WOW! Women On Writing Blog: Divergent

Forever Young Adult Readers Under Attack

Monday, June 09, 2014

So I write Young Adult. I read YA. I also read romance, mystery, literary fiction, nonfiction, picture books, board books, the newspaper, blogs, and middle-grade novels. But right now, YA readers over the age of 18 are under attack by a blogger named Ruth Graham who wrote a post called AGAINST YA on the Slate Book Review. Her tagline reads, "Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you're reading was written for children."

You might have seen this article or heard about it. It's been circulating around Facebook and Twitter, and it has several readers and writers steaming mad! I think the part that is so objective, of course, is the word embarrassed. I'm thinking adults should be embarrassed over much more serious things, such as our infiltration of Facebook, than reading Fault in Our Stars or standing in line for the midnight showing of Twilight. But what do I know? I read YA.

Since I am a YA and MG novelist, I think Graham gives me a pass because I have to read what I write. But still her article really ticks me off. I have had a lot of adults tell me they read my latest novel, a YA titled Caught Between Two Curses, in one day. Should they be embarrassed about this? Should they be hiding their book behind a black piece of construction paper or wearing big sunglasses when reading it on Kindle? Or should I just be happy that of the friends I know who love to read a lot of different genres and types of books, they took the time to read mine? I'll let you know. . .I'm happy.

I've loved children's books since I was young and I've never stopped. My VERY FAVORITE BOOK SERIES EVER is Harry Potter. I haven't read any adult novel that has made me want to read it three times as all 7 of HP have. So, call me stupid. Call me immature. According to Graham, I'm missing out on great literature that will really make me think and stay with me long after I shut the book. ( Full confession: My mom, in her seventies, and I still mourn the end of the TV series, Angel.)

Here's the deal. Has Graham ever been to a Star Trek convention? Has she seen people dress up and act out The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Should these people be embarrassed to dress up as creatures and characters who aren't even real? What does she think about romance readers who visit the fictional landmarks in their favorite books? I mean, she has opened up a (excuse the cliche) can of worms here.

So, I'm curious. What do you think? Do you read YA? Do you read MG? If you do, do you do this because you like it, because you write for the age, because you have kids/grandkids that age? Do you think it matters what you choose to read as long as you are reading and enjoying it?

I just think Graham entered dangerous territory when she started judging what other people read. It's like banning books. You don't have to ban them to stop YOUR children from reading them, just don't let those books in your house. If Graham doesn't want to read YA, then fine. But she doesn't have to insult the people who do--no matter how old they are.

Not only is Margo L. Dill a young adult writer and reader, she also teaches a novel writing course for people who want to write for the young adult or children's market! Find out all the classes Margo teaches and upcoming dates on the WOW! classroom page here.

13 comments Caught Between Two Curses, Divergent, Fault in Our Stars, Margo L. Dill, readers, young adult, young adult novel

Reading and Learning from Popular Books

Thursday, October 10, 2013

On another blog I write for, The Lit Ladies, one of our writers, Little Lady, recently wrote a post about how her high school AP English teacher snubbed his nose at Harry Potter. He had actually never read a word of J. K. Rowling's work, and he refused to even try it out because of its popularity.

I'm just going to be honest with you all right now--THIS. ATTITUDE. DRIVES. ME. CRAZY.

I realize some things that are popular are really dumb, and some books that are on the bestseller list are no good. However, many of the books, especially children's and YA, are bestsellers or popular because they are. . . (you won't believe this) good books. (Okay, this is my opinion. But I'm right!)

As a children's or YA writer, I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't read some of the popular books out there. If it's a series, you don't have to read all of them--but read one, at least. If the book is being made into a movie or a kid's series on PBS or NICK JR., check it out and read it. Then study the story and figure out why. No matter what your goals are for your writing career--even if it's that you want to write standalone books and make no money, that's okay. But knowledge is power. You should have knowledge of--

What kids are interested in and reading today
What sells and why
Popular authors, their stories, their agents, their publishing houses, and the business of books

Actually, if you don't care about being published or making money as a writer, then stop reading this post now and call me crazy. Go ahead! I stand behind what I'm saying here. Here are two examples:

DIVERGENT: I picked this up after discovering that this book was going to be made into a movie, coming in March, and it had a bunch of comparisons to Hunger Games. I was skeptical. However, Veronica Roth had me at hello. I absolutely love this book! Why? I decided it's her pacing, for one. I'm not a big fan of long passages of description or pages where a character struggles with something internally. I like fast-moving, and I like surprises. Roth delivers on both these accounts. I do like her dystopian world, although I wouldn't want to live there--which makes it an excellent dystopian world. And I also love that it's set in Chicago and uses the train system there as a huge part of the plot. I have been to Chicago several times since I live in the Midwest, and I've ridden the L.

So what does Divergent teach me? Keep my pace up. Reveal plot points along the way. Don't cram everything into the beginning. Take familiar settings and change them up a little if possible.

MAX AND RUBY: If you've had a preschooler in the last five years, you know the two loveable bunnies, Max and his older sister Ruby. Rosemary Wells originally wrote the books, which my daughter loves, and it was made into a series for Nick Jr. What I've learned from seeing many episodes of this show as well as reading the books time and again is that picture books can be simple and deal with everyday life. Also, you can have talking animals. And there should usually be some kind of humorous twist at the end.

I understand there are some BAD popular books out there (I'm not going to name names here). But read them anyway. Then when you write your book, write the exact opposite of this popular book--however (and this is the big HOWEVER) keep the essential trait that made the book popular. That's why you study the books. Why did Twilight soar over other vampire/werewolf/human books? Meyer was not the first writer to ever write about these species. Was it her characters? (That's what I think) Why are there so many Magic Tree House books? (Children love adventure, and they love a series. They love to imagine traveling through time in a treehouse, too.)

Soapbox over, but I would love to hear your thoughts on popular books! I promise not to debate (umm, okay, I'll try not to), and I wish you the best of luck on whatever project you are currently working on--whether it will someday be popular or not.

Margo L. Dill is the author of Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg (a middle-grade novel) and has three forthcoming books under contract. She is teaching Writing a Children's or Young Adult Novel for the WOW! Women On Writing classroom, starting on October 15. To see more details, go to the classroom page here.