Thirteen Reasons Why: The Voice of Suicide

A tragedy and psychological thriller, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is considered to be a banned or challenged book. The novel was published in 2007 by the Penguin Group, and it has sold many copies since then. However, this does not excuse the book from being labeled as controversial. The story opens with one of the main characters, Clay Jensen, receiving a box of audiotapes that contains the thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker, another main character, committed suicide. Clay has no choice but to listen to the audiotapes, and he discovers he is one of the reasons why she killed herself. In fact, the thirteen reasons are thirteen different people. Not only does Clay have to listen to these tapes, but he also has to mail them to the person whose name appears after his. Eventually, all thirteen people will receive and listen to the tapes. Hannah needed the individuals to know they were one of the reasons she killed herself, and in order to get her point across, she explains what they did and how it affected her. The book goes back and forth between Hannah’s narrative voice and Clay’s narrative voice. The story follows Clay as he goes to the different places she marked on the map, which is provided to all thirteen people. Since the book revolves around high school, it will have a significance in the world as a book for adolescents. As Motoko Rich said, “With its thrillerlike pacing and scenes of sexual coercion and teenage backbiting, the novel appeals to young readers, who say the book also gives them insight into peers who might consider suicide” (“A Story of a Teenager’s Suicide”). The story will cause the readers to examine difficult topics, such as suicide, in a way they haven’t before.

Adolescence is a time when many issues arise, and a few major issues are brought about in the novel. For instance, the most prominent issue addressed in Thirteen Reasons Why is suicide. Adolescents, especially females, are considered to be more at-risk for suicide than adults. The suicide victim is a female, and readers are able to see what drove her to this life exit. Even though not every adolescent will commit suicide or know someone who committed suicide, most adolescents will tell a lie at some point, which is another issue brought to surface in the novel. In fact, the first break to Hannah’s confidence was caused by a lie. She went on a date with a guy, and she kissed him when they said goodnight. However, he told everyone that they did more than that. Adolescents may not think a lie will affect someone, but it can. Eventually, everyone started believing the lies and rumors about her. This isn’t something that just occurs in a novel because it can happen in everyday life. It is very likely a lie can affect someone in a negative way to the point where suicide seems to be the only option. Since adolescence is a time of raging hormones, the issue of sex is very prominent as well. Sex is a major theme throughout the novel, and it is the final straw for Hannah. After allowing a guy to do whatever he likes with her, she says, “You were touching me…but I was using you. I needed you, so I could let go of me, completely” (265).  To Hannah, sex was a way to debase herself, and it worked. It is possible that sex can make a person feel worthless, especially if they do not want to have sex. Since sex is a part of some adolescent’s lives, it is important to show the negative effects of it when its not handled responsibly.

Asher’s novel allows the adolescent reader to examine himself or herself in a way that promotes positive attitudes towards others. The entire novel demonstrates how simple lies and rumors about something as significant as sex can affect a person’s self worth. The world can be a cruel world if we do not take time to appreciate and listen to other people. Most characters in the novel display the worst attitudes, and the reader is forced to recognize this. Having said this, there are multiple courses of action adolescents can take, and Asher seems to portray the worst actions in order to promote the best ones.

While the novel promotes good actions, it depicts and defines adolescence in a negative way. It suggests that adolescents are on one of two sides: either you are a part of the group that picks on people without fully understanding the effects of what you are doing, or you are the one that is picked on. Most fit into the group that picks on people. Adolescents are mean, ruthless, dishonest, and oblivious to the outcomes of their behavior. Every person in Thirteen Reasons Why, with the exception of Clay, did what he or she did in order to increase his or her popularity. Adolescents only care about themselves, and they move in the world like they are the most important people. Adolescents are, in one word, selfish.

There are several aspects of the book that were viewed as controversial. In 2012, Thirteen Reasons Why ranked number three in the “Top Ten Challenged Books List.” There are many reasons the book is challenged, such as “drugs/alcohol” and “smoking,” and parts of the novel are “sexually explicit.” It is also “unsuited for age group” (“Banned and Challenged Books”).There are a couple of parties in the novel that involve drinking and smoking, and it is easy to see why this aspect of the book would be challenged. The characters in the book are all underage, so they should definitely not be drinking or smoking. There are also scenes in the novel that are not appropriate because of the sexual interactions. One guy tries to take advantage of Hannah while they are at a diner, one guy rapes a drunk girl at a party, and one guy does whatever he wants with Hannah at a party. The sexual encounters throughout the novel are not pleasant, and they usually involve a guy trying to force himself on a girl or succeeding at forcing himself on a girl. Rape is not a topic we want adolescents to read about, and drinking and drugs isn’t either. We expect adolescents to be as innocent as possible. Even though underage partying, drug abuse, and rape happens, we feel the need to censor novels that include this kind of behavior. As bad as we want to ignore it, we can’t stop it, sadly. We also fear that if adolescents read about this kind of behavior, they will be more likely to give in to this kind of behavior. We want to construct adolescence as being a time when bad things do not happen.

Works Cited

Asher, Jay. Thirteen Reasons Why. New York: Penguin Group. 2007. Print.

