Just YA Writing Stuff

Recently, a friend of mine who is sort of related to me as well (in one of those inlawish kind of ways) read my novel, and asked why, since I seemed to be able to write, did I "waste" my ability on YA.
It's not the first time that's happened. I don't walk around meeting people, saying,
HI, I WRITE YA.In fact, I rarely tell people I write. But when I do, I see them look away into the distance, and say, "What is YA? Like the Hardy Boys?" This is said with thinly disguised contempt. Okay, maybe it's not so thinly disguised. Maybe it's painfully obvious.
So I can't wait to tell these same folks that I'm almost done with an MG...
But in today's New York Times today, there is an essay that lets me know I'm not alone:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/books/review/Rabb-t.html

Living A YA Theme

If asked, and I haven't been, but if asked what a major YA theme is, the one that comes to my mind first is the learning and earning of trust.

After we moved to a new state, I knew it would take time for my boys to meet new friends. They had mingled with the same kids since pre -

school. I took for granted the convenience of knowing all the parents. In a new state, none of us had any idea as to a kid's background. I had never realized how much I had navigated my sons' choices in friends: steering them away from homes where lawns grew cars, and the insides of houses smelled like cabbage boiled in beer.

Here, in our new home, my teens experienced a battlefield promotion: I had to trust them to go

to school and come home with friends. All that lip service about me trusting them to make the right choices would now be tested. For all of us. I was terrified. But I knew (because I watch Dr. Phil) that I had to let them make their own choices. Here is one choice I met this morning:

6:46 a.m. -- My front door opens after a rapid knock. In my foyer stands an obese teenager in big boy shorts that reveal a good deal of his skull and crossbone boxers. My nine year old daughter, still in her nightgown, opens her eyes very wide and takes her cereal bowl into another room. "Phil home?" the teenager asks. I say I'll get him.

6:47 a.m. -- Philip explains that Josh is "amazing" because he can eat an entire pizza. "And they give that award through the Kennedy Center, right?" I ask. "No, Mom, you don't understand." I know I have to be quiet. I nod and go back down to tell Josh that Philip will be right down. I know I should be quiet, accepting, all that Zen mother stuff, but I can't help it. "So," I say casually, "how did you meet Philip?" Josh explains that they met while taking the late bus home. "Oh," I say happily, "you're in band, too?" "Nah, I was in detention."

6:49 a.m. -- We both look up as Philip opens his bedroom door. "Hey, Josh, show my Mom that

thing you have on your tongue." He obliges and I mumble something polite about his piercing. "He's going to get his tongue split when he turns 14, " Philip says enthusiastically. "Split?"

"Yeah," Josh says, "it's kind of an inside joke. See," Josh says, grinning, "me and Satan," and he

crosses his middle finger over his index finger, "we're like this."

"Wait, Mom," Philip says, "it's kind of a song he's writing. I'll explain it to you later." Philip and Josh turn to the door. Josh goes a little ahead. "Mom, listen," Philip whispers, "we can talk about it when I get home, ok? That thing about Satan...it's just a joke with him. It's what he does."

"Right," I whisper, "because that's the only problem."

Philip starts laughing and turns to look at me one last time before running to catch up with his new friend. I watch them until the bus disappears around the corner, remembering that like all YA themes, there is a quieter adult parallel.

Where Are the "Homemade Bands" in YA?

Maybe I haven't been reading the right kind of YA books, but I have noticed an absence of main characters, in particular, male main characters, talking about bands they form. You know the kind of bass-heavy bands that are attracted to Ozzy tunes and screechy metal songs? The ones that are vanquished to the basement and practice all day Saturday? Those bands...
Yes, I've seen lots of music mentioned, and organized school bands that obediently produce Christmas and spring concerts, but I wonder where these bands are in YA lit?

Where Does YA Fail? Interview with a Reluctant Teen Reader

When my boys were small, we attended three weekly story times at libraries, read at least five picture books each day, and produced endless pages of dialog with our sock puppets. I had not read the research on creating literate kids; I had memorized it. They were the only kids in our neighborhood who did not spend rainy afternoons in front of the tv.
Fast forward ten years: with one teenager, and one on the brink of becoming a teen, my boys have evolved into reluctant readers. I am hoping this is one of those stages kids go through and grow out of. Knowing they are tired of me talking about reading (all right, nagging), I sat down with one of their friends, and for the small price of a pizza, he agreed to talk to me about why he no longer reads for pleasure.

Ben (not his real name) is sixteen, a B+ student who likes video games, skateboarding, and swimming. Ben hopes to become a video animator. He used to read on a regular basis, but stopped around age 13.

Me: So, Ben, what kind of books did you read?

Ben: Mostly adventure and history books. Historical fiction and biography were my favorites. I liked non fiction because it's automatically realistic.

Me: How often did you read? And when did you stop?

Ben: Every day. At least for a couple of hours. Then in eighth grade, I just didn't like reading any more. Books seemed too slow. It just takes too long to see what happens. I like video games.
You can change what happens in video games, but you can't in books.

Me: Do you know what YA books are?

Ben: Yup. Our English teacher had us do a report on one last year in ninth grade.

Me: In general, what do you think of books that are written with teens in mind?

Ben: (laughs) Most authors aren't in high school. They write too much about relationships, and that's really boring. A lot of the plots are like a Disney movie - like the bad kid gets in trouble, the good kid gets rewarded. It doesn't work that way in school. Not usually. And they don't get what the real problems are.

Me: What do you think they are?

Ben: Drugs are still a really big problem, and they don't let you read those kind of books in our school. There's always one clique in school that everyone, even the teachers, look at and know they do drugs. But there are a lot of other kids in school that are into drugs that no one suspects because they're not in that one clique. There are drug parties every weekend in houses. At least I hear there are. And a lot of the kids take their parents prescription drugs, so it's not like how the authors show it. It's not like you have to go out to some strange neighborhood and buy drugs. But that's definitely a big problem.

Me: Do you think the authors get down how teens live?

Ben: I'm not all teens, but I can say here at least, a lot of kids talk a lot through texting or on myspace.

Me: (eagerly) So if a YA author were to write a book that's a realistic portrayal of high school, you would want to read it?

Ben: Uh. Probably not. I only read what I'm assigned.

Me: Ok, last question. If you could talk to an audience of YA authors, what advice would you give them so that you might, maybe, possibly would pick up their book and read it?

Ben: I guess you need to have a good conflict. Like something that makes you want to see what happens. And I like when I have to think about the words a little. I don't like when they describe something to death, or use way too many words to say a simple thing. Last year we read The Pearl, and it was like that. A big, long book that should have been a short story. Probably the most important thing is that stuff keeps happening and you can't tell what will happen. That would be a good book.