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YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight

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poshdeluxe
11/06/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
i really think we're entering a new era of YA lit, and that era is called AWESOME. in spite of trainwrecks like "twilight," there are so many amazing books written for teens that can hold their own against books written for adults. in fact, my friends and i recently started a blog for adult readers of YA lit, because we felt like we didn't have an online community where we could go and spazz about, say, "the hunger games," or why we want to be frankie landau banks.

it makes me incredibly happy to finally see YA lit getting RESPECT. and i'm on a mission to spread its amazingness to everyone i meet... so, on that note, hey, have you read "hunger games"?!! #books
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Sunshineyness
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
I can't recommend Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle books enough they are just so amazingly well written and have such a great feminist message with great atmosphere, gothic melodrama and girls doing magic.

I'm in favor of books where girls do magic and have powers. I will read anything where girls do magic or have powers.

Also, seriously, why all the hate on YA? There are so many great classic works of literature that are YA (Robert Cormier and Judy Blume come straight to mind as well as Robin McKinley's stuff).

It's historical fiction not sci-fi/fant but I would also heartily recommend the last National Book Award Winner "What I Saw and Why I Lied" by Blundell (who's- fun fact- only other titles she's written were Star Wars books targeted for 9 year olds). It's flipping amazing.

Another great war/historical one is Peet's "Tamar" which is a fantastic WW2 intrigue/spy novel. There's loads more but I'm prattling on...

I'm just saying it's not all Twilight and Gossip Girl people.
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Edited by Sunshineyness at 11/05/09 6:18 PM Sunshineyness was starred Sunshineyness was unstarred

it must be bunnies
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
I think that YA literature can be a good starting point for kids to give them the confidence to tackle books with more complicated themes.

My daughter was reading a lot of YA but then she read some Margaret Atwood books and now she finds that much of the YA doesn't satisfy her anymore. I have begun to lend her my books that I think that she will enjoy and hopefully save myself a few dollars as well. #books
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ctuley
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
YA literature has gotten a LOT better in the past 10 years. Markus Zusak alone makes up for all the trash from the 60's and 70's (I honestly believe that The Book Thief is one of the greatest books ever written, even if it was "intended" for 16 year-olds). Libba Bray is a really great one too--her writing is very atmospheric-- and does a lot for YA fantasy/historical fiction. As for contemporary authors, Sarah Dessen is amazing.

So basically, all of you calling YA trash need to actually read some of the recent YA lit. #books
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Sunshineyness
11/05/09

@ctuley: Have you tried Zusak's last novel "I am the Messenger?" Flipping blew my socks off. It doesn't even necessarily need to be a teen book either.
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Edited by Sunshineyness at 11/05/09 6:21 PM Sunshineyness was starred Sunshineyness was unstarred

ctuley
11/05/09

@Sunshineyness: I love that one! It's not as powerful as The Book Thief but it's up there. The parts with the runner are my favorite; there was something really moving to them.

(I really hope he writes something new soon) #books
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bookling
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
Wow, what's with all the YA hate? There is a lot of bad YA out there, but there's a surprising amount of REALLY GOOD YA that I and a lot of adults I know are really into, and it's more than just dumbed-down adult sci-fi. #books
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MargaretMoony
11/05/09

@bookling: Seriously, I used to work the YA section when I worked in a bookstore. It has some good stuff, y'all! It's not just "blah, blah, pretty vampire boys" there's depth and issues! #books
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Jeremy Tapsell
11/05/09

@bookling: (puts up hand) my name is Jeremy Tapsell, and I'm an adult who likes Young Adult fiction.

The main problem I have, however, with most YA fiction is that it is written in a way that treats its audience like idoiots. Young people are not stupid. They may lack worldly experience, but they still love reading things that challenge the mind.

In that sense, I find that literature aimed at that audience is much better when written by people who also write adult works. For example, Heinlan, Andre Norton, Orson Scott Card, Robert Jordan, Neil Gaiman (I know, I know this is looking a little too fantasy), Edith Nesbitt, C.S. Lewis, etcetera!

