YA Literature Argument Essay

Yazeed Mualla                                                                                                                        810

YA Literature Argument Essay

            In recent years Young Adult (YA) literature has sparked a debate between people over whether or not access to YA novels should be limited. The controversy began when people found that YA books were too violent and profane, the debate was lit when Meghan Cox Gurdon published her article, “Darkness Too Visible”. In detail Gurdon picks at the gruesome parts of these books including the profanity. Access to YA fiction should not be limited to teenagers in any way; and I’m not just saying that because I am a teen. YA books contain valuable lessons for young adults, contain relate able themes and are used by teenagers as a safe haven when facing the horrors of life.

            A first reason why access to YA fiction shouldn't be limited is because teens are already immune to much of the controversial content in YA literature. In, “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”, by Sherman Alexie, the author of the bestselling young adult novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, he says that he heard stories from children, teenage and younger, about survival and struggling from poverty to rape. He heard these stories at ceremonies that he attends to speak to youth that struggle every day. This shows that these kids are in the midst of terrible things in their everyday lives, with or without reading YA books. Alexie says about these ceremonies, “It was a beautiful and painful ceremony. But it was not unique.” This shows that he loved to hear that his novel comforted these struggling children but hearing their stories of struggling is painful. Alexie hears stories through letter and face-to-face from children of all backgrounds every day. This shows that teenage suffering is not rare. You might ask of Alexie’s past; Sherman Alexie was a poor, abused Native American boy, like many teens he too struggled. He says, “I write in blood because I remember what it feels like to bleed”. Is bleed too strong of a word? No, because pain for many teens can be as strong as blood, these painful struggles are common for many teens. Alexie shares the story of a young woman who had to handle being a mother and graduating high school, while many doubted the possibility of her success. Obviously life is already tough for this girl, it’s full of pain and pressure, so reading a book about teen pregnancy won’t influence her to do anything, as people of the opposing side might say, she is young and is already living the horrors of YA. Similarly, Alexie shares the story of a seventeen year old young man. He was destined to war. As Alexie put it, “He was seventeen and destined to join the military. Yes, he was old enough to die and kill for his country.” Meghan Cox Gurdon emphasized on the violence in YA being too much but this boy was going to experience something way more violent than reading a YA book. Not convinced yet? Fine, teens like video games, don’t they? Now think of the most popular of these video games among teens. The favorites include a series of Modern Warfare games and a set of Grand Theft Auto games. And, just by the titles you can tell that these games are violent, they’re also profane, just like any other YA book. Taking away YA books wouldn't be taking away any of the controversial content in these books because they are still made accessible through video games and the Internet. In the article, “Should Young Adult Books Have Age Ratings?” Patrick Ness says, “All you have to really do is read what teenagers write themselves, and I've judged competitions for teenager’s writing, and it’s darkness beyond anything I would come up with.” This shows that the pieces of writing produced by teens, the ones that come out of their own minds are already full of darkness. Many of the controversial ideas in YA books are in the things that teens like to do the most, if they’re not already in the midst of their lives. Taking away YA books wouldn't be taking away the darkness that is already in teen life.

            A second reason why access to YA books shouldn't be limited is because YA books contain valuable lessons for growing teens. Even those who believe that access to YA books should be limited admit that YA books teach strong lessons. Meghan Cox Gurdon, who takes a strong position against YA fiction says in “Darkness Too Visible”, “ The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless,” she acknowledges that YA books give teens voice. Sherman Alexie shares the perfect examples of this. After reading his YA novel, a young man who was given no other option by his parents but to go to war like his father, realized that he too wanted to be a writer. He learned what he really wanted to do in life but also after reading the book he learned to stand up for himself, he didn't want war and no matter how painful it would be to his family, it was how he felt that was more important. The book taught him to have independence. This is a lesson that is often contained in many YA novels. I recently finished an extravagant novel called, “ The Fall of Rome” by Martha Southgate and I will say that there were many parts of the book that are profane, that are violent and that are explicit, but what does this all mean in a beautifully crafted novel, a piece of literature so rare and so full of moral value? I was personally more affected by these parts of the book rather than the explicit ones. The book tells the story of an African American student attending a private school, where the majority of students are white. The plot is much richer and denser than this. The book teaches you to treat everybody fairly and to stand up for one’s self and your ideas. Self-confidence is a trait that is often taught or picked up and can help people of all ages to cope with many of their problems, this is a positive effect of this book. About YA novels, Alexie says, “I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life”. In this quote what Alexie is trying to say is that explicit YA novels are read to gain a better understanding of the world and to learn to face the struggles that come before us in life. The moral value of YA books is the benefit of having these books; this is also why access to them shouldn't be limited.