“Banned & Challenged Books.” Banned & Challenged Books. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

Rich, Motoko. “A Story of a Teenager’s Suicide Quietly Becomes a Best-Seller.” The New York Times, 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

The Absolutely True Diary of Censorship by Marissa Brantley

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, published in 2007, is the story of Arnold Spirit Jr. a fourteen-year old boy, that was born with “water on the brain” and as a result, has a myriad of health issues and an awkwardly appearance. Junior lives on a Spokane Indian reservation or as he calls it “the rez.” He writes and illustrates about the poverty and alcoholism that is rampant in every person life on the rez. Despite the bleakness of this existence Junior is funny, smart, and hopeful about his future. Most adolescents cannot relate to living on an Indian reservation. However, Alexie peels open the fabric to give readers a glimpse in to this world that is often hidden. Many adolescents can relate to poverty, bullying, self-discovery, grief, death, lust and odd powerlessness that sometimes occupies young adult life. Unfortunately certain critics of the novel balk at the idea of teen sexuality, foul language, and some subtle anti-Christian themes throughout the book, these criticisms ironically reaffirms the adolescents lack of power in their own lives. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian forms the idea that while adolescents may feel powerless against their situation, ultimately their attitude can either empower them or imprison them.

Junior’s best and only friend on the rez is Rowdy, a large and temperamental teen whose abusive home life has caused him to be angry at the world and everyone in it except for Junior. Rowdy is a very physical person. His only power is shown through fighting as he punches, kicks, and scratches his way through survival. But ultimately this strength is not productive for him, it helps him survive in the world but it does not help him move up in it. Then there are people on the rez who have given up fighting at all and relinquish in to bottle after bottle of alcohol. Junior recognizes that his parent’s could have been something if somebody had “paid attention to their dreams” (Alexie 12). Instead they are both alcoholics and while they are good people they are living miserable, unfulfilled lives. Junior’s mother has a passion for books and his father is a great musician but their dreams were never cultivated. His sister is also a dreamer who wants to write Romance novels, but she is confined to living in her parents basement until she attempts to live out her own romantic ideals. Junior’s ideals, hopefulness, and thirst for knowledge is what keeps him fighting. One day he goes to school and opens his math book only to see his mother’s name scrawled across the cover. He realizes this book must be at least thirty years old and he is overcome with sadness and anger that his tribe is too poor to pay for textbooks. He hurls the book across the room, and accidently hits his teacher, Mr. P in the face.

He is suspended from school. And as a result Mr. P makes an unexpected visit to his house. Instead of being angry he tells Junior that everyone on the rez has given up, including himself, everyone but Junior. “You kept your hope. And now you have to go somewhere where other people have hope.” (Alexie 43) Inspired, Junior asks his parents if he could go to the affluent white high school twenty-two miles from the rez and they agree because they want a better life for him. He soon enters a new culture where everyone wears name brand clothes, there are rarely drunken fights, and the only other Indian is the mascot. In the beginning he is largely ignored by the student population but soon enough he becomes friends with some of the most popular students in school, Penelope and Roger. He even makes the basketball team. But despite all these good things Rowdy hates him for abandoning him on the rez and three people close to him die. A drunk driver hit his grandmother, his father’s best friend is shot in the face because of drunken brawl, and his sister’s house burns down when she was too drunk to notice the fire starting in the kitchen. Junior could be imprisoned by his poverty, his health, his appearance, or his grief but his mental state refuses to give in to these things. This is inspiring for young adults who were also born into a seemingly helpless situation, and educational for young adults who were not.

Unfortunately despite the many positive, inspiring themes throughout the novel, it is sill criticized for its sexual content, foul language, and and anti-Christian themes. Junior writes several times about masturbation. “If God didn’t want us to masturbate he wouldn’t have given us thumbs. So I thank God for my thumbs.”(Alexie 26) and after his father’s best friend, Eugene is shot, Junior expresses his anger towards God and that he feels like Jesus is mocking him so he wants to mock him right back. Many parents are worried about the influence these topics could have on their children. This concern creates another anomaly surrounding the period of adolescence, are they not able to form their own opinions? Does True Story promot masturbation anymore than Romeo and Juliet promote suicide? However, Alexie insists that there is more to the consistent banning of his books, “When this book is challenged, it’s people challenging the truth of what happened here. And what continues to happen.” (They don’t even read the thing-sherman alexie speaks at free speech matters, 2013)

To Alexie it is easier for mainstream America to believe that the genocide of American Indians is over than deal with what is still happening. Many Indians are being marginalized and forced to assimilate in to white culture. When Junior becomes accepted at his new high school, all of his friends refer to him as “Arnold.” Junior quickly becomes his tribal name that is only used by his fellow tribesmen. True Diary exposes this harsh truth in modern America.

The Wall Street Journal published an article called “Darkness Too Visible” about how dark, young adult fiction has become over the past few decades. The writer’s main concern was for “the child’s happiness, moral development, and tenderness of the heart.” (Gurdon, 2011)She directly refers to Sherman Alexi’s young adult work as an example of this darkness. Alexie wrote his own response in the journal saying, “They are simply trying to protect their privileged notion of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged.” (Alexie, Why The Best Kids’s Books Are Always Written in Blood.) Perhaps if adolescent literature is brutal, it is because for many, many young adults adolescence is brutal. Alexie’s main character is an adolescent who is moving through a brutal existence, but he is resilient. He bounces back time and time again despite the odds against him.

At the novel’s climax Junior faces off with his old high school, Willpinit, in the second basketball game they play against the school. After he manages to win the game he realized that the people on his rez have nothing. In the end Rowdy and Junior are playing one on one and not keeping score. Alexie wrote“… I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it was like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.” (Alexie, Why The Best Kids’s Books Are Always Written in Blood.) This quote speaks a lot to the message Alexie is trying to convey. Young adults should have the right to choose their own poison…or book.

Bibliography

Alexie, Sherman. “Why the Best Kids Books Are Always Written in Blood.” The Wall Street Journal: Speakeasy (2011). Print.

