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San Francisco, 10:26 PM
Sat Nov 28
9 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/05/09
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.
11/05/09
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
11/05/09
So basically, all of you calling YA trash need to actually read some of the recent YA lit. #books
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(I really hope he writes something new soon) #books
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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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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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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
11/05/09
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
11/05/09
"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
11/05/09
There are many exceptions to my disguised, which is aimed a books like Daniel X and Twilight. #books
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11/06/09
So...lamepires it is? #books
11/05/09
Also... YA novels are easier to hold while "taking a meeting" than say a 1k+ page tome.
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But thanks for the motivation! I can do it! #books
11/05/09
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
11/05/09
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
09/23/09
I think it's a little unfair to blame people trained in the humanities for all this negativity. There is widespread disappointment with the sciences since the Golden Age of SF, because "Science" as an institution has really failed to deliver most of the things that the Golden Age promised us.
I include things like easy space travel and AI in there, but mainly I'm talking about solving our social problems. We have technology now that was unimaginable even a hundred years ago, but for all of this the world has become a more dangerous place, and the gap between rich and poor is at least as wide as it was then.
It's hard to maintain a sense of wonder in the face of all of that. Unfortunately, a sense of wonder is a luxury that most people on this Earth can no longer afford.
Most people used to get their sense of wonder from connecting with nature. That's hard to do living in a city, tangled up in the rat race and numbing your brain with reruns of "reality" TV shows; a tiny cog in a social machine that rewards greed and punishes honesty.
Well, it's easy to see why many people are rather disillusioned with science and progress. Science is a wonderful and even necessary thing, but it's not sufficient for a balanced life. Wisdom is required too.
09/23/09
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Edit: I guess I did blame science directly in my opening paragraph--sorry--just meant to say that it hasn't lived up to all its hype.
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Is it also possible that publishers might be hoping to capitalize on teen angst by picking up darker, edgier YA science fiction?
09/23/09
There may be some animosity between the fields of the arts and sciences. From my personal experience, some science professors will interject snide things about English majors in the middle of lectures, such as, "If this is too hard for you, go get an English degree."
09/23/09
As an avid reader of YA Sci Fi, and an aspiring YA writer myself, I don't see a presence of negativity in the new teen protagonists, I see them overcome the loss of technology, the determination to rebuild their world. Just as with Asimov, negativity from outside is what spurs the characters on. Some of the many YA Sci Fi books I've read are post-Apocalyptic, but its the survival beyond that thats heartening. Science without humanity is deadly, as we've seen in history, and this is what authors are pointing at, whether by will or no.
And frankly, this overall generalization is angering. Examples of this pessimism please?
Books, as in science, must evolve with the times, and the wonder that the good Professor says is lacking is mainly due to the lack of newness of the new technology. Its expected now, rather than hoped for. Now is the time to look inward to ourselves. Shouldn't we advances as a world society before we advance on the universe? Its the sign of the ages, and thats what writers write about.
09/23/09
Not sure, if this fits here :P
Anyways, it's not the fault of technology but of greed, power struggle, misuse etc.
Maybe this generation isn't anymore surprised by all the high-tech stuff because new developments appear faster? (thought, I'm not a Singularity-believer)
Or it's just that shallow stuff, which teenagers are absorbing through TV, stupid movies, pseudo punk bands (e.g. Tokio Hotel)?
Or is it just simple disappointment because we don't have flying cars and stuff?
09/23/09
There was a fun looking one that came in the other day at work that looked neat. Name's escaping me, but it was YA. The plot was pretty much Disturbing Behavior but it sounded pretty neat.
I actually notice more "oppression" style sci-fi for teens where the parents or society is keeping the young people down.