I am joining up with Gray Maire at Writing is Life in her Rebellion against Dirty Young Adult Fiction!
The memes were made by Catherine/Farm Lassie at The Rebellious Muse.
Young Adult fiction is turning to something that is not good. It used to be something that was easier to relate to for young adults. Now it is something that is full of things that influence young adults in a bad way.
Smoking, drinking, bad language, excessive violence, things against Christian values, all these things are appearing in books that are supposed to be good for teens? I don't like this. Why are writers encouraging teens to do these things? There are enough of those things in the world already. Let's get ride of these.
What do good books do?
Mason Cooley said: "Reading is a place to go when we have to stay where we are." That is so true.
My profile says, "I love to read and enter into the world of books!" I love reading all the time, but when I am really depressed, or sad, about the things going on in this world, I can leave this world behind in the books that I read. When I am trying to get away from all these things I don't want to read a bad word, or a scene where there is too much kissing, or where people are drunk. I want to be encouraged to go on, to read that it will all work out. Books give us hope. #RebelliousWriting
What do bad books do?
Bad books put things into our minds. Even if you read it and say, "I will never swear like that." "I would never do that." It is still in our minds. Do you know how hard it is to forget things? Bad books show that even if you do something bad, there will be no consequences. NOT TRUE. Bad things are bad things. You can't make them romantic, or heroic, by putting them in books. Authors make the readers think that though. But they are still there. This world has so many good things in it. There are five million things to write about, why are authors choosing to high-light bad things in a good way? Bad books influence the readers, they think it is a good thing then. It most definitely is NOT a good thing. #RebelliousWriting
List of good books: #RebelliousReading
The Chronicles of Narnia - by C. S. Lewis
The Anne of Green Gables series - by L. M. Montgomery
Little Women - by Louisa May Alcott
Pax - by Sara Pennypacker
The Tale of Despereaux - by Kate DiCamillo
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp - by Kathi Appelt
The One and Only Ivan - by Katherine Applegate
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - by Grace Lin
Emma - by Jane Austen
etc.
List of bad books: #RebelliousReading
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children - by Ransom Riggs
Ever - by Gail Carson Levine (I'm not sure what happened here, all her other books are great!)
Up From Jericho Tel - by E. L. Kongingsberg
Some Tamora Pierce books.
Lambing Out - by Mary Clearman
Some people may love these books, but they really made me uncomfortable. And there are many more.
This is why I am a critic. This is why I do reviews. I want to tell others about those books that are the best books ever, and I want to warn others for books that are not good. Books should be for EVERYONE. There shouldn't be books that are "too adult" for young people. I mean, an eight year old probably isn't going to love Jane Austen, but there shouldn't be books that have themes that have so much bad stuff that young people can't read it and feel comfortable. A book shouldn't make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.
But, surely the author didn't mean it that way. The thing is, it's not like speaking. When you speak you can't take it back, maybe you are surprised or mad so you said that thing. In writing you choose what you put in it. Put good things in a book, fill it with hope.
I'm not saying that books can't have lessons, every book has a lesson. It is way better to read about a character doing something bad and receiving the consequences and learn not to do it, than doing it yourself. But, I don't like it when in the books, people do it without any consequences, that is not true in life. And I don't like it thrown in there for no reason, if the reader still would have learned that lesson without it. And bad language doesn't need to be thrown around like confetti.
Please join the rebellion! This is not a rebellion against what people would want for you, this is a rebellion for what people want for you! Nobody wants you to read bad books
Make sure to go check out Gray's post to see how you can join!
Thanks for reading!
MovieCritic
OH MY GOSH! I LOVE HOW YOU USED THE MEMES!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so awesome, so moving! I totally agree and was so blown away by how good it was!
Catherine
catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com
Thank you so much! Your comment made me so happy Catherine!! The memes were so cool I tried to use all the ones I could!
DeleteThank you so much! That is so sweet of you to say! I just got on a roll and couldn't stop typing!
Thank you so much for your comment, it really made my day!!
