Nothing is Something

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is a superbly crafted historical novel about a black youth in colonial American who is raised in a house of rational philosophy and classical education. As he continues his elite education, he discovers that he is merely a subject of an experiment to determine the intellectual power of Africans. After his mother's death, he runs away and joins the Patriot's cause. However, he is recaptured and brought back only to be forced to wear an iron mask.

There are two major reasons why I would recommend parent's buy this novel for their young adult. First, it has a particularly challenging style. There are differing narrators, 18th century language and multiple forms of narrative including letters and correspondences. While this form will challenge the reader it will also strengthen their interpretive and comprehension skills. Also, there are sections in which Octavian has scribbled over all of his writing in a moment of frustrated storytelling. I especially enjoyed these types of sections because it makes the reader aware of the job which a narrator has in telling their tale. Instead of a single author weaving a narrative, it highlights the notion that there is a human narrator with human behavior and capabilities.

Second, the novel is semi-historical. While Octavian may be a fictional character, he is living in historically accurate times. The racism, patriotism and rebellion of colonial America is all truthful and conveyed in the novel. Hence, I see this as a possibility for young students who may not be particularly interested in American History to learn the subject by means of a fictional story. The characters of the novel can be enticing hooks to bring young readers into the reality of history in a way that a objective textbook cannot. Thus, if you know a young adult who drags their feet through their history class, this novel could possibly provide the spark needed to liven up the subject.

Recommendation: Eye-opening and a great window into history for young adults; equally interesting in the historical aspect for an adult read as well.

Who's Hungry?

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is a dystopian novel set in the future. In the frightening world, participants are selected to compete in the Hunger Games in which tributes but fight each other to the death until only one remains. Katniss Everdeen (girl) and Peeta Mellark (boy) are both selected to compete and Peeta reveals his unrequited love for Katniss. Since the Hunger Games are televised (an extremely interesting facet of the novel and its implications), this announcement stirs an emotional reaction from the audience as Katniss and Peeta progress into the games while others die off. Suddenly a rule change is made in which there can be two winners of the competition. The story progresses due to this pivotal rule change but to reveal anymore would be doing any new readers a disservice. 

There are, in my mind, two very interesting points of the novel which I believe will both interest male and female readers as well as encourage parents to either give the novel to their children or read it for themselves. First, the issue of gender is very interestingly portrayed and it appeals to both sexes of potential readers. Katniss is a female protagonist which attracts female readers. It is very rare for popular novels to have such strong feminine characters which readers can connect with. However, there is an interestingly twist to this femininity. Katniss is a strong, almost patriarchal, character who hunts with a fierce personality (typically seen as male characteristics). Not to mention that the competitive hunt-or-be-hunted part of the novel will surely attract the adventurous young male reader. In this way I believe that the novel has universal appeal. 

Second, the majority of dystopian literature takes place in a different time than the present but almost always refers itself back as a caveat for the present day. In this novel, the themes of extreme voyeurism, reality television exploitation and strong-armed governmental control are all present. While none of these are extreme in our present society, there are certainly hints today which the novel extrapolates into a awful future. This sort of warning, when presented to an audience, will cause discussion and reflection on the current state of affairs.

If there is one reason to read the novel, it is to open a dialogue of the sort of things which are explored. Thus, young adults (the future adults running America) can be conscious of these facts and possibly heed the warning which the novel presents.

Recommendation: This novel is an excellent read for both young adults and their parents to read together so that a healthy conversation which spans age limits can be encouraged. Pick up two copies for yourself and a young adult you have in mind. 

Robert Cormier is the Cheese in his field.

Robert Cormier is argued by some to be the preeminent YA author due to his prolific catalogue of successes and expansion of the genre as a whole. While many of his novels were considered edgy and groundbreaking for their day in terms of explicit content some deemed unsuitable for young adults, he continued to write successful books until his name became synonymous with YA literature. However, some adult skeptics may be hesitant at first.

I Am the Cheese is about Adam Farmer who becomes suspicious about his background and family's past history. Upon finding two different copies of his birth certificate he probes further. After his father explains about the family's past lives before the need for reidentification and relocation due to his father's job, the Farmers are forced to move due to being discovered. While this is the general plot of the novel, the entire story is told while Adam is in a psychiatric facility and giving an interview to an employee there. The novel delves into themes of alienation, death and confusion. 

While some, including Cormier himself, feared the book to be too complex or dark for the younger audience, it proved to be a success. One particular point of merit that adults can find when reading this novel is the complexity of voice. The story switches between first-person, present tense, third-person and past tense. This choice by Cormier was somewhat groundbreaking in its deviation from standard form and led to an experimentation commonly used by following authors. In this sense, this novel can be extremely valuable to young readers because it can be such a challenging read which will not only expand their concept of narrative voice by also broaden their sense of what a novel can achieve. It's novels like I Am the Cheese that pave the way for progressive literature which create new standards in their respective genres. If for only that reason, this novel can be extremely eye-opening. 

Recommendation: Equally rewarding for adolescents and adults.

Looking for Alaska

I have read that some people, mostly parents, take umbrage at the inclusion of smoking, drinking and sex in Looking for Alaska. Not only does this bring up the age-old issue of censorship but, with the novel specifically, it also is a detriment to the real subject matter.

First, I have realized that with any media including literature, film, television, etc., people can tolerate violence and language but there is a strict tolerance for anything of the sexual nature. Just turning on the news, bombing and war are headliners but fines are issued for anything promiscuous. In the classroom, parents become very uncomfortable when novels such as Looking for Alaska are taught because they do contain scenes of sex. Why is this? Do parents feel uncomfortable when their children learn about sex from any other source than them? If that were the case, then a properly educated adolescent should be able to handle the subject matter appropriately and maturely. 

