Shaken & Stirred: More YA Chitter Chatter

May 06, 2008

More YA Chitter Chatter

Here from Scalzi, and here from Dave Moles.

Posted at 01:26 PM in Children's Lit Fabulosity, Scientifiction | Permalink

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It is so odd to hear adult writers/readers lamenting the loss of adult SF to YA when I am constantly looking for YA SF to review. There is some out there but not a whole lot and nothing compared to what is in the adult SF market. It is hard for me to get enough well written YA SF to even put together an entire column, so this whole discussion strikes me as a wee bit ridiculous. If they are just going to talk about Scott Westerfield then okay, I get it. But trying to expand the arguement beyond him I think is a bit of a stretch.

As always though, the discussion degenerates down to whether or not adults should be reading YA and if YA is as good as adult. That is when I get off the bus. Read good books, ignore the target audience. That should be everyone's reading goal. The rest is just the literary equivalent to flag pins. ("Yes but, is the book REALLY good or just sort of good or just good if you are under 17????")

Scott Westerfield is brilliant and he writes SF - end of discussion. (If only such discussions could end so easily for politicians as well... :)

Posted by: Colleen | May 06, 2008 at 02:34 PM

I know what you mean, Coll.

Posted by: Gwenda | May 06, 2008 at 02:47 PM

Cynical-me thinks adults (especially those who don't particularly enjoy reading YA as a genre--which is their right) just can't deal with things actually being in some small way better for teens than for adults.

Teens have to put up with enough nonsense. Why shouldn't the best books being written--or even, yes, the books selling the best--be written for them? I have no problem with this.

Adults control enough of the cool stuff. I see no reason to begrudge teens SF/fantasy market share.

Posted by: Janni | May 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM

About

Appendices

Read Read

Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.
Kara Jesella: How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time
So, I'll tell you up front that this book delivers the goods. You will wallow in your Sassy forever-love, and feel as if you've just binged on a lot of especially great issues when you finish it. As the ladies say, this was a magazine about hope. Hope that there was something out there, some Great Beyond better than your teenagedom. And, lo and behold, that promise was kept, even though Sassy got murdered. Added bonus? An excellent portrait of the beginning of Third Wave feminism. See my full take here.