They don’t even read the thing-Sherman Alexie speaks at FREE SPEECH MATTERS. National Coalition Against Censorship. 2013. Youtube. October 20 2014. < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR4SYffb4IQ

Meghan, Cox Gurdon. “Darkness Too Visible”. The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. 2011. < http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527 02303657404576357622592697038?mg=reno64-wsj&url=ht tp%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000142405 2702303657404576357622592697038.html >

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutley True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Boston, Massachusets: Little Brown Publishing.2007. Paperback.

Fallen Angels: Challenging Aspects of War

Fallen Angels written by Walter Dean Myers, is a coming of age, historical fiction novel set during the Vietnam War, written in the first person narrative. Richie Perry, a seventeen year old graduate from Harlem, has always dreamed of attending college to become a writer. Realizing that his family doesn’t have the financial means to afford his college and the need to provide for his mother and younger brother, Richie enlists in the army. While on his journey to Vietnam, Richie meets Chicago native Peewee Gates, a street-smart trickster and Jenkins, a young naïve soldier from Fort Dix; who along with Richie are assigned to Alpha Company. On their first major patrol with Alpha Company, the unit becomes engaged in a scrimmage with the Viet-Cong, resulting in Jenkins being killed when he steps on a land-mind. Facing the realization that war is nothing like basic training, that people are being killed, that they could die at any moment; Richie, Peewee and the rest of Alpha Company realize their dreams of the past, which was the driving forces behind them enlisting, have now been replaced with a new dream, to make it home alive, not in a body bag like so many other.

With the novel being written in the first person narrative, the novel allows the reader to “see the war and life in Vietnam through Perry’s eyes” (McCoy). The idea of using a first person narrative in adolescent literature is not a foreign concept, in this novel the reader is brought into Alpha Company. The reader is able to see the changes that are taking place within Richie and the rest of the company, the sorrow following the death of Jenkins, the fear that coursed through them as they walked the jungles at night in search of the Viet-Cong, the questions that arise from not knowing what is happening from day to day, and the homesickness that comes with being away from friends and families. These are aspects of life that adolescents face on a daily basis during their lives, the author of this novel just happens to address them while engaging the reader in a riveting and realistic narrative about a war that has plagued the moral compass of those who served in it.

This novel address several different themes as well, some of which include; the loss of innocence, the reality of war, and the question if something is right or wrong. This novel addresses the loss of innocence as an important transition from adolescence into adulthood. The “average age of soldiers fighting in Vietnam was nineteen” (Hurst), a fact that is reinforced in the novel following Jenkin’s death. Richie questions Lieutenant Carroll on the reason for calling Jenkins an angel warrior, to which Lieutenant Carroll answers “My father used to call all soldiers angels warriors, because usually they get boys to fight wars, Most of you aren’t old enough to vote yet” (Myers). This revelation brings to light that the characters in this novel are just kids, much like the intended audience of the novel. With these young soldiers being forced into the violent realities of war, they are forced to see crimes committed during the war by the Viet-Cong, like the beheading of a baby, which shatters the innocent views that they hold of the world. The fact that these young men see death on a daily basis, and are forced to kill others in the hopes of surviving another day in country are realities that make these young soldiers grow from boys into men during this novel. These soldiers are asked to perform duties, such as getting extra body bags to carry while on patrol, this bringing to light that this war is not like the ones portrayed in the movies these soldiers had seen. The reality was, this war was one where there was no heroic mission, there were going to be huge numbers of casualties, which was illustrated in the vast number of body bags in supply. There was only one mission in this war and that was for Richie and his unit to make it out of the conflict alive, to return home alive, not in one of those dreaded body bags. This would become the reality for all the soldiers in the Vietnam was as we all know, the United States lost a vast number of its service men and women in this conflict. The novel also depicts the theme of questioning whether something is right or wrong, this is something that adolescents do on a daily basis. In this novel you have Richie question whether or not his letter to his mother and Kenny should be truthful in the realities of the war, or should he refrain from informing them of the grotesque, violent, horrific, details that encompass his daily routine in Vietnam. This is a part of life for any individual when dealing with those we love, every day one questions whether or not to tell the “bad” thing that have engulfed one’s world or to keep those aspects to one’s self in hopes of sparing one suffering, fear, and distress. The fact that Richie questions whether or not his letter to Lieutenant Carroll’s wife detailing his death was one that would offer her comfort during her time of loss illustrates how there was a questioning of what was right during this time, for when it comes to the death of a soldier, the cause and events are usually confidential. The questioning of what the letters should intel in the novel are ways to illustrate to the adolescent reader that one should always question whether or not something is being done for the benefit others or not, as well as whether it is being done for the correct reasons. This is a normal part of life that most everyone engages in, most of the time without realizing the questioning is taking place.

Adolescence in this novel is portrayed as a confusing, exciting, yet frightening journey that is at times accompanied with violence. These characteristics are depicted in the conflicts encountered by Richie and Alpha Company. In everyday life for an adolescent there is a sense of confusion when it comes to who they are as individuals, ones sexuality, what ones moral compass is. These confusing elements can become exciting when the adolescent begins to experiment with different things to help them clarify who he/she is going to be as a person. This can cause the journey to become frightening due to the adolescent can begin to dabble in unhealthy and dangerous situations to understand the confusion that plagues them in reaching their individuality, thus at times being accompanied by violence in the forms of bullying, gang violence, mutilation/self-harming, and aggressive behaviors against others. This novel also depicts that adolescence is a time in which friendships are formed that are no longer casual but long-lasting as illustrated with the friendship of Richie and Peewee. Friendships are formed during the adolescent years that help shape one identity, this is the time when one will begin to hang out with those who are like the individual themselves, whether it be their interest in sports, art, music, or those who have the same economic or social background.

