Edgy YA

Before we begin, I'd like to share the results of last week's poll. Summary won the poll with 50% of the vote, reviews was second with 25%, and author and cover both won 13% each. I admit to voting summary myself. The only way a cover gets me to buy a book is if it has a horse on it, and I still read the summary first.

Onto today's topic: Edgy YA. So last week my mom was talking about her story and how "kinky" it is. (Which pretty much means edgy to her.) But her book is adult and I've never heard of "edgy adult." So we started to get a little bit into the edginess of YA novels these days. Now, me and my mom recently read a book that has sex in it. It's barely mentioned and there's very little detail whatsoever.

And she was shocked.

Apparently my mom hasn't read YA in ten or twenty years, because not only is sex in YA not only allowed, it's pretty widely known. But her reaction is EXACTLY why she's not allowed to read anything I write. Ever.

Why are parents so surprised that YA has gotten so edgy lately? This is a common thing in our society. I don't even want to think about some of the conversations I've overheard lately in my high school. Teens do not live in a little protective bubble and when we're in public school for eight hours a day, it's impossible to avoid subjects such as these.

Yes YA is edgy. And that's real. Abuse, drugs, sex, violence, that's all things most teens know about and some have experienced! Yes it's nice to pretend that we all live in a bubble gum pink world where everything's fine and no one gets hurt and I'm not saying all YA books have to be real, but there's no reason to outlaw the ones that saw things like they are.

Comments

Emilia Plater said…
It's hard to think of some boundary that will have been crossed by the time we're parents (or parent age). But I'm sure there will be one or more, and we'll think it's absolutely crazy! I guess it's just the environment you grow up in. But yeah, it's important to be open-minded.
October 12, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Stina said…
I wish books were like they are now when I was a teen. Instead I had to resort to historic romances that were quite graphic. The messages in the books these days are both important and relevant. Too bad many parents are blind to the truth. ;-)
October 13, 2009 at 1:41 PM
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