Here we go again, yet another strike at the wide and varied world of Young Adult literature. The Daily Mail author Tannith Carey has taken it upon herself to attack what they are calling "Sick-Lit"; Young Adult novels in which the central character suffers from some sort of illness—such as cancer, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders—or attack—such as rape, domestic violence, bullying or murder.
This is not the first time we've encountered the opinion that Young Adult literature is becoming "inappropriate" for it's target age group. Back in June 2011 Meagan Cox Gurdon wrote an article sensationally titled "Darkness too Visible" for the Wall Street Journal. But it astounds me that this is, yet again, being argued over.
As you may have figured out by now, I am a strong advocate for tackling these very real, very difficult issues that many teenagers face every day in the format of Young Adult literature.
In her article, Carey singled out the novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Green is well known for writing coming-of-age fiction, dealing with relationships, questions of identity, friendships and death. Carey accuses Green, along with many other authors, of "using children with months to live to build dramatic tension", and publishers of "selling books by sensationalizing children's suffering".
I have read The Fault in Our Stars, and personally believe it wasn't sensationalized. Green didn't describe them as beautiful while they were suffering, or gloss over the harshness of cancer. I cannot argue in terms of accuracy, but I can say that it wasn't glorified. He described how a brain tumor could change your personality, becoming someone barely recognizable from who you were before. He described how thin and weak a strong, athletic teenage boy can become. There's even a scene where one of the terminally ill patients just wanted to go to the corner store, but wound up in the parking lot, shaking and throwing up all over himself, having to call his friend for help.
These scenes were not glossed over. They were not described as 'radiant' in their illness, nor was the reader spared a glimpse of how savagely cancer can strip a person of their strength and independence. It wasn't sensationalized, it was heartbreaking. Green also was not looking a dramatic twist for a new novel. Green worked as a Chaplain in a children's hospital and he drew on that experience to realistically portray all aspects of a child suffering through a terminal illness.
"Most are also liberally peppered with sex and swearing. The blurbs for 'teen sick-lit' - as it's become known - trip over themselves to promise their books will drive readers 'to tears' or leave them 'devastated'." Here's the thing. How many people out there can read a story about teenagers dying and not affected by it? I readily admit, I cried reading The Fault in Our Stars. It left me bereft, and hurt, and grieving for Hazel and Gus, and that is in no way a bad thing. How do we learn about empathy? How do we learn to love, and live and forgive? We learn them from stories. For millenniums, we've told stories to impart wisdom and teach the younger generations lessons about life.
Being moved by a story in which the main characters are suffering hardships from an outside force they cannot control does not expose our children to something dark and terrible, it teaches them about empathy, about how to care and sympathize with people they might not understand. It teaches them to look past appearances and airs to see something more than "that sick kid" two rows down. It teaches them to see that that sick kid could like basketball, but can't keep up with the school's team and they might ask him to play one on one. It could teach a young girl that the girl with the dark make-up and daring clothes might have suffered horribly at a grown man's hand and lead her to offer a hand of friendship instead of spreading rumors and isolating her further. And reading about these hardships could be a balm of solace to one who does suffer any of these things. It could help them to believe they are not alone, and that life can get better. That leading a tragically short life does not mean you cannot live a full, and happy one. That somewhere out there, someone knows, someone cares, and yes, there are people who do understand.
There is a lot to be said for YA literature tackling hard topics, but I will merely say this: #YASaves
