Against “Against YA”

In light of yesterday’s ludicrous, clickbaity Slate article on why adults should be embarrassed to read YA fiction. . .

Here’s how to tell if you maybe shouldn’t write an article slagging off an entire category of literature.

1) If your hypothesis is built on tired stereotypes and a few high-profile examples.
2) If your goal is to make your fellow grownups ashamed of what they enjoy.
3) If your definition of art is so narrow you believe one should never close a book with a feeling of “satisfaction.”
4) If you believe ambiguous, messy endings are inherently superior artistic choices and not just ONE POSSIBLE TYPE OF ENDING. (No successful comedies have ever been written in the history of the English language, right?)
5) If you firmly believe it’s your duty to police the TYPE of pleasure adults should derive from reading.
6) If, once you’ve caused hurt feelings and hullabaloo, you plan to slather your article with disclaimers & “I know, I know”s to sidestep criticism.

In other words, screw you, Slate.

Love, J.C. (former English major, reader of everything, proud writer of YA fiction)

***

. . .That’s pretty much what I said on Twitter last night, when the rage was fresh and I hadn’t yet had my evening mug cake. I’ve had it with the recent spate of book-shaming, pleasure-shaming articles, which call to mind self-righteous mommy-wars blather and provoke the same response from me: THIS is what you’re gonna be judgmental about? Huh.

But rage only goes so far. I’m loving the #PromoteYAInstead hashtag, and it’s right in line with a small project I’ve been working on. If you love YA, stay tuned—I’ll be unveiling it in the next week or so, and I’ll need your contributions to make it great! (If you’re a YA author, it’ll also be another little chance to promote your book.)

Watch this space, and in the meantime, start thinking about your favorite quotes from YA lit—new books AND your favorite underappreciated comfort reads.

*puts down pitchfork, picks up pom-poms*