I guess the caption here would be SAY IT TO THE HAND…
Here's a link to a book review that irked me, not because the writer (fancy, literary, important, never met her or read any of her work but she's probably a very nice person) doesn't like ME, but because she doesn't like YOU. It turns out I have a soft spot for YOU, YA reader. Go figure.
What do you think? It's not this particular reviewer that gets to me, so much as the recurrence of the theme: Young Adult Books Are Stupid and People Who Read Them Are Stupider.
Here's the review:
Here's my response:
Here's the podcast interview that discusses it, among other things:
Me Talking to Someone Smarter Than Me About It
Amherst College, one of my favorite alma maters, profiled, interviewed and reviewed me for their in-house book review site. They are awesome. The alumni review, my response, and the ensuing interview with Professor Barry O'Connell, one of the all-time Amherst greats and one of the formative minds of my past, all center on the question of Young Adult Lit.
(Photos of Castergirl 13 and 15, Copyright by Vania Stoyanova, All Rights Reserved.)
That’s the difference between those of us who write for teens (or anyone, really) and those who write for Adults (capital letter being theirs) — we don’t talk down to our audience, whoever they are. We don’t assume that they won’t understand or appreciate things. We don’t assume that Our way is the Only way.
But maybe that’s just me.
The best compliment I’ve ever had about my writing is from a teen who wrote to ask me if I was *really* an adult.
Maybe we aren’t *real* adults…now there’s a thought!
I always consider myself a teen at heart (in many many ways!) and I hope I never lose this. Esp. working with teens. I honestly can’t see myself ever wanting to read anything BUT YA! (and a few MG/kids books here and there)
I love your response to the review. Lovely.
Last time I checked I was a real adult and I really loved Beautiful Creatures. I have a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree, and a thesis short of a second Master’s. Does it mean that because I enjoy the work of many talented writers who have elected to have a main character in his/her teens that I am less sophisticated as a reader? I think not.
I will be happy to continue reading your books! YA writers and readers ROCK!
http://ekristinanderson.blogspot.com/2010/02/writing-for-young-people-is-not-lesser.html
And I enjoyed both tonight’s #WhyYArocks impromptu tweetchat (thank you Ellen Hopkins!) and also this post that just went up on the subject!