The Nature of Young Adult Literature

In all the books I read for this unit many had a similar theme throughout. Even if it was not the main theme, hope, was prevalent in many of the books reviewed on this blog. From a young woman who has lost her mother, in Mistik Lake, to a boy who has lost his best friend, in This is What I Did, the books all bounced back from the depressing main plots, to reveal a core that gave hope in the end.

In the heavy themes that have plagued young adult literature in the last few years, there have been many complaints about this growing genre that is called "realistic fiction". I think in response the literature we've seen in 2007 for young adults has stepped up with realistic themes that still inspire kids to believe that there is hope that even when things seem all bad something comes along that can give them hope for their future.

This theme was most apparent in the book Spider-Man Reign. Kaare Andrews tried to bring hope to the current reality with a futuristic post 9/11 society. His portrayal of the future as bleak and scared of the terrorism that plagued a city into buying into a military state was creepy enough to remind me of our present day problems with terrorism. Yet the storyline that brought back Spider-Man, and teamed him up with children gave you hope in the end. The kids in the story were tired of a life of terror and stood up and fought with Spider-Man, giving me a sense that even when things are at their worst if you don't give up hope things will get better.

Hope seemed far away for the daughter of an alcoholic mother in Mistik Lake. The author Martha Brooks piles problem after problem on her young heroine. making the book start out with no hope for Odella or her family's future. Mistik Lake provides a way for the reader to see there can be hope for Odella and her family. Whether it's with Odella's new love, Jimmy, who is the bright shining light in her future, or her new baby sister who brings a family together in it's grief. The struggles that a young adult would perceive in this book would have to be countered with the glimmers of a better future that Odella's budding love for her boyfriend and baby sister bring to her.

This Is What I Did is by far the strongest in dark themes of the books that I read for this blog. Yet Ann Dee Ellis does a wonderful job of infusing humor and entertaining illustrations to bring hope to Logan, a character who so desperately needs it. His life seems miserable by anyone's standards and yet he slowly gets back into it with the misguided help of his family and his new friend Laurel. Logan finally finds some much needed self esteem and joy with a part in the school play and coming to terms with what he did. In the end Ellis leaves the reader with the sense that things will get better for Logan. Hope prevails for Logan in this well done young adult book, that speaks to the awkward adolescents of the world.

Many of the other books read by my classmates in this unit had messages of hope as well. The protagonist, Amy, in How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, sees her situation as bleak even though to an adult it doesn't seem so bad. Yet the author turns her trip to Israel into a learning experience giving Amy some hope in her supposedly ruined summer vacation. Another one of the books read by one of my classmates stood out in my mind as speaking to many mainstream young adults with a message of hope and that was The Breakup Bible. Many adolescent girls go through a devastating breakup at one time or another and can use the hope that is given by the end of this book.

Young adults in this day and age have it rough. There are many topics that they deal with that weren't even relevant 50 years ago, so the literature that was published in 2007 speaks to their current problems. Bullying, love, and abuse are all issues that today's teens find themselves dealing with. The literature that they're reading speaks to their problems by not giving them quick fixes, but instead gives them a viewpoint to a problem that they may not have seen before but also can fill them with compassion and hope for their fellow man.