Even with Fallen Angels, is an award winning book. It has been on the American Library Associations banned or challenged book list for the last twenty-four years. This is due to the violence depicted, the graphic language, the depiction of drug use in the novel, and it being inappropriate for all age. The violence that is depicted in the novel is realistic causing many to question whether or not adolescent readers can handle the reality of war. There is an ideology that war is like what is seen at the movies, there is known villain per-say, that the good guys always come home alive, that it everything is “black and white”, that only seasoned soldiers go to battle, however that is not true in this novel. The language present in the novel is explicit and also contains racial slurs, which were normal occurrences during the time in which the novel is set. However, today these words and terms are unacceptable and offensive, causing society to be unaccepting of the literary text. The novel also has the soldiers using drugs, this is a dangerous element for adolescents to read due to it sends the message that drug use is acceptable which it is not. The reasons that this novel are challenged are ones that can cause one to question an adolescent readers ability to differentiate what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. This causes the novel to be unacceptable for all age groups due to the cognitive ability of the students to understand the circumstances in which the challenging aspects occur.

Even with this book being banned and challenged for the language, violence, drug use, and unacceptability for all age groups. This novel is still one that would be beneficial in giving students a relatable source for study during units on the Vietnam War. This novel also demonstrates how determination to preserver determines how one overcomes challenges in life, which is a great lesson for all adolescents to carry with them in life.

Works Cited

“Most Frequently Challenged Books Written by Authors of Color 1990-1999”, American Library Association, March 26, 2013.

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/challengedauthors/authorsofcolor (Accessed October 15, 2014)

Myers, Walter D. Fallen Angels. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1988. Print.

Hurst, Alison. “Fallen Angels (Book Review).” The School Librarian 38.3 (1990):118-119.Children’s Literature Review. Web. 15 Oct. 2014

McCoy, Keith W. “Fallen Angels (Book Review).”Voice of Youth Advocates 11.3 (1988):133.Children’s Literature Review. Web. 15 Oct.2014

Harry Potter: The Boy Who Was Banned

The Harry Potter books are a worldwide phenomenon. The series includes seven installations with the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, published in 1997, and the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published in 2007. Though the last book has been published, the legend lives on. This magical world that author J.K Rowling has created has spawned eight box office smashing movie adaptations, (the last book was spilt into two movies), a Harry Potter World in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and beyond countless merchandise. It is safe to say that Harry Potter has made a significant impact on the world and has made a connection to its’ readers and adolescents. However, along with tremendous success has come controversy despite the positive influence the books have had on adolescents.

All adolescents can connect to Harry. He starts out in the first book as an outcast, sleeping in a cupboard under a staircase. Orphaned since infancy, he lives with his aunt and uncle as what can be described as a second class citizen. They treat him horribly and spoil rotten their own son, Dudley, who is an obese bully. It appears grim for Harry, but this all changes on his eleventh birthday. Harry discovers that he is a wizard and there is a whole society of witches and wizards he did not know existed. His aunt and uncle have been hiding this secret all along, knowing that his parents were a witch and wizard and that he is one too. They try to keep him from his birthright and his own people, but Harry, finally, is able to breakaway and thrive in the world he is meant to be in all along.

Harry goes on to attend Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and has to confront several adolescent issues including making friends, Ron and Hermione, teachers he is not fond of, Professor Snape, and enemy classmates, Draco Malfoy. However, the biggest foe he must face is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who in reality has several names: The Dark Lord, Tom Riddle, and Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents when he is baby. Harry was supposed to die at The Dark Lord’s hand too, but instead he lives and Voldemort loses his powers and vanishes. No one can explain it, so Harry becomes famous at birth and becomes “The Boy Who Lived.” Voldemort is persistently trying to regain his power and following he had before that faithful night, and is finally successful at regaining a humanly vessel in the fourth book. Harry is now in the middle of an all-out magical war, and he is the only one who can stop and kill Voldemort. This has been his true destiny since the very beginning, and he must fulfill it or he will lose everything we has come to hold dear.

It is clear that Harry Potter’s supernatural and gripping plot has contributed to its’ success, but even through all the magic, adolescents are still able to connect to multiple themes and issues in the books, and this relatability is what truly keeps the story alive. As mentioned before, Harry starts out in the series as a nobody, without anyone who truly cares for him. His aunt and uncle despise him for his magical background and make him feel like an outsider. This tells the adolescents who are reading this book and also dealing with isolation and rejection, they are not alone and that there is always hope. Harry finds this new world where he is important and loved, and others can too. Of course readers will not be receiving a letter from Hogwarts, but that does not mean something life changing is not around the corner. Harry Potter illustrates that the world is ever-changing. One day it can be gray and dismal, and the next, it can be full of life and love. The books inspire adolescents to never give up.

The books also explore the theme of friendship which plays a significant role throughout the entire story. Through Harry’s relationship with Ron and Hermione, adolescents can see what it means to be a true friend. A true friend will stay by your side through the good and the dark times. They will not cast you away when everyone is against you, and they will risk getting into the deepest amount of trouble and put their lives on the line to help you. When Harry does not attend Hogwarts his final year to search for Horcexes to destroy Voldemort, Ron and Hermione insist to go with him. They will never abandon their friend. Though the world can be full of darkness, friendship is there to turn on the light. This incredible bond these characters share has been pulling in adolescents for over a decade. It challenges readers to examine themselves as a friend and explore if they are being the best friend they can be. Harry Potter sets a stander that adolescents should strive to achieve.

