Teenaged blogger Robby talks about honesty, banned books and why he loves YA...
I am fourteen years old, barely a Young Adult. I could probably still be considered a pre-teen. I could probably still be considered a lot of things-naïve, immature, clueless. And I probably am all of those things, but that doesn’t mean that I am stupid.
That’s the first word that came to my mind when I began reading about the controversy that has surrounded Bloomsbury the past few months. They’ve released book after book with lies all over the cover, yanked them from the shelves, and tried to cover themselves up.
Bloggers throughout the blogosphere spread the word about this, blogged and tweeted. News traveled quickly and we all came together to fight back against this, to fight for honesty.
As I wrote before, we are not stupid. Many YA book bloggers are teenagers (including myself,) and many YA book bloggers are also adults. We read YA literature because we want to read honest stories about real people. If a book has lies all over the cover, if that is known, people won’t want to read it. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. Maybe I’m completely wrong. This is just how I feel.
Another thing is banned books. This has always confused me. In the library at my high school, there is a shelf at the front of the library that says Banned Books in big, bold letters across the top. Our librarian is always talking about these books, telling us to read them. And that’s another thing-if a book is banned, it doesn’t make teenagers not want to read it, but it instead sparks interest.
Forever by Judy Blume, The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky-there are countless books that have been banned throughout the US , and all of these books have become bestsellers. The term “banned books” is false, in my opinion, because all this does is promote these books. All this does is make teenage readers even more curious.
In high school, there is sex. There are drugs. Kids party and spread rumors, lie and cheat. Honestly, kids are mean. The kind of books I want to read are books that reflect this.
For example, I am currently reading Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. This book is exactly what I am talking about, a book that shows that girls in high school can be mean, vicious, and everything adults think teenagers aren’t.
All it takes is one adult in one school telling the school board that a book is inappropriate and it’s taken off the shelves. Just like that. But, again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In YA literature, there are countless genres-realistic/contemporary, paranormal, horror. There are love stories, hate stories, all kinds of stories. There is always something to read in YA literature. For every book that is not so great there are dozens of books that are great. Being a teenager and also an avid YA reader, I will tell you that Young Adult novels are the reason why I have fallen in love with reading.
So, banned books are good. Honesty is good. Young Adult literature is the reason I haven’t yet lost my mind. Reading is getting me through life, escaping into another world, another story.
Honestly, I’m not sure what the point of this post was. But, the three words below say it all.
I love YA.
Robby is fourteen years old, blogs at Once Upon A Book Blog/Fourteen Years. There, he posts book reviews, interviews, blogs about life being a relatively normal teenager. He also posts poetry he has written, writes about music on occasion, and rambles the same way he did in the above guest post.
One day, Robby hopes to be able to go into a bookstore and see novels he has written on the shelves. One day, Robby hopes to change someone's life with his words.
Someday.
I am fourteen years old, barely a Young Adult. I could probably still be considered a pre-teen. I could probably still be considered a lot of things-naïve, immature, clueless. And I probably am all of those things, but that doesn’t mean that I am stupid.
That’s the first word that came to my mind when I began reading about the controversy that has surrounded Bloomsbury the past few months. They’ve released book after book with lies all over the cover, yanked them from the shelves, and tried to cover themselves up.
Bloggers throughout the blogosphere spread the word about this, blogged and tweeted. News traveled quickly and we all came together to fight back against this, to fight for honesty.
As I wrote before, we are not stupid. Many YA book bloggers are teenagers (including myself,) and many YA book bloggers are also adults. We read YA literature because we want to read honest stories about real people. If a book has lies all over the cover, if that is known, people won’t want to read it. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. Maybe I’m completely wrong. This is just how I feel.
Another thing is banned books. This has always confused me. In the library at my high school, there is a shelf at the front of the library that says Banned Books in big, bold letters across the top. Our librarian is always talking about these books, telling us to read them. And that’s another thing-if a book is banned, it doesn’t make teenagers not want to read it, but it instead sparks interest.
Forever by Judy Blume, The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky-there are countless books that have been banned throughout the US , and all of these books have become bestsellers. The term “banned books” is false, in my opinion, because all this does is promote these books. All this does is make teenage readers even more curious.
In high school, there is sex. There are drugs. Kids party and spread rumors, lie and cheat. Honestly, kids are mean. The kind of books I want to read are books that reflect this.
For example, I am currently reading Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. This book is exactly what I am talking about, a book that shows that girls in high school can be mean, vicious, and everything adults think teenagers aren’t.
All it takes is one adult in one school telling the school board that a book is inappropriate and it’s taken off the shelves. Just like that. But, again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In YA literature, there are countless genres-realistic/contemporary, paranormal, horror. There are love stories, hate stories, all kinds of stories. There is always something to read in YA literature. For every book that is not so great there are dozens of books that are great. Being a teenager and also an avid YA reader, I will tell you that Young Adult novels are the reason why I have fallen in love with reading.
So, banned books are good. Honesty is good. Young Adult literature is the reason I haven’t yet lost my mind. Reading is getting me through life, escaping into another world, another story.
Honestly, I’m not sure what the point of this post was. But, the three words below say it all.
I love YA.
---
Robby is fourteen years old, blogs at Once Upon A Book Blog/Fourteen Years. There, he posts book reviews, interviews, blogs about life being a relatively normal teenager. He also posts poetry he has written, writes about music on occasion, and rambles the same way he did in the above guest post.
One day, Robby hopes to be able to go into a bookstore and see novels he has written on the shelves. One day, Robby hopes to change someone's life with his words.
Someday.
Why do you love YA?
