Two posts in one day! Do I rock or what? ;)
I find that people are often biased when it comes to things they aren't familiar with (I'm like that too). I especially notice it when it comes to books genres. I used to think SF was only really tech-oriented space opera kind of things (which it's totally not...although space opera can be kinda fun). The sad thing is, we don't realize what we're missing unless we really investigate the genre...looking at titles in a chain bookstore won't cut it.
This is a very general topic, so I'm going to focus on one specific thing...let's say "YA books" (I'm not a fan of labeling, but I'll ignore that right now), since I've been thinking about it lately.
I hear negative things about teen fiction, on the internet and occasionally from people I know. People seem to focus on the fact that teen fiction produced Twilight (and many Twilight-wannabes), and not so much on the actually deep, good books out there.
Yes, some YA books can be shallow and focus too much on romantic relationships, but so can adults books. And teen fiction has many really interesting books that explore things that books for other ages don't. Self-discovery, other people...and a lot of it feels fresh, since the characters are often finding out these things for the first time. And, I find that books for this age (and younger) are more positive than adult books (but I'm no expert...this is just from what I've heard about various adult books).
And that's just realistic fiction. Fantasy teen fiction (when it's good) is, in my opinion, the best kind of fantasy fiction. It's sophisticated, but it's not as restrained to a genre as an adult book might be.
So...that's my defense of teen books. I'd love to hear your opinion on similar subjects...what genres/ages groups/writing styles/whatever do you love, and why should I love it too?
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3 comments:
Personally, I like kid's fiction and fantasy the best.
Honestly, I've searched through many YA sections of libraries and bookstores and been saddened to find that they are mostly about vampires and teens "hooking up". (Or vampires "hooking up" for that matter.)
Not all of them are like this, I have read a few YA series that were more like you described, but the majority seems to focus that way.
I'm sure the genre itself has more to it, but for most people, titles in a chain bookstore is what they have accessible to them. What a Chapters would sell is usually what people are most likely to buy.
I will say that YA/children's books are both better than adult ones, though. Much more interesting. :)
The reason why I tend to favour children's literature over teen is because it tends to be more...Well, about the story. I don't need to hear about the night they spent with their boyfriend, and kids books tend to be rid of that. You get more of the story and the characters, I find.
This is all just my opinion, though. I'd be interested to hear about some of your favorite YA books and maybe check them out.
Sorry for writing a novel, there, I got carried away. xD
Thanks for the post! Two good YA books, off the top of my head are:
1. "Finding Violet Park" by Jenny Valentine - A very good "realistic fiction" book about a teenager and his family and a dead lady. I'd rate it PG-13, but I don't think it has anything you wouldn't like.
2. "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer - A book about a girl and her family who go through an apocalyptic-style natural disaster, and its aftermath. It's intense and readable. I read it a while ago, but as far as I know it doesn't have anything inappropriate or talk about relationships (bonus!).
Hey, maybe I'll make a post with more books like these sometime. Thanks for inspiring me!
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