            Furthermore, for those millions of teens who do struggle in their everyday lives, YA books are a safe haven, a place to clear their minds of bad thoughts and to relate to realistic fictional characters. Sherman Alexie once attended a ceremony of sixty students who gathered because they had been inspired by Alexie’s YA novel. They read and related to the main character in, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”.  Alexie writes, “And there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read because they live in an often-terrible world.” This means that, life isn't easy, it is not always beautiful and good things don’t just happen, this is reality and it’s faced by many teens; to help them get through the tough times, teens read YA books. And you live life in its ups and downs, with friends and enemies alike. So when teenagers face these horrors, small and big, instead of turning to drugs and self-harm, which may seem like the easier way to go, a YA book is the better alternative. Teens know that when they face struggles, there is always a book out there to relate to; a character similar to you. A girl struggling with teen pregnancy will turn to a YA book to help her cope, same as a teen facing poverty or with differences or even those facing war will turn to a book that they can relate to. Rashid, the main character in “The Fall of Rome”, coped with a huge cultural difference between himself and his peers. He was one of the few minorities in the school. His best friends were another African American boy and an Asian boy. An African American boy or one of different culture will turn to a book like, “The Fall of Rome” to relate to Rashid and his problems, to feel that there are others like him on this Earth and that he’s not alone. He can learn to cope with being different. YA books are the best and most common places for teens to turn when coping with their troubles, YA books can be a supporter when there isn't one and that’s why access to YA books shouldn't be limited.

            People who believe that access to YA literature should be limited say that YA books are too profane, violent and contain various negatively influential ideas like drug use, murder and rape. They say things like Meghan Cox Gurdon put it, “books focusing on pathologies help to normalize them…, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people.” Here is where this is invalid reasoning: Often when authors use characters conducting bad behavior they try to diffuse these ideas. In “The Fall of Rome”, after describing young characters drinking and using drugs the author hits the reader with the consequences of these actions. Rashid, the main character, uses drugs once throughout the book but as he walked away, cutting class, into a barn near the school, he seriously injures his leg and this ends his track season, which looked very bright. By doing this, Martha Southgate is trying to send the message of the negativity of these pathologies rather than make them sound good; she is rather belittling these ideas. This brings up another topic, people for the banning of YA books would say that these books focus on pathologies but in reality, YA books only contain controversial topics on rare occasions throughout the entire book. What YA books really focus on are the larger themes and morals of the book. Sherman Alexie said it best in “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”, “Does Meghan Cox Gurdon honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?” In the end these topics aren't new to teens. Do people that take controversy to YA books think that teens that are already immune to these controversial topics will be frightened or negatively influenced by them if they’re already in their everyday lives? They have already lived and heard these horrors without YA books and taking away the literature that mildly contains these themes won’t change any of the struggles they've lived in the past, the scary stories they've heard and the pain they've felt. When “cultural critics”, as Alexie calls them, complain about YA books, they’re not protecting those teens that face racial conflicts in their everyday lives by limiting access to books like “The Fall of Rome”. 

            The roaring controversy that has been sparked over YA fiction doesn't seem to be ending soon. Many feel that access to YA books should be limited. But in reality, access to YA books shouldn't be limited because teens use YA novels as a safe haven. YA novels also contain a lot of moral value. Of course much of the controversial topics over YA, are already in an average teen’s life. And the claims and reasoning made by people for why access to YA fiction should be limited is invalid.