The Dangers And Values Of Dark Teen Lit

npr.org:

A recent Wall Street Journal article argues that young adult fiction has grown too gruesome, especially as they're dominated by horror, vampires and violence.

Read the whole story: npr.org

Comments

[BlueZoo]

02:33 PM on 06/16/2011

Good grief! Censoring teens' reading material will only make them want to read it more. I despair of these parents who are so naive as to think that if they forbid their child to read something, the child can't possibly find it elsewhere. We live in a different world from just a generation ago. Teens know more about sex, abuse, trafficking, etc., than they ever have before. Let them read about these topics and become knowledgeable about how to deal with them!

[Debru]

07:34 PM on 06/15/2011

Gurdon's article was ridiculous on many levels.

After slamming modern YA as too dark, she then proceeds to recommend Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (but ONLY for boys) - a book I am reading now. It is EXTREMELY grim, violent and contains a lot of rough language. I agree with her that it's an excellent book, but this points up a huge level of either ignorance of the topic she is discussing, or hypocrisy (it's O.K. if it's a book SHE likes). She also put True Grit as a recommended book (again, for boys, not girls, though with a caveat that girls will like it, too). Another very wonderful but also very violent book about a teenage girl on a monomaniacal pursuit for revenge.

She asks in this interview why YA books can't tout things like love, bravery, courage and dignity yet at the same time she slammed The Hunger Games which DOES tout exactly these things.

She just cherry-picked scenes out of books to make her point without any regard for context or for what the writers were trying to say. And I agree with the poster below, her article is very likely to be used as an excuse to challenge books at schools and libraries. I'm an adult and I read YA because some of it is just really GOOD. It would be a shame if YA publishers pulled back because of axe-grinders like Gurdon.

[Dorian Kunkel]

11:35 AM on 06/15/2011

My parents never censored my reading material. My father bought me the Story of O when I was 12 simply because I asked him to. I did not turn into a sexual slave/predator because of what I read.
As a parent myself, I have never censored my children's reading either. They are both avid readers, eclectic in their tastes and well-read beyond their years. I also never censored my son's video games (much to the horror of his dr). My son is sensitive, caring and compassionate - not a violent prone, bloodthirsty boor.

[Ayla87]

11:12 AM on 06/15/2011

The moment you start labeling any book or genre of books as dangerous, depraved or any thing else unsatisfactory you open the door to censorship. Whether or not Mrs Gordon intended that when she wrote her original article, that's exactly what she's done.

I'll bet dollars to donuts that we see in uptick in book challenges at schools and public libraries in the coming year because of Gordon's original WSJ article. This interview with NPR is just an attempt to backtrack.