a mother who, when looking for a book for her 13 year old, was disturbed by the many “lurid and graphic” covers.  Everyone who has read more than a handful of books will realize that the book cover is art.  In many cases it has nothing to do with the story found inside.  It attracts the eye and compels the potential buyer to pick it up and look further.  I can’t count the number of times that I’ve picked up a book based on the yummy man on the front cover only to realize that that yummy man has nothing to do with the story.  What’s the phrase – “Sex sells”?  It sells fashion, it sells cell phones, it sells beer and now it sells books.  Are we surprised?

2) The author claims that “40 years ago no one had to contend with young-adult literature because there was no such thing. There was simply literature, some of it accessible to young readers and some not.”  I have to disagree with that statement.  There was alot of Young Adult Literature 40 years ago.  It just wasn’t labeled as such. I have been a voracious reader for many decades and I had plenty to fuel my need to read 40 years ago.  Certainly, alot of the mainstream books were pretty tame, but it was not difficult to find edgier, darker books.  Alot of the “edgier, darker books”  I read in English class in high school.  MacBeth (Shakespeare), David Copperfield (Charles Dickens), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare) and Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) come to mind.  Nothing like high school english class to give one nightmares!  One classic that seems to have a long life is about a man who hunts and kills humans for sport.  I found out a few months ago that English classes are still reading and analyzing that gem.  I find it disingenuous to say that there was no young-adult literature 40 years ago simply because the label of YA is relatively new and there was nothing comparable in the “dark and edgy” genre!

3) Alot is said about the author Lauren Myracle and the book that she has recently published.  I’ve not read this book.  From the description of what is covered in this book, I don’t think I want to read it.  What about the other authors?  Why only comment on one author?

4) Finally, there was a comment about an independent bookstore that has created a “PG-15” section for YA books that are more advanced.  I find this admirable.  But ultimately, isn’t it the job of the parents to guide their children’s reading?  I or my husband read everything that the short ones read.  Do we censor books – no – we discuss them.  We also help the kids choose appropriate books but if they want something that is questionable we read it with them and discuss it.  Is my 7 year old reading erotica – NO – but she brings home some pretty interesting books about racism and bullying from her school library.

I think that this article painted YA literature with too broad a stroke.  I work in a high school library and the librarian that I work for is very well versed in YA literature.  I’ve read  a good quantity of YA, but he beats me hands down.  Are there some dark and disturbing YA books out there?  Yes! Absolutely!  Are there thousands and thousands of wonderful YA books out there?  Again, Yes!  Why do we have to focus on a very small fraction of books where the vast majority of YA literature is outstanding!  I am surrounded by it every day!  I would ask Ms Gurdon to go to her local high school and pick 5 random books off the shelves and read them.  Before she asks, yes, there are dark and disturbing ones on the shelves, but there are also good ones.  After you’ve read 5 then re-work this article.

One point that any high school english teacher or librarian will admit to is that the Twilight series has encouraged a whole generation of non-reading kids to read.  These books (and the movies)  are catching the kids’ interest.  Is the Twilight series the be all and end all – no – but it leads to other books that are a bit more complicated in the plot, but are still in the paranormal genre.  Before you know it, the non-reading kids are seen bent over a book, desperately trying to finish it by the end of lunch.  Why is this a bad thing?

The most disappointing thing about this article is that it seems that it is a marketing ploy.  One of the comments on the article suggested readers comment on the WSJ’s Facebook page.  I clicked on the link and we were encouraged to give our opinion.  There are at last look 209 comments on the FB page.  The article now sports a comment about all of the tweets with the #YAsaves hashtag that can be found on Twitter.  So…..which is it…..an opinion piece or a marketing ploy??  It certainly lit Twitter afire Saturday night!  So maybe it’s working!

Share this:

  • Share
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Email
  • Reddit

Related

About Barb Drozdowich

Social Media and Wordpress Consultant Barb Drozdowich has taught at University, trained technical personnel in the banking industry and, most recently, used her expertise to help dozens of authors develop the social media platform needed to succeed in today’s fast evolving publishing world. She owns Bakerview Consulting and is the only reviewer on this blog.

Previous Post: « Winners of Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown
Next Post: BLB eBook Tour Review- Gotta Love a Cowboy by Sandy Sullivan »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. tammy ramey

    June 7, 2011 at 11:08 am

    well said! i hate it when people generalize like this article did. yes there are some books that are not suitable for teens but then so are alot of the situations that they face in real life everyday. drug abuse,incest,murder,poverty,and rape are just afew of the things that are on the news everyday and noone is telling us to hide that from the poor little things.
    if they are not informed how can they protect themselves? knowledge is power and power is safety! not everyone is born in a safe house and enviroment in fact most are not, so these books and papers are important for them to become informed on how to recognize the danger and protect themselves from it and also to be able to expand their horizons beyond what they face in their everyday lives. in my opinion the person that wrote the article needs to get a grip on the reality that is facing teens today.

    • Barb

      June 7, 2011 at 3:01 pm

      Hi Tammy!
      Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I appreciate it!

  2. Mandy

    June 7, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Wow….very well said. I like how you tackled your post…point for point. Well done. Being an elementary school teacher, I agree with you on a couple of points. One, the non-readers are now READING! This is huge….just huge! I always tell parents, it doesn’t matter if it is Spongebob or comic books or graphic novels….at least your kid is reading. This is the first step. That first YA book will lead to others, and soon the student is learning to filter the books they pick up to suit their likes and needs. Look at many of the men in our lives….the ones in my life read more for a direct purpose than for entertainment. But they can read. Of course there are some not-so-great YA books out there, just like any other genre. But, as you point out, it is up to parents to screen the books for their children, like they SHOULD be doing with video games and websites. Take an interest in what your child is reading…help them make wise choices.

    • Barb

      June 7, 2011 at 3:04 pm

      HI Mandy!
      Thanks for dropping by and commenting! Of course I agree with you, but I appreciate your view from a teaching perspective! I think it is important to talk about how slanted this article was. It was published in a internationally distributed well-respected publication. What does that say for journalism??

  3. Chrystal

    June 7, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Wow so very well written. You touched on so many vaild points and did it in such an eloquent way. Way to go! I agree with everything you stated above.

    • Barb

      June 7, 2011 at 7:33 pm

      Hi Chrystal!
      Thank you for your kind words! Really appreciate it!

  4. Jenni Elyse

    June 8, 2011 at 11:39 am

    Great response to that article. I had the same questions as you did. I chose to focus mine response in a similar yet different direction, though.

    • Barb

      June 8, 2011 at 1:56 pm

      HI Jenni Elyse! Thanks for the comment! I just go back from your blog – an outstanding article. I really enjoyed what you had to say!

Primary Sidebar

Follow Me

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinrss

Subscribe to Blog on Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 16,653 other subscribers

Available Now on Amazon

Available Now on Amazon

Do you need a primer?

Do you need a primer?

Need help with your website?

Need help with your website?

Are you listed?

Book BLogger list 250

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Barb has
read 0 books toward
her goal of
100 books.
hide

0 of 100 (0%)
view books

Archives

Footer

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023