When the author is an adult who only writes fiction for YA then we get filtered, usually publisher dictated, stories that are not didatic enough and they end up straying into the trashier, non challenging end of the spectrum. ESPECIALLY when it comes to sci fi. I am not refering to all published YA fiction here, but there seems to be a trend.

YA sci fi readers, like myself when I was younger, will tend to go straight to the main stuff, because it doesn't pander to teenage cliches which I would posit most YA readers who like sci fi would find uniteresting and turn them off the story.

So if we have more Adult Sci Fi writers writing for teenagers, then perhaps we might have more good YA sci fi, and less YA sci fi hate. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
When I was young enough for the Young Adult section, I mostly ignored it. The only books I remember reading from that section were Choose Your Own Adventure, Madeleine L'Engle's books, some of CS Lewis' Narnia books, and The Hobbit. I was reading Lord of the Rings when I was 11, Starship Troopers when I was 12 and Stranger in a Strange Land when I was 13 or 14. Then again, as a kid, my mom's bedtime stories included not only Winnie the Pooh but also Beowulf and Gawain and the Green Knight. #books
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Wookie1972
11/05/09

@Bill-Lee: I have a similar story, although you can replace Tolkien and Heinlein with Douglas Adams and then Kurt Vonnegut. Shamefully, I never got around to reading the LOTR books until just before the movies came out (seriously). I do, however, remember really liking the Robert Asprin Myth books. Easy enough for a young person to read, yet "adult" enough to seem like something grownups would read. #books
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golddiggersof2033
11/05/09

@Bill-Lee: I was way too intimidated by the serious sci-fi and fantasy when I was in the Young Adult category to do more than stick my toe in and run screaming away from Orson Scott Card. I would have killed to have the Where To Start With Young Adult Science Fiction back then.
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Edited by golddiggersof2033 at 11/05/09 12:41 PM golddiggersof2033 was starred

Wookie1972
11/05/09

@golddiggersof2033: I used to recommend Ender's Game as a YA title, until I actually read it. I was stunned at how messed up it was (and I still am a little leery when people say it's their favourite book). #books
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Bill-Lee
11/05/09

@golddiggersof2033: I keep trying to read Orson Scott Card. Something about his work sort of rubs me the wrong way. Not that he's a bad writer, I just not sure that I like his work. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/05/09

@golddiggersof2033: I read a lot of the books on the Where to Start...list when I was a kid. I never realized they were "starter" books. #books
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golddiggersof2033
11/05/09

@Bill-Lee: I met him when I was 13 (I won a fiction contest with a story named after a Lita Ford song!) and after that I kept trying to read him. I remember picking up one of his books specifically because there was a mermaid on the cover and struggling through about 30 pages with no mermaids and going back to Anne Rice in defeat. #books
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golddiggersof2033
11/05/09

@Wookie1972: I'm adding it to my Goodreads now with a grain of salt. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/05/09

@Wookie1972: I keep seeing Ender's Game in the YA section of Border's...with Card's endorsement. #books
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Jeremy Tapsell
11/05/09

@Bill-Lee: Heinlein actually wrote a lot of YA fiction and 'Family' sci/fi in his early years, giving that up int the 60's for more adult fiction.

I think kids who like sci fi tend to read up. That is, get straight into the meatier adult stuff, rather than the YA which they see as juvenile. Its not always true, as you mention a prime example of Enders Game, which I do look at as a YA novel, no matter its themes. It is exactly what YA sci fi should be! Decent and didactic! #books
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Bill-Lee
11/05/09

@Jeremy Tapsell: You know, with a couple of exceptions, I totally skipped Heinlein's juvenile fiction. I remember reading have Space Suit Will Travel around the time I read Starship Troopers. ST was originally submitted as a juvenile novel but rejected by the publishers, so I guess, technically I've read two of his juvenile books. #books
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Wookie1972
11/05/09

@Bill-Lee: Yeah, that's true about Starship Troopers. Which again, floors me... at least it wasn't Stranger... #books
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EdificeComplex
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
There's an article in the Culture & Books section of the current American Prospect on the popularity of Twilight. The author's overall argument was that the "girliness" (her term) that's made Twilight a success has caused the series to be mocked by so-called hardcore sci-fi/fantasy geeks. She argues that Edward is so popular because he is not sexually threatening to the average teenage girl. This dynamic in turn holds no interest for the teenage boy and therefore results in the series being marginalized.