Also, the reason I enjoyed Looking for Alaska so much was because of its realism in both conversation, behavior and approach to opposite sexes. That is what high school is really like and that is how boys and girls really behave. If you try to feed the readers some fantasized PG-version of growing up, they will dismiss it immediately. None of the subject matter is gratuitous solely because it never goes beyond the realm of something which would realistically happen at that age. So, if one were to have a problem with the content of the book and an eleventh-grader reading it, then removing it from the reading canon would by no means hide those truths. In fact, reading such a novel like Looking for Alaska would help me realize that these same things are universally occurring. 

I don't mean to spend so much time focusing on the inappropriate content of the novel because by doing so, I am just as bad as the novel's detractors. The sexual ethics of Looking for Alaska are not its main points. There is a wealth of knowledge and lessons within the pages of the book and to argue whether or not it is a "dirty" book would be doing those lessons a disservice. 

I assume that in many years, anyone that took offense to the subject matter in the novel will rethink their position just as those that found The Catcher in the Rye to be an inappropriate and wrong novel when it was published are probably now bashfully regretting their opinion.

YA Literature in Bookstores

In search of YA Literature in bookstores, I decided to venture a bit off the beaten path in hopes to uncover the presence of adolescent books. I went to The Starclipper in University City which primarily focuses on comic books and graphic novels. 

When I first walked in, I noticed a large amount of young people between the ages of 8-20. This doesn't surprise me because the graphic novel has become a prominent and growing part of what young people, among others, read these days. Whereas paper comic books used to be popular many decades ago, now full length comic book-style graphic novels have emerged as of late as a large part of youth reading. This does not in fact surprise me. Disregarding subject matter for the moment, the graphic novel is extremely appealing as a segue between children's literature and adult literature. On the surface, it looks like "easy reading" because it is in comic form instead of extended prose. An adolescent might think "I don't like reading, but this isn't really reading so it should be faster and easier". Also, since so many of these novels have been adapted into action films, the books especially attract young males who have spent so much time watching this movies such a "Watchmen", "Sin City", "300" and "The Dark Knight". 

Now, when analyzing the content of these novels, the themes, storylines and characters are extremely complex and thorough that they are on par with significant literary titles. In this way, any young readers might be enticed to the graphic novels because of their "easiness" and action but benefit from the deep and detailed thematic plots. 

Are graphic novels specifically YA literature? No. I read many and I know that several readers many years my senior do as well. But young readers do in fact read them and I believe that they can cater just as much to them as to older readers. It is just difficult to assess the place these novels have in the canon since they hold a relatively new place in the literature world. I am very excited to see where these graphic novels venture from here and, more interestingly, which demographic they gravitate towards. Yes, young men might be interested because of the mass amount of Superhero or Action Team related content, but there is also hundreds of novels which could heavily interest young girls or be unisex. Those titles might not get much publicity as they aren't tapped for movie adaptations so often or publicized, but I think that the graphic novel in general is surely finding a niche and audience in the young adult.

Robert Cormier - After the First Death

The most striking feature of Cormier's After the First Death, is how it unabashedly confronts its subject matter with lack of censorship or reserve. Essentially, the novel deals with terrorism, murder, suicide, loss as well as several other mature points. The question is not whether the novel is inappropriate in its subjects but rather it is appropriate for its intended audience. I would argue that, yes, it is appropriate. 

Cormier is essentially showing other authors that young adults can in fact handle these mature themes. Death and grief are not simply facts of life which appear upon turning a certain adult age. These matters know no age limits and many young adults could very well be dealing with such personal matters. Also, if the reader has been sheltered from these facts, perhaps it is time they are introduced to them by a qualified and talented writer.

When dealing with the nature of appropriateness in topic matter, I see the progression over time like getting into a hot tub. One will first stick their foot in, let the body acclimate, then maybe slide in up to their knees and wait. Eventually, move by move, the person is able to get into the hot water because it lets their body gradually get used to it. Surely with every new move there is a temporary burn but eventually the body adapts. This is how I see writers like Cormier dealing with mature themes in YA literature. A book like After the First Death which deals with mature themes is like moving into the water up to your waist. It may sting at first because of its newness, but the body adapts and then desires to delve further into the water. Similarly, Cormier may have burned the YA literature world temporarily, but soon authors took after him and explored into the subject matter further as they began to immerse the rest of the body that is YA literature.

John Gantos - Hole In My Life

Upon further consideration of John Gantos' Hole In My Life, I believe I can assume its best interest for young adults. It is dark at times and for a mature audience (not that I think the YA crowd cannot handle such themes) but I do in fact think it has great benefit to the world of adolescents and even college-aged readers. This is because it speaks to the nature of occupational vocation. Within a readership which constantly asks "What do I want to be when I grow up?" and "Where is my life going and what difference can I make?", Gantos tells his story of becoming a writer and struggling to have his voice heard. And the whole time he starts this from a prison cell, an environment surely worse than any condition of the YA reader. It is a sort of you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be message. If an aspiring writer were to read the novel, of course he or she would be inspired to work towards their goal but I also think that anybody struggling to find their spot in the world would be drawn towards this novel. In fact, as a college senior who has been removed from the YA novel sphere for awhile, I was motivated by the story to continue to seek out my own personal occupational goal and achievement.