March 05, 2008

Grrrrrrrrrrl Powerrrrrr!

Oh, MAN, do I wanna go.


NO, silly, not to the film. To camp.
I would be *dangerous* if I could play the bass. Wickedcooldangerous.
Really? Where was all of this when I was, like, young enough for it? Seriously?
Someday, I am getting a drum set.

I'm just sayin.'

We now return you to your regularly scheduled YA literary content.

So, Read Roger has some interesting things to say about grownups and their reading habits...
I'm reminded of the ruckus in SLJ some years back when a library school professor wrote that l.s. students like to take children's literature classes because the reading is so easy, "like eating popcorn." You can imagine the heated response, but I think she had a point. While noting the exceptions of James Patterson on the one hand and William Mayne on the other, children's books tend to be easier and thus potentially "fun" for adults in a way they tend not to be for children, an incongruence librarians need to remember, not dissolve. Whatever whoever chooses to read is their business, of course, but adults whose taste in recreational reading ends with the YA novel need to grow up.
(emphasis mine)

Please, read the whole thing. I'm still thinking of what I think. Meanwhile, Kelly has posted an interesting question on the whole Innocence War thing that I'm not sure what I think about yet, either. Hm...

8 comments:

Erin said...

I wanna go, too!!

tanita✿davis said...

I'm getting silver spray hair color for my new Girls Rock image!

Melissa said...

If you don't mind, I'll sound off here because I don't want to over at Read Roger. I read YA (and middle grade) books for fun. Not just because I have a blog and I review them. But because I genuinely enjoy them. So, I'm kind of annoyed that I'm being called immature and that I need to grow up and read books about other adults. They're just not as... good.

I also feel like there's a double standard there: what about adults who write YA books? Or ones that edit them? Do they need to grow up? Why is it undesirable for an adult to say they enjoy reading YA/Middle grade stories, needing reason to justify them? I enjoy the stories. I enjoy the writing. I enjoy the books. What's so wrong about that?

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

My favorite part of that ENTIRE POST by that dude is the fact that he keeps replying and ramming his foot down his throat instead of just stepping back and going, "You know, that was a lousy thing to say. I apologize." What about the internet makes it so hard to do that?

It's no wonder YA/kidlit has trouble garnering respect outside our community, if people in our community treat it like some second-class form of literature that should only be enjoyed in any high percentage by the adolescent masses. It's not like they're being written by adults or anything, using their own experiences from growing up to build their stories.

I call shenanigans on that entire post.

Sarah Stevenson said...

I love it that bottle-of-shine called shenanigans. I can't quite work up the energy to go read that post just yet. I think I'll have to drink more coffee first.

Re: the Rock Camp, my friend's 11-year-old daughter went to that this past summer and LOVED it. She played bass. It's just such an incredible, wonderful idea all around.

tanita✿davis said...

...this certainly has given me food for thought.

And, a.f., I'm JEALOUS of your friend's daughter. And BASS!?!?! They tell you that you can learn to play it in five days.

Again: where were these people when I was 11-13?

Anonymous said...

Oh my, I had no idea about that Roger post, since I'm perpetually behind on blog-reading (including FW, which I miss. I am here now and feel daunted with all the good post-age I've missed). Anyway, thanks for the heads-up.

Jules

Kimberly/lectitans said...

I have a gorgeous electric guitar and very little notion of how to play. We can have a kidlitosphere rock band!