At Hogwarts, there are four houses that represent different valued qualities and characteristics. Gryffindor values bravery, Slytherin favors cunning resourcefulness, Ravenclaw honors intelligence, and Hufflepuff values loyalty and patience. Students are placed in these houses by a Shorting Hat that looks for these qualities in the adolescents. All of the characters in the books exhibit these traits, even ones that are not of their houses. Countless times Harry displays extraordinary bravery. For example, though multiple students have been petrified by, at the time, an unknown entity in the second book, Harry still goes down into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ron’s sister, Jenny, who has been taken by the monster. He fights off and ultimately kills a Basilisk snake and rescues his friend’s sister from death. The character Hermione is a genius. She is a studious adolescent who is always first to raise her hand in class to answer a question. She is the smartest one in her house. Then there is Ron who is consistently loyal to his friends and there to provide comic relief when needed. The books define adolescents as these dynamic individuals who break some of the typical stereotypes found in other novels.

Though there are some villainous adolescents including Dudley and Malfoy, a majority of the adolescents in Harry Potter are portrayed in a positive light. They are heroes in this world that can rise up and make a difference. Though Harry is young, he is the Chosen One, fated to defeat Voldemort. With the help of other students, they all rise up with Harry at a final showdown at Hogwarts to take this foe down. They are strong, united, and victorious. Voldemort is killed and destroyed once in for all. The adolescents conquer this ultimate entity of evil, and save their world.

Though Harry Potter has received a tremendous amount of success throughout the years and has had a strong impact on adolescents, as stated at the beginning, the series has faced controversy from the moment the first book was released. According to the webpage article “Banned Books Awareness: Harry Potter,” the first four books as a group were the seventh most banned books from 1990 to 2000, according to the American Library Association. Several Christian groups find the books to be “evil,” and believe it encourages its’ young readers to become interested in witchcraft and the occult. Landover Baptist Church claims, “True Christians only touch a Harry Potter book when they are throwing it into the fire.” The article goes on to describe several cities around the entire world that have taken a stand against the books and have made an effort to have them banned. In 2002, the first book was burned in New Mexico and was challenged for encouraging “lying, cheating, stealing, and witchcraft.” Parents of a fourth grader in Cedarville, Arkansas tried to challenge the books, claiming that they portrayed the power of authority as “stupid.”

Overall, in a world where so much evil and darkness has occurred, parents are scared and worried for their young adolescents who can be so easily influenced. When a series of books comes out that are widely popular and have witches and wizards as main characters producing magic without any presence of God, red flags can be raised. Parents do not want their children to fall to some new type of satanic religion or unrealistic way of life. It is expected of adolescents to follow the same religious practices of their parents. The books also often at times display violent and scary scenes were characters are faced with grave peril, and in some instances, even lose their lives. For some parents, this can be too disturbing for their adolescents, so they try to shield them and shape for them a world free from violence. When parents do this however, they are restricting their children from a series of books that can spark their passion for reading and their imagination. The Harry Potter world is a world unlike any other that brings hope to adolescents and paints the power of friendship.

Despite all the controversy, Harry Potter’s influence does not appear to be disappearing any time soon. Millions upon millions of adolescents and people of all ages have made a connection to the story and its’ beloved characters. They can see themselves in these characters and face their same problems and issues. Harry Potter is so much more than spells and potions, and banning these books does a serious injustice to all adolescents.

Work Citied

1. Wolf. “Banned Books Awareness: Harry Potter.” World.edu. 10 July. 2011. Web. 10 Oct.

2014. <http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2011/07/10/banned-books-awareness-harry-potter/

The Ultimate Test

Many adolescents struggle with finding a place within society. It is how they are able to grow and see a new side of themselves. In the Aimee Carter’s series, The Goddess Test, the young protagonist struggles with trying to fit in. However, there is a little twist to the story. This character tries to fit in with a group that has little more power over society than what she had anticipated.

Kate Winters is an eighteen year old girl who moves to Eden at the request of going back her hometown from her mother, who is dying with cancer. When they arrive to Eden from New York, Kate notices strange things begin to happen within the town. However, she tries to brush it off and move on with her life. As Kate goes about life inside Eden, she struggles with the prospect of fitting into school or sticking close to her mother’s side at the beginning. However, on a cold, dark night, everything changes for her. A man by the name of Henry comes to her and claims he is Hades, the god of the underworld. He promises that if she accepts his deal and tries to pass seven tests, he will keep her mother alive. At first Kate doesn’t believe him, until he brings her friend, Ava back from the dead. Believing this is the only way she can save her mother, she accepts and faces the seven tests. Later on, she comes to discover that she isn’t the only one who has faced these tests. Eleven girls have faced these trials and died, some before they even made it to the first test. As the series continues to grow, Kate faces many challenges throughout the series, but the real question is, will she be able to find her place within the world of the Greek gods, or will she die without finding where she truly belongs?

Carter’s series, which first began when the first book was published in 2011, is based off the history of Greek mythology and the stories told for centuries. However, she adds a modern twist within her novels so the readers are able to have their own personal connection with each Greek god. For instance Henry, Hades, is portrayed as a quiet, kind-hearted, and an introverted type of character. Kate is an out-spoken, stubborn, determined character within the series and many adolescents are able to connect with her as well as the other characters throughout the series. The other Greek gods are brought in throughout the story, but some play bigger roles than others. Their names are Walter (Zeus), Calliope (Hera), James (Hermes), Diane (Demeter), and Ava (Aphrodite). Carter wants her readers to feel a connection and realize that, even though the Greek gods were not real, they were considered real back in history and she wanted to show a different side to what history tells the world. Carter presented the idea that the Greek gods are like adolescents in their lifestyles and how they interpret the world based on their actions and thoughts. It is clear to see how each god or goddess is trying to claim their place within the council and Kate is no different. She is trying to claim her place as the Queen of the Underworld and as well as with the council as a whole. Every adolescent throughout the world struggles finding where they belong and face many “tests” trying to find their place in the world. However, as the series continues, it is clear to see that the main point to the novel is to be yourself, do what is best for you and you will find the place within society where you belong. This is what Carter is trying to show us through each individual character, especially with Kate. Just be yourself and you will find your family and home in the world.

