There's an article that was published in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday about the
horrors of Young Adult Literature. It goes on to talk about how it's apparently impossible to find anything that's not vampires or self mutilation or impossibly dark. It then goes on to talk about how horrible these dark books are for kids and how they're going to be scarred for life.
First lets talk about the first issue, that all of the young adult lit is horribly dark.
Amy Freeman, a 46-year-old mother of three, stood recently in the young-adult section of her local Barnes & Noble, in Bethesda, Md., feeling thwarted and disheartened.
She had popped into the bookstore to pick up a welcome-home gift for her 13-year-old, who had been away. Hundreds of lurid and dramatic covers stood on the racks before her, and there was, she felt, "nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." She left the store empty-handed.
So her daughter is thirteen. Thirteen is the bottom end of the Young Adult Genre. Kids in the 12 and 13 range generally alternate between books in the children's section and books in the young adult section (just as older teens alternate between young adult and adult books). All of the books in this section are not going to be appropriate for her daughter just as all of the books in the children's section are not appropriate for my seven year old. The Young Adult genre has exploded over the years and now the books are targeted not just at the middle school audience but at the high school audience that traditionally had migrated into adult books.
There are a however lot of books aimed at the middle school audience in the young adult section that are light and fluffy and fun. Even a lot of the paranormal literature isn't dark or super violent. I have given young adult books to my daughter to read (or listen to on CD) because I thought she would like them. There are even plenty of books written for older teens that aren't dark (and I read at least one new releases a month that are devoid of any adult content or violence what so ever and I avoid Christian literature). While these social issue books do exist it's like using Jodi Picoult to describe all of women literature instead of being able to understand that books like that are just a section of what is out there.
The author of the article complains about contemporary literature focusing too much on heavy issues. I'm not sure what the author expects YA books to be about. Does she feel that older teens would be better off reading books that read like Hannah Montana or ICarly? Where the only conflict was a grade on a math test or if your crush likes you back? It was the lack of realistic and powerful topics in literature that sent my generation right to adult literature (and a lot of teens move right to adult literature) or turned them off reading all together. The boom in readership in the YA genre proves that writers are doing something right. That teens want to read about heavier issues.
So her other complaint, that these books are going to scar our kids and turn them all into cutting anorexic suicidal messes.
Most of the people that whine and complain about how innapropriate books are for teens don't actually read the entire books themselves and they underestimate our kids ability to see beyond the surface and think about what they've read. These "social issues" books help teens learn that they’re not alone or learn the warning signs of negative behavior and most importantly they help teens have a first hand view of the problem which helps them to empathize with others. Being able to read a characters feelings about dating abuse or suicide or eating disorders and seeing how a situation develops (and how the character gets help) can help teens understand the why instead of just being judgmental and it will help them to see the warning signs in those that they love. Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away and just because something is difficult to read doesn't mean it's distructive.
As for the argument that these books can be a trigger for destructive behavior. I'm sure that's true in some cases. But just as we don't eliminate advertisements for diet products or stop encourage healthy eating because it may trigger someone with an eating disorder we shouldn't get rid of these books on the off chance that they could be a trigger. Parents ultimately are the gate keepers for the media that their children and if you have a child that could be effected negatively then you need to talk to them and make your own judgements as to the parenting of your children (while not taking the choice away from others).
I'm going to end this with a quote from Jackie Kessler whose book
Rage (Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Book 2)
was listed as one of the examples of a "horrible" dark book that will harm your children on her comments about the article on her
blog. You can see my review
here.
Why? Easy. Ignoring ugly truths doesn’t make those truths go away. Silence is never the answer. Granted, there may be those who will always advocate censorship rather than frank discussion. But the more that people insist on limiting the books we read, the more those books need to be read.
Learn about the world. Read a book.
kick right now (free on netflix). If Max Evans walked into the room (and I was 16) I would totally go dreamy eyed and want to be his Liz. 
as she is sent away to live with her cousins and ends up in the middle of another faerie plot in loose retelling of Cinderella. Princess Poppy is living away for the first time without her sisters still reeling from the years of dancing every night she refuses to dance at the balls she attends with her aunt and uncle. Ellen is a horrible maid, she makes a mess of everything. When Ellen receives a mysterious message from a woman who claims to be her fairy godmother she is willing to overlook the magic in order to be treated like a princess.
by Sophie Kinsella that pulled me into the Genre. I love love love romantic comedies with women who work in trendy offices.
) so this should be great.
.
by Julie Anne Peters follows Alyssa, a girl who has been sent to live with a mother she does not know after being caught in bed with a girl by her father who is a homophobe. Alyssa takes a job in a diner, starts a relationship with a girl and has to get to know a mother whom she has never known and whom works various sketchy jobs including at a strip club. The author also reveals the details of the relationship that Alyssa had that caused her father to disown her.
By Cat Patrick follows London Lane, a girl who remembers the future instead of the past. Every day she wakes up with no memory of what happened the day before and only the notes that she has written and her memories of the future to guide her through her life. This can be quite difficult when you're in high school. When she meets Luke, a boy that she has no memory of she brushes him off at first but slowly builds a relationship for which she is guided by only the notes she has written to herself and falls in love with him everyday. She slowly starts to develop a few memories of the past and starts to question if she can change the future. The mystery and romance that develop through her discovery lead to a great story by the author. 
by Mira Grant which is a sequel to 
today so I've got zombies on the brain.