As part of my YA Lit class, we participated in an online discussion board. I enjoyed the chance to interact with my classmates outside of the classroom, and appreciated reading everyone else’s ideas. There were often conflicting ideas, and students worked to explain their individual viewpoints without being harsh or confrontational. I liked the free exchange of ideas, and the fact that it was easier for me to speak up in an online forum than in the classroom. Also, the online format enabled us to share links with each other, which I really enjoyed. Here are some examples of my contributions to the discussion boards.
About Young Adult Literature, in general:
Alex Awards are designed for this!
When I was young, I read a lot of stuff that wasn’t technically YAL. You know, it was before the Harry Potter-induced renaissance of YAL, and there just weren’t (at least, to my teenage eyes) that many YAL books I was interested in reading-you know, John Grisham, Stephen King (I am still having nightmares), and the like.
I have a blog where I review books, and I recently discovered this award called the Alex Award. It’s given to ten books a year that aren’t necessarily written for the young adult crowd, but are very appealing to them. The current winners include that book every book club is reading now: Emma Donoghue’s Room, and Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Also, one my all-time favorites, John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things, won in 2007.
Here’s the link for the awards:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/alexawards/alexawards.cfm
I like that there’s a special category and even a prize for books that can appeal to a very wide audience of youth and adults!
About Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak:
Isolation and the truth
I stayed up late reading the book, transfixed. I thought it was sensitively and thoughtfully written. My teenaged self really identified with the “clanless” feeling of Melinda’s, and the grueling isolation she experienced.
I didn’t necessarily have the same reaction as some of my classmates who commented previously-I understand why Melinda couldn’t say anything. My mother was sexually assaulted at a young age, and she never told anyone, either-she only told me when I became an adult. She said she felt ashamed and that she somehow caused it/brought it on herself. Melinda experiences the same reaction, when she is confronted by her rapist, and he claims that she wanted it.
I love the parts about the lips, the symbolism of silence. I think it’s an excellent example of great literary elements in young adult literature. Books don’t have to be part of the classical canon to be literary.
About Matt De la Pena’s Mexican White Boy:
Search for Identity
I feel like most of the books we’ve read this semester can also be included under the “identity novel”. What do you think? Even The Lightning Thief, and especially books like Child of Dandelions and Esperanza Rising, really deal with characters grappling with the questions of self and identity. I think it’s because teenagers are often going through this struggle themselves, and it’s a common experience for youth. Young adulthood is when you have to discover what you love and who you are, and where you fit in the wider world, so it makes sense that so many books for young adults involve the same search.
I loved that baseball wasn’t necessarily the focal point of the novel. Yes, Danny loved baseball, but it was sort of like the string tying the package shut in the novel, right? I mean, inside the package are the real issues: race, language, family struggles, identity, loss, and baseball is the bit that holds it all together