There are many contributions to how adolescents live within society through this book. Since the setting is set during the present day time, the adolescents of today are able to have a better connection with the characters throughout the series. Kate, like many adolescents, is sarcastic, snooty, and negative at times. She can be impulsive and stubborn which is where she struggles in finding her place within the Greek god society. There is also the struggle of love between Kate and Henry. Throughout the entire series their love turns into a battle, but in the end they love each other now matter what comes their way. Many adolescents today struggle trying to find love and that can turn their world upside down. This also adds to the fight in finding their place in the world. Death is a big contribution too. Many adolescent novels look at death as a terrifying factor and in The Goddess Test, Kate has to learn that death is inevitable for mortals and she must face it with her mother as she is on her death bed. However if it wasn’t for Henry, she wouldn’t have been able to accept the factor and be able to take the next step in her life at the end of the first book. Adolescents must also learn that death is a natural thing and there will come a day when they must face. It’s all a part of life. It is how everyone is able to fit in the world.

This novel series has been facing controversial perspectives since the first book of published. Many see the series as an “evenly paced paranormal romance” which seems to the series on fire (Strock). However, others also notice that the series has significant amount of inappropriate language, gory violence, and a “few sex scenes” (Rosenfeld). This places a lot of debates about whether or not adolescents should be reading this series. A lot of adults struggle with letting adolescents reading these kinds of novels due to the fact that they fear what the adolescents will get out of it. Many fear that this series will promote behaviors they wish their adolescents to refrain from. Even though people believe this is the cause of how adolescents live their lives, others believe that society does this on its own as well as the natural aspects of life. When adolescents get to a certain age, they see the world in different aspects based off society and their own experiences. Though a lot see this way as a perception to adolescent lifestyle, others blame this series as well as many others. Those who see this controversial also point out the aspect of the “Greek pantheon” isn’t adequate for the adolescents because it takes them away from their Christian values (Publishersweekly). This a huge debate between the two groups because Christian values and beliefs are held so high up that many fear their adolescents will turn away from their beliefs and follow that will lead them to hell while others believe that it will only broaden their imagination. This is the biggest struggle in the controversy of adolescents and books and most of it is caused by fear which is how our world is turning away from certain genres and many great works in literature. It truly is heartbreaking to see our world elapse to fear and literally turn our backs on the beauty of art within literature.

 

 

Works Cited

Rosenfeld, Shelle. “The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter.” Booklist 107.18 (2011): 55. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8. Oct. 2014

Strock, Adrienne L. “The Book Review/Grades 5 & Up: Carter.” School Library Journal 57.7 (2011): 94. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

“The Goddess Test.” Publishers Weekly (2011). Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

The Lost Adolescent

While we may not see faces on milk cartons anymore we all have seen the pictures and fliers for missing children all over the news, newspapers and of course grocery stores such as Wal-Mart. The Face on the Milk Carton is a young adolescent fiction novel written by Caroline B. Cooney. The book follows a young girl named Janie Johnson as she learns that the people she has called mom and dad all her life are not really her parents. She recognizes her face on the back of a milk carton as a kidnapped victim and spends the remainder of the novel trying to place her real history and who she really is. This tantalizing novel was written in 1990 but still has adolescents today being pulled in by its’ pages. Every young adult can remember the times when they were younger and wanted to run away from home, some may still be in a stage where they think about what it would be like to have been adopted, while still others live in the reality of having multiple sets of parents and families. Janie plays it all out for readers and shows how difficult the process of realization is when you are no longer part of just one family, a situation that is common to many young readers whether from adoption or divorce. Janie drives herself to find her real family while also trying to maintain her own relationships with her friends, her family, and her best friend and boyfriend, Reeve. Cooney does a great job of “portraying responsible middle-class teenagers trying to come to terms with very real concerns.” (Castleton) The Face on the Milk Carton is a great read for all young readers and adults alike, yet has been challenged and banned many times.

Adolescence is characterized by most adults as a time of lax decision making and testing the limits. These are stereotypes that adults set often times because they are afraid of young people and do not know how to handle them. However by doing this it may become possible that “negative expectations for particular adolescents based on such stereotypes exacerbate or even create problems that might not otherwise exist” (Buchanan). Society making preconceived ideas about young adults may actually cause them to act in such a way, a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. Adolescents need a good example of what they can be so that they will not just fall into the trap that society has set and said they are going to be, scary and overwhelming to deal with. Stereotypes do not have to be followed and can in fact be stopped by giving young people an example of someone who does not fit into the mold of adults and society. Cooney’s book does exactly that, she gives an example for them to follow and to strive to be like. She shows readers how even when Janie is going through so much stress in her life, a kind of stress that hopefully most readers will not encounter, she fights through to become stronger in the end. Janie shows her peers, the readers, that family life is difficult and sometimes you have to fight back with what your parents have taught and find out what the whole truth is even if it is different from what they taught. Cooney does not teach adolescents to be unruly and unteachable but instead guides them to seek out their own truth. She reminds young readers and adults alike that adults do not always have the right information and do not know everything. They can be mistaken and misled just as much as young people.

