I couldn’t not post.
The blogosphere and Twitter are overflowing with responses and comments to The Wall Street Journal article on YA. You can read the it here WSJ – I had to take a break halfway through because I was getting so annoyed by the condescending and narrow minded attitude of the piece.
The reaction of the YA community has been awesome, I’m so proud of all of us.
#YASaves is my personal truth. A huge part of why I’m still here and functioning is because of books. They were my escape when I wouldn’t face getting out of bed. My therapy because they taught me that I wasn’t alone, that there is hope and that I could make it.
They were are my best friends, because no matter what I need they can give me that. Laughter, tears, escapism, understanding…
There are so many things in that article that I could pick apart but I’m going to select the suggestions that reading about behaviours such as cutting would encourage someone to do this. It reminds me of the argument that watching violent films or playing video games makes people pick up guns and go on shooting sprees.
Dear WSJ,
NO IT DOES NOT!!!
I have more scars that I care to count covering my arms… most of them are years old, faded white lines that you hardly notice until you look closer.
I am proud of these, they are a reminder of my journey – what I had to get through to be the person I am today.
SCARS by Cheryl Rainfield was highlighted in regards to the above argument. This book has been on my wishlist for months, and surprisingly the cover does not make me want to cut myself. Surely it should?!* NO! Triggers/Reasons for cutting are so much more complex.
What WSJ has succeeded in doing is making me buy it now, today, right this moment. I’m giving up my chocolate fund for the month – because books like SCARS are so important, too important not to be read.
To suggest that reading it will make me cut again or make someone who hasn’t cut before suddenly pick up a razor blade is an insult to everyone’s intelligence.
That is not the purpose of the story.
You can read Chery Rainfield’s response here
*That suggestion annoyed me so much!
<3
So very true.
Yes, yes, and yes! All this makes me want to do is support these books even more. I had barely started to explore YA when I was going through my rough patch in high school. I turned to Virginia Woolf for solace, because so few people wanted to accept what I was going through. Thankfully, my family did. Not only does YA save, but books do.
Every book does.
I hadn’t seen this article. So glad you brought it to my attention. Just because a few books may deal with difficult topics, topics that speak to some YAs and for whom those books are life-savers, does not mean every YA book is about “appalling” subjects. It’s like they scoured the shelves for the most shocking subject matter and pretended nothing else existed. There is so much great writing in YA literature today. We should be glad of the wide range of books and subjects available – books that speak to all readers.
Going to read the article. Thanks for writing about it. I’ve seen the cover a couple of times before and read the blurb. Both made me want to read the book.
So sad to think that people think that that woman actually made sense. Clearly none of them ever read anything challenging in their lives. Sometimes it’s really worth while.
Just wanted to stop by because I haven’t heard from you in a while. How are you doing?