It's an interesting read and I recommend it for those that get AP. Unfortunately I think you have to be a subscriber to access the online version of the article. #books
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Wookie1972
11/05/09

@EdificeComplex: I don't think Twilight is exactly marginalized. It pretty much dominates the teen section at the store where I work. What is true, however, is that there is very little in the YA section for boys. Teen boys seem to read either a) novelizations of video and role playing games b) comic books c) adult science fiction and fantasy and d) sadly, nothing at all, with d being the largest group.

I also read James Bond at the time because it was titillating, although now I can see that they are not the best for a young man whose images of women are being formed. I'm never sure what to recommend to teen boys. #books
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LittleDragon
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
Ok so do they explain why all the heroines are beautiful girls who spend all their time moaning about how hard everything is while all the hot guys through them selves at the girl?
"Oh woe is me. I am a beautiful young girl with a multitude of options for my future and all the hot boys want me. Life is just so hard. Excuse me while I pout is such a way that all the boys will come running."
I have read several of these popular new YA books and none of them deal with war, self-harm, gender, existentialism and what little sex and drugs they deal with are so absurd at best that they make you want to burn the book. #books
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LittleDragon
11/05/09

@LittleDragon: Darn it. It didn't take my edit.

There are many exceptions to my disguised, which is aimed a books like Daniel X and Twilight. #books
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Purple Dave
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
Ooh, ooh, I have a question! With regards to Twilight, do they prefer to call them lamepires, or waaaahmpires? #books
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Howard Blair
11/05/09

@Purple Dave: The reason that Twilight's vampires are so "non-threatening" is that Stephenie Meyer is writing from her Mormon upbringing - "no wild thing without the wedding ring" - which means her guys are self-restrained and the girls are virtuous. Lame but true. #books
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Purple Dave
11/06/09

@Howard Blair:
So...lamepires it is? #books
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
11/05/09

In reply to YA Authors Explain Everything — Even Twilight — In New York Tonight
One theory? They're easier to read. I don't' mean that as a slight on their quality, but more as a comment on the attention span and reading ability of modern readers. And before you yell at me keep in mind I've burned through both Hunger Games books while Stephenson's Quicksilver looks at me longingly wondering when I'll get tear through it.

Also... YA novels are easier to hold while "taking a meeting" than say a 1k+ page tome.
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Edited by Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. at 11/05/09 11:22 AM

limber
11/05/09

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: Also, they have all of the action with much less of the actual responsibility. Fewer old flames, credit problems or mortgages. #books
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robinrising
11/05/09

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: I'm just finishing up Stephenson's The System of the World. If it helps you over the mental hurdle and gets you into this terrific series remember that each of these huge books is made up of smaller books, so by the time you have finished Quicksilver you'll already have burned through the first three books of The Baroque Cycle. #books
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
11/05/09

@robinrising: Yeah I know I can do it, but I was just having an issue switching gears to the past after falling in love with Cryptonomicon. I liked my Root fighting Japs and Nazis and now he's giving Ben Franklin a lift?

But thanks for the motivation! I can do it! #books
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Jeremy Tapsell
11/05/09

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: Even Adult sci fi comes in small packages. Delaney's earlier stuff for example. Harlan Ellison, even PKD.

All quite easy to read as well.

If I can recommend one YA sci/fi series - The Deepwater Trilogy by Ken Catran.
[en.wikipedia.org] #books
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Sunshineyness
11/05/09

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: I do agree with you there but that's also the same with a number of high best selling adult writers.

Dan Brown isn't exactly the most dense writer in the world nor is James Patterson and all his "co-writers." I can't imagine anyone with a HS level education having difficulty getting through any of those. #books
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