tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post7763262478401164706..comments2024-03-26T17:32:38.865-04:00Comments on YA Outside the Lines: YA Books, Back Then, Were Not Dark (by Jody Casella) Brian Katcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15159532800819759917noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-42464441003882032322016-07-22T22:15:53.479-04:002016-07-22T22:15:53.479-04:00This is awesome. I read ALL these books, far young...This is awesome. I read ALL these books, far younger than most "teens."Holly Schindlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-62105929734526148932016-07-22T15:21:14.056-04:002016-07-22T15:21:14.056-04:00I still blush when I hear that name! Judy Blume is...I still blush when I hear that name! Judy Blume is the reason I write under my real name... I wanted to be near her on shelves. Patty Blounthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11928111057602279792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-75031516943029614952016-07-18T15:15:50.560-04:002016-07-18T15:15:50.560-04:00This is so true. The kids living with scary stuff ...This is so true. The kids living with scary stuff need to see themselves in books-- and I would add that it's just as important (if not more so) for their classmates to catch at least a glimpse of what it's like to grapple with mental health issues, or poverty, or eating disorders, or rape, or the myriad of other things that go on in our communities. Jody Casellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17892174349776047862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-21010426502386505252016-07-18T07:41:34.126-04:002016-07-18T07:41:34.126-04:00I like the way current YA fiction addresses issues...I like the way current YA fiction addresses issues teens are facing. Last year, I did a blog covering what I described as real bibliotherapy (a concept we were using in mental health back in the 1970s). Teens who were dealing with scary stuff years back often felt like they were the only ones in the world facing their problem. Today, they can read a book (or multiple books) where the main character faces the same crisis and not feel so alone. Does this trend freak some adults? Yes, but as far as how it helps teens feel less isolated, the value is huge..Berekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14172936893264053007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-51667337738458918702016-07-17T09:22:14.917-04:002016-07-17T09:22:14.917-04:00I love these examples, Jenn!
You're right ab...I love these examples, Jenn! <br /><br />You're right about where the books might've been shelved back in the day-- and how that doesn't really matter. Any kid 12 and up, who is a reader, will likely get their hands on any book they want to get their hands on. When I was in 7th grade I read Stephen King and Danielle Steele and Sidney Sheldon. <br />I always wonder why people don't freak out more about violence/sex in movies, but it's books that are the lightening rod for our fears that our kids have an interior/emotional/imaginative life that is separate-- and unknown to us. Jody Casellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17892174349776047862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-15304920549343504132016-07-16T21:16:55.609-04:002016-07-16T21:16:55.609-04:00I suppose they would point out that Forever and Fl...I suppose they would point out that Forever and Flowers in the Attic were shelved with adult books, although you're right that the actual readers of those books were largely teens (and even pre-teens). I would bet anything that current teens have clandestinely passed around 50 Shades of Grey, even though it's not marketed at them either.<br /><br />But of course, adults do develop those blind spots about their own recommended reading material. Here are a few actual scenes from books adults probably would think of as wholesome classics:<br /><br />--Young girl is approached by a man who has molested and killed other girls in her neighborhood. He exposes himself and is trying to abduct her when her mother appears and kills him. (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, first published 1943)<br /><br />--Teen girl is boarding with a family she doesn't know well, teaching school. The woman of the family is jealous of her and argues with her husband about the girl's presence, and one night even brandishes a knife. (These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, first published )<br /><br />--Young lady falls in love with a rogue who plays with her affections and deserts her. It turns out he has also impregnated another girl, ducked out of his obligations there, and fought a duel with her guardian. (Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, first published in the early 1800s)<br /><br />--Orphaned boy falls in with a band of thieves, several of whom are arrested--some hanged, others imprisoned, others exiled. At the height of the book's action, a prostitute in their social circle is murdered by her boyfriend. (Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, also 1800s)<br /><br />--A 13-year-old girl secretly marries a guy she has just met, defying both sets of parents, and dies with him in a double suicide. (Romeo and Juliet, circa 1597)Jennifer R. Hubbardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03408588432492354248noreply@blogger.com