'The last bastion of plot'

[dolorosa_12]

Cory Doctorow makes an interesting point here in this post on YA literature.

I'd add that aweseome stuff is happening in YA literature now, but it was when I was a child too. Catherine Jinks, Adele Geras, Emily Rodda, John Marsden, Gillian Rubinstein, David McRobbie, Jackie French, Isobelle Carmody...(I suppose I should add Morris Gleitzman and Paul Jennings, as although I wouldn't want to read their books now, I loved reading them at the time.) Of course in those days, there was no 'Young-Adult' section of bookshops. It was called the 'Children's' section. Most of these authors are Australian, but I'm sure all of you have fond memories of your own particular books of childhood.

I'm a fairly harsh reviewer; more of my 'official' book reviews are critical than positive, but that's because I have high standards. These standards are a result of having read wonderful books all my childhood that have remained powerful in my imagination all these years later. Having read the Tomorrow series as a child and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series as an adult and reviewer, I can see the potential in YA books. This increases my disgust when I read yet another 'oh woe is me-emoemoemo-trite moral message' book spewed out by a writer who thinks 'It must be easy money to write for children. They'll read any kind of rubbish put in front of them.'

There's a reason why Roald Dahl is still popular today while heavily moralistic books are, to quote the cliché, consigned to the dustbin of children's literature. (I'm leaving Narnia out of this. They might not be my cup of tea, but the Narnia books do have an engaging story.) When YA authors treat their readers with the respect they deserve, their efforts are rewarded.

I should add that it was a post by Scott Westerfeld that inspired this post.

Comments

[dusabre.livejournal.com]

the YA section is where i live in the bookstore/library... well it was, until they rearranged the library into stinky little genres without a thought for the people like me who know what they like and where it should be but not why it isn't there. woe is the bookstore that has not changed with the times, for young adult fiction is absolutely the most engaging of all to the imagination and leisure.