Too Dark?

By: Meradeth Houston on 1:31 AM

There's been quite a bit of hype lately about this post, by Megan Cox Gurgon. Actually, there are responses around the net that have very articulately handled her bashing of YA as a very dark and dreary place that talks about topics that no young adult should ever be exposed to. The article had my blood pumping too fast, and although there are others out there who can talk about it better than me, I have to add my thoughts. And mainly, that's that HELLO, this person clearly hasn't been anywhere near a high school lately. Let's be honest here--YA's today are exposed to such a crazy amount of sex, drugs, alcohol, and other insanities that is anyone tries to pretend that they aren't seeing the same things in real life as in the books they read, well, they just have no idea. Now, obviously, not the fantastical elements, but still. The Dark and Horrible things that have remained out of literature due to cultural taboo are well and thriving in today's YA world. 

Sure, there may be some teens that are still living in an innocent world. And guess what? There are books out there for them. Really, there are. It may take a little looking at times, but they do exist. They are good. But those teens are few and far between. The real world is not a nice place, and I for one would have appreciated being able to read books about that when I was growing up. Just to know I wasn't alone in the less pleasant aspects of my life would have been a wonderful help. Teens today need to see that despite the world around them, they are free to make their own choices of what kind of person they want to be--and that's a theme that runs through countless YA books. 

Anyhow, that's a few of my thoughts on the matter. I love my dark YA books and I certainly won't stop reading them. Or writing them, for that matter! Happy reading!