In order to learn more about the world that readers live in and the world that Janie lived in there has to be chances taken and beliefs questioned. Janie saw herself on the back of the milk carton and knew she had another family somewhere looking for her she struggled to tell her family because of her love for them and desire to just stay a normal family. However Cooney reminds readers in the end that honesty is the only option for peace, Janie knows this. She gets help from her parents at the end of the novel and the situation she has been worrying over and contemplating the entire book finally is shared with her family. Portraying Janie as someone who follows the truth, who stands up to authority in order that she might find out her life story, and who struggles against her own demons without falling under the pressure gives young readers an example of someone who proves that society is wrong about adolescents. In Cooney’s book young adults learn how to be a part of the community and how to seek out the truth in the world. Readers learn that being part of the community means standing out and standing up for what you believe has to be done. Janie takes a stand to find out where and who her real family is. Adolescents learn to seek truth from Janie’s persistence and self-determination and learn how this is vitally important to her having peace and us finding peace. These characteristics of the book help to shape adolescents. Despite the books’ abilities to guide adolescents it has still been challenged and questioned in several schools and libraries.

This book was in the “Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009” listed at twenty-nine and also in the top 100 for 1990-1999 listed at eighty (“Banned and Challenged Books”). Cooney’s book has been tested in several schools and has been removed and censored in others. Each time it has been challenged/banned is for the same reasons: “Sexual Content [and] Challenge to authority.” (2003 ACLU) These controversies of the book are some the same things that adolescents need to become strong adults and members of society. When these things are banned from books such as Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton, we are telling adolescents that as a culture we want them to be robots. Agree with everything we say, hate everything we hate, and stand up for only what we think is right. Questioning and challenging authority is not always a bad thing. Authority should be respected but if the authority at the moment is wrong or has a differing opinion, we still teach adolescents to follow blindly, fearlessly, and unwaveringly. That is where we are wrong as a culture, adolescents need to be taught to question everything and find out the truth in every situation whether it goes with or against the accepted social views. If young people are going to be expected to read only what adults allow then they will never be exposed to differing opinions and will turn into mindless and robotic replicas of whoever is in charge. The sexual content that the book addresses and that most adults find contentious may also be something that adolescents need. While some may not agree that young adults should be taught and be reading about sexual things it is still something that is relatable and in the face of almost every adolescent in junior high and high school today. Since this touchy subject is so prevalent in the minds of young people it is important to have literature that addresses and brings up this area. Sexual content in books is something that relates to adolescents, even if this is not what is wanted by leading adults, it cannot be ignored. Adults are weary of young people and are afraid of their unstable minds making decisions but as long as they are not allowed to question the preset truth and hear things that are relatable to them they will continue to feel constrained and controlled and eventually rebel.

Young readers need books like The Face on the Milk Carton to help them along their path of adolescence into adulthood. When books such as these are banned and challenged young people could lose perspectives, ideas, and views that could not be found elsewhere. Specifically in Cooney’s book adolescents would not be taught to question everything and build their own views but instead follow the model setup for them by scared adults. Also those who would have read The Face on the Milk Carton lose a book that relates to them in a way through the sexual content. More so they could have related to Janie and characters through the relationships, the hardships, family dynamics, and situations that Janie, her family and her friends go through.

 

 

 Works Cited

“2003 ACLU of Texas Report on Banned and Challenged Books.” 2003 ACLU of Texas Report on Banned and Challenged Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.

“Banned & Challenged Books.” Banned & Challenged Books. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.

Buchanan, Christy M., and Johna L. Hughes. “Construction Of Social Reality During Early Adolescence: Can Expecting Storm And Stress Increase Real Or Perceived Storm And Stress?.” Journal Of Research On Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell) 19.2 (2009): 261-285. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.

Castleton, Tatiana. “The Face On The Milk Carton (Book).” School Library Journal 36.2 (1990): 109. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.

Triumph in Tragedy

Set in Alabama and split in two parts, “Before” and “After,” John Green’s Looking for Alaska is about Miles “Pudge” Halter, a sixteen year old boy who moves from his home in Florida to Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama to seek the “Great Perhaps,” life immersed in all of its wonderful possibilities and “perhapses.” Thus, he moves to an unknown place to seek anything that will give his life the adventure and purpose that is displayed in biographies and famous people’s last words.

Over the course of his time at Culver Creek, because of his new, rebellious friends, Pudge experiences more excitement in his life than ever before. Most of the risk and excitement in his life, however, is due to Pudge’s interactions and growing relationship with Alaska Young, the wild, carefree, temperamental girl that is utterly a mystery to him. Though Alaska has an older college boyfriend, Pudge still desires her and fantasizes about being with her. She is very opinionated, intelligent, clever, sexy, flirty, and moody. Her room is full of piles and piles of books, and she is very intrigued by Simón Bolívar’s last words, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” When Pudge asks her what the labyrinth is, she responds, “That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape—the world or the end of it?” (19). As the book continues, it is learned, during one night after an elaborate prank, that the reason Alaska smokes so much, drinks so heavily, has mood swings, and never goes home is because her mother passed away suddenly from an aneurysm when she was a young girl. Alaska blames herself because she was there when it happened, and instead of calling the police while her mother writhed in pain on the floor, she screamed and cried until her mother went still.

