More Book Babble

Now that the Legislative session is over, I have some reading to catch up on. So far I've read six books in the last week. I just finished reading the lastest Newbery. Normally I would have read it before now, because I collect Newberys (I own all but three of them), and as I mentioned before, I generally await The Announcement with great eagerness. I may also have mentioned before that I have become slightly disillusioned with the Newbery Award over the past few years. Starting last year, I decided that I would renew my commitment to collect on an annual basis. If the book was good, I'd buy it and keep the collection going for one more year. I have been hoping to hold out until 2012, because I like round numbers. A collection from 1922 to 2012 would feel better to me than say, 1922 to 2007. Although I could live with 85 if I had to.

Fortunately, The Higher Power of Lucky was very good. I got it from my local library with no trouble at all. I think this might have been due to the fact that it's recieved mixed reviews, or maybe the people at my library don't know about the Newbery announcement yet. Sometimes news travels slowly to this place. It was on the regular shelves--not up front with the other award-winning books that are never available for checkout because they are the only ones people read. (I am currently sitting at number 28 on the waiting list for River Secrets, and while I love that people are enjoying Shannon Hale, I also wish they would open their minds and read other stuff sometimes so I could check out the books I want when I want them.) Possibly the woman who wrote the scathing review Nemesis mentioned also contacted my library and complained. It would not have been a long distance call. Rest assured that this will not result in any kind of burning or other action, since I am on the Library Committee that addresses complaints of this nature and have sworn to defend and protect the Written Word.

Anyway, before I headed down to the library to check out my copy of Higher Power that wasn't in any danger of going to another patron, and knowing that once I did check the book out I was going to be reading the word "scrotum" on page one, I had a conversation with daltonboy about one of the current trends in YA literature. It seems that a lot of writers of fiction for young readers are turning out material that is "gritty," and "edgy." A lot of readers have a lot to say about that. I myself have had a thing or two to say about it. For example, when I read E. L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone, I thought to myself that it probably wasn't a book I would have given a young child to read. While the book was masterfully written, as all Konigsburg's books are, the subject matter, dealing with child abuse, was more on the adult side. I did not recommend the book to Lola until I felt she was mature enough to handle it. I'm sure that many children whose parents grew up with The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler saw that here was another book by a great author and gave the book to their young children. That was probably a mistake; however, does this mean that Silent to the Bone should not have been written or published? Does it mean that Konigsburg owes some sort of apology or explanation to her readers? Should Konigsburg, because of her reputation as an author who writes books suitable for young children, be henceforth limited to writing only material suitable for that audience? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that parents should be aware of what their children are reading, just as they should be aware of what they are doing after school, what they are watching on TV, and what Internet sites they are visiting. It means that parents should be aware of their children's needs, and have the ability to guide them to read, watch, and participate in those things that will address those needs. Just because Johnny Depp makes a great Willie Wonka doesn't mean I go out and buy every movie he's ever made and show them to my five-year-old (or even watch them myself).

Another reason I advocate some edgier young adult/juvenile literature is that kids today are growing up in a world that is pretty horrible in a lot of ways. Some of those kids are living in situations that I can't even begin to comprehend. And children in those situations aren't always capable of becoming empowered from a story like The Giver. They may think it's a great story, and be glad they read it, but do they recognize that the same elements that help Jonah extract himself from a desperate situation are also present and available to them in their own lives? Maybe sometimes they do. More often than not, the book is an escape from life, and when they're done, they're plopped right back into the impossible trap that they were in when they started reading. Speaking directly to them through a grittier story might help them realize that they do have the power to change and surmont impossible obstacles after all. Other times they might benefit more from an escape. Then they can read Harry Potter.

I'm not advocating graphic violence, sex, or language. I just think that sometimes speaking bluntly to the situation is what a kid needs. So maybe these authors aren't evil. Maybe they aren't pandering to the lowest common denominator. Maybe they're searching for ways to reach kids that aren't reachable by any other road. People like Lowry and Konigsburg do that with grace, style, and apparent ease. The rest of us, not being geniuses, have to try to do it as skillfully as possible. Sometimes that means employing cheap literary devices. I don't think it means we shouldn't try.

Back to Higher Power. This book didn't even come close to being edgy. It was a delightful, sweet book with a wonderful message about love. And a dog got bitten in the scrotum by a rattlesnake. So what? I'm guessing your average nine-year-old would laugh when they read that word, whether or not they knew what it meant. And that would be great--because they'd be thinking about some other things that might be tense and difficult, and they'd need a quick chuckle to help them process the other stuff. And then they'd move on. And so should we.