This is so good! You said it way better than I ever could!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You were the one who said it the best because you started the whole rebellion! Thank you!
DeleteI love this!
ReplyDeleteThank you Elena!
DeleteI agree that YA books, in particular, may be emphasizing some of the darker choices in life...maybe to get kids who have lived those things more interested in literature as an option. But I think each person reaches for the books they love without censoring the kinds of thoughts they might contain. I'm not bothered by a few swear words, or by accurate depicitions of struggle, but I am bothered by graphic violence, disrespect for women/differently abled/people of color, and unnecessary sexuality. I think YA books should be a safe zone.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of that, "maybe to get kids who have lived those things more interested in literature as an option". Yes, everyone has their own books choices. I don't like it in books where it things definitely aren't needed, the throw it in. Books should make you happy.
DeleteThank you for your comment!
I agree that a lot of YA lit contains inappropriate content.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, TV shows aimed at teens contain things I wouldn't have been comfortable watching as a teen, and wouldn't want my own kids watching until they are adults. Right now, my son is struggling with some rebellious attitudes and behavior that we're pretty sure are a result of his reading... Calvin & Hobbes comic strips. What goes in really can come back out. (Oh, and he's nine, so the rebellion is most of a "I messed up my sisters' Lego sets behind their backs and then lied about doing it" flavor, but that doesn't make it less bad, just less scary than if he was fifteen and slashing tires or something.)
However, I disagree that there shouldn't be books that are "too adult" for young people. Yes, there shouldn't be YA-targeted books that are "too adult" for young adults, but we adults need fiction that grapples with difficult, hard, scary, even bad things sometimes, in order to work through our own problems, to help us understand others, and to help us test and solidify our own beliefs. Books that do that in an insightful, tasteful, intelligent way are very important.
For instance, right now I'm leading that read-along of The Great Gatsby. It's got some pretty bad stuff in it -- some swearing, lots of alcohol abuse, infidelity, and disregard for the law. It doesn't glorify those things, however -- it shows how all these things lead to ruin and heartache, even death. I enjoy and learn from this book.
However, a lot of people read The Great Gatsby in high school, which I don't particularly approve of. The content is not graphic, the language is not obscene (there are a few curse words, the "old-fashioned" kind), and the sexual content is alluded to only, not described in a prurient way. But I don't think most teens are ready to understand what the author is saying about the characters and their behavior -- they see the surface stuff about fun partying and people having an "anything goes" attitude about life, but they often don't connect the dots to how that behavior leads to a lot of very bad consequences. Most teens simply don't have the life experience and emotional maturity to process it correctly. (There are, of course, those like you who do possess that level of experience and maturity. Exceptions that prove the rule, etc.)
Anyway, good for you for having standards and being willing to speak out about them. I'm off to read the post you linked to and see what others have to say about this! Might even put a link in my blog's sidebar, as clean books for teens are something I care about (and write!).
I am very picky, so when something makes me uncomfortable I don't want to read it or watch it. It drives me crazy how many "jokes" are in kids movies and tv shows, they really didn't need to put that in there. It is important to learn lessons through, and it is easier to learn it by reading instead of doing it yourself. When we are kids we all go through that time where we want to do things and see what effect they have on others, we learn the consequences then we know not to do them any more.
DeleteI hadn't thought about that, but it is true. Adults have experianced more than young adults, so they need something that they can relate to, too. And as the adults have more experience they can find deeper meanings than the young adults do. Sometimes I get so irritated with bad words, or other things that are going on that I can't get the full meaning. That is why I love having a blog and reading blogs, I get to read about what other people think about movies and books and that way it can change my view for the better, or for the worse.
I am so sorry I haven't commented on your read-along for The Great Gatsby yet! I haven't even read the first chapter! Summer has been crazy already! I can't wait to see what you have to say about it!
Thank you! I loved reading all you had to say here, you should do a post on it! Thank you for joining! I am so glad that I know a real author!
Thank you so much for your comment!
Great points! :D Thanks so much for the recommendation of clean books to read; it's always so helpful to have one on hand! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, I love getting recommendations for great books! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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