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I love this article in the Hunger Mountain written by child psychiatrist and writer Ilsa J Bick, in response to Meghan Cox Gurdon’s articles on “dark” YA.

I especially loved this:

Now, if you do want to know about some kids like that, talk to a very wise librarian I met a few weeks ago at ALA. She works in Anaheim, and the population she serves lives with violence, gangs, drugs, rape, incest . . . you name it. Know what those kids like to read? They devour contemporary novels that accurately depict their reality. And you know why? Because, in those novels, the kids triumph. They find a way out of hell. These books are quite hopeful because the teens in them do succeed where their parents and society have failed. These novels are journeys of growth from and through darkness toward the light.

you can still
listen in through the podcast! I LOVED how articulate, clear, strong, and intelligent YA author Maureen Johnson was!

I also called in (since Gurdon slammed Scars in her WSJ essay). I was glad to be able to say a short bit–and so grateful, as always, for all the lovely YAlit people’s support through Twitter! It really makes a huge difference.

I found it…hard…to have Meghan Cox Gurdon tell me that she pities me. Pity feels…far away from compassion, and can be condescending. I think it usually makes the person pitied feel awful. And I found it hard that again, Meghan thinks that most teens can’t relate to dark books because it’s not their experience (she thinks). I SO wish I’d been able to get in that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 8 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. That alone shows how many teens need “dark” fiction, and that’s just one issue. Never mind teens who haven’t been through such things but have friends who have.

But Maureen Johnson was so articulate and smart (I knew she would be), and so was the teen reader! And the Twitter support–you all are wonderful!

Check out the podcast if you want to hear it for yourself.
http://www.whyy.org/podcast/070611_110630.mp3

Here's a link to an article than ran in today's WSJ about dark YA, how it's selling and what might be driving readers to buy these books. Sure, the article kind of missed the fact that dark YA has been around for a looong time, but I'm glad to see the paper (thanks Katie Roiphe) covering YA.

As someone who writes lighter tween but adores reading and aspires to write dark YA, I think the books Katie mentioned are must reads for those interested in that area of YA. The timing of the article, for me, is awesome because I've been playing with a dark YA but ultimately had to put it down because now wasn't the time to write it. But last night, I came up with a new dark YA idea and got up at 4am to write it down so I wouldn't forget. I'm exploring it in my brain today while doing other stuff.

I'm trying to get things done on my "must do" list before 3ish because Libba Bray will be at my neighborhood B&N at 4. I want to go, but I've got a zillion things to do first. It would prob help if I stopped writing this blog...