I know a lot of teen fiction gets a bad reputation for being sappy and cliched. It’s easy to forget the struggle of growing up and the pettiness of high school. There is something magical about reading about a first kiss or a teen getting their first taste of the real world. The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld had a profound effect on me even to this day, from when I first read the books at age 15. The main character, tally, was constantly doing the wrong thing for the right reasons and she struggled with maturity and beauty in a dystopian landscape that is not too different from our own. I would like to see an article about different Young Adult novels that are still well-respected literature.
Good topic! I think that your topic can be broken down even further to discuss the motif of growing up/maturing but also how this is done. Post apocalyptic, dystopian, agrarian...all of them have shown themselves in YA literature. I think this would be a really interesting article to read – DClarke9 years ago
This will be a great topic! You could provide a selection of YA novels that are considered "well-respected literature." You can even provide a few examples and critically analyze them, proving that YA novels are not always, in your words, sappy and cliche. After all, some YA novels are taught in classrooms and you can discuss what YA novels are taught in classrooms and why. For example, Monster by Walter Dean Myers and The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are taught in classrooms and introduce students to themes such as identity and encourage them to read diversely. – Amanda Dominguez-Chio9 years ago
If you need more examples of novels that are being studied in high school, I remember reading 'Catcher in the Rye', 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories', 'The Kite Runner' and 'Looking for Alaska'. – YsabelGo9 years ago
I've enjoyed Perks of Being a Wallflower and Fault in Our Stars. The "story world" of the latter is unforgettable --the cancer ward. – VBarclay9 years ago
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