One night, while Alaska and the Colonel, another of Pudge’s friends, drink heavily into the early hours of the morning in her room, Pudge visits her. She suggests that they play “Truth or Dare” and dares Pudge to “hook up with her.” Very sober and very willing, Pudge kisses Alaska until she whispers, “This is so fun, but I’m so sleepy. To be continued?” (131). Before she drifts off to sleep, Pudge whispers to her, “I love you, Alaska Young.” Pudge, Alaska, and the Colonel aren’t asleep long when the payphone near Alaska’s room rings. Alaska goes to answer it and talks on the phone for a little while before barging back into the room screaming and crying, “I have to get out of here!” (132). Alaska sobs and yells and begs Pudge and the Colonel to help her sneak off campus. Even though they do not know why she is upset or where she is going, they help her, and while they set off fireworks to distract the Eagle, the dean of students, Alaska drives her car off of campus. The next morning, the Eagle holds an assembly to inform the school body that Alaska Young died in a car accident the night before after hitting a police car head on.

The rest of the novel consists of Pudge, the Colonel, and their friends, Takumi and Lara, trying to solve the mystery of the night that Alaska died. As they seek out answers, they wrestle with the idea that she may have committed suicide as well as with their own personal guilt concerning that night. During their investigation, Pudge starts to question larger, more philosophical, spiritual questions about life and death. In his Religious Studies class, before the Christmas break, the class had to turn in final exams that addressed the prompt, “What is the most important question human beings must answer? Choose your question wisely, and then examine how Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity attempt to answer it” (70). After Alaska’s death, the teacher of the class puts the question that Alaska asked in her essay on the chalkboard: “How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?” (158). This is a very important element in the novel because it hints at Alaska’s own personal demons as well as Pudge’s struggles with finding meaning in life, death, and suffering after her death.

Adolescence in the novel is portrayed through Pudge’s struggle to find the “Great Perhaps,” meaning, excitement, and purpose in his fairly ordinary existence. When he loses Alaska, the girl that he both loved desperately and, sometimes, hated passionately, he begins to question whether life has purpose at all. However, at the end of the novel, in answer to an essay prompt that originates from Alaska’s question concerning the labyrinth, Pudge comes to the conclusion that forgiveness and belief in one’s own strength and power is what makes life worth living and, ultimately, what makes life eternal. Green displays, through Pudge, a need in adolescents to make sense of the world around them and find some sort of order and goodness in the chaos. Ultimately, through Pudge, Green asserts at the end of the novel that adolescents have reason to hope and to live fully despite harsh circumstances. Pudge concludes his essay by saying, “When adults say, ‘Teenagers think they are invincible’ with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations” (220). Thus, he finds comfort in Alaska’s death by his belief that, like all energy, humans cannot be created or destroyed. This, in itself, is enough to bring hope and purpose to his existence and, hopefully, through journeying through his struggles with him, the same outcome for the readers.

John Green wrote Looking for Alaska to communicate to young readers through Pudge’s experiences that, despite pain and suffering, life is full of hope and potential. However, due to some explicit content in the book, it has been challenged and banned from some schools and libraries. According to R. Wolf Baldassarro, founder of Band Book Awareness, the book has been banned as pornography in one county. He also mentions that “SafeLibraries.org, a conservative blog site which promotes censorship, has accused the American Library Association and John Green of being ‘porn pushers’ and attempting to corrupt the young.” True, the book contains sexually explicit content as well as rebellious teen behavior manifested in smoking, drinking alcohol, using obscenities, and disobeying the authority of Culver Creek. Clearly, if the book has been banned for these reasons, adults must believe that exposure to such things will produce manifestation of such issues in teens’ lives. However, John Green is a realist, an author that wants to portray life as it is for many teenagers—full of turmoil, steeped in the search for purpose, and ultimately, full of the potential for hope and triumph in the face of tragedy. By focusing so intensely on the portions of the story that portray the teens as troubled individuals, adults and adolescents miss the purpose of the book in the first place—that life is valuable and full of promise in spite of its difficulties and hardships.

Works Cited

Baldassarro, R. Wolf. “Banned Books Awareness: ‘Looking for Alaska.’” Banned Books

Awareness, 14 May 2012. Web. Oct. 2014.

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Speak, 2005. Print.

 

Twilight: The Controversy Behind the Novel

          Twilight written by Stephenie Meyer, is a series of four vampire-themed romance novels that was published in 2005. Bella Swan, a very clumsy and sweet teenager, has always been a little different than every other girl. She has never truly had any real friends, and has never been one to run with the crowd. She is a little bit anti-social and has never cared very much about fitting in with the trendy girls from her Arizona high school. When her mother decided to get re-married, Bella chooses to move in with her father in the rainy and gloomy town of Forks, Washington. Bella didn’t exactly expect anything out of her move to Forks, and wasn’t too excited about it either. However, things take a turn when she stumbles upon the mysterious and gorgeous Edward Cullen, a guy that goes to her school who no one seems to understand too much. Edward isn’t like any other boy that she has met, ever. He is very intelligent and has a great sense of humor, and for some reason she is so drawn to him and she doesn’t seem to know why. But what Bella doesn’t know is that he has a secret; Edward is a dazzling immortal vampire that hasn’t aged since the year of 1918. After only a little while of getting to know each other, Bella and Edward fall helplessly in love with each other. The closer that the two of them get, the more that Edward struggles to resist Bella; after all, he is a drinker of blood and the scent of her could bring him into a blood-thirsting frenzy, putting Bella at risk. Edward warns Bella that she should leave him, but Bella refuses to listen to him. Bella ends up learning his dark secret, but is too scared of the risk of losing him, the love of her life. But then, new visitors arrive and are thirsty for Bella’s human blood, and Edward has to do what he can with his power and strength to keep Bella safe. It is a beautiful love story between vampire and mortal, but with the disapproval of their families and the vampires’ hunt for Bella’s irresistible blood, their unordinary love is put to the test.

In the world of adolescent literature, the novel series of Twilight has a very distinct significance that reaches out to young adolescents that will take part in reading it. Twilight shows adolescent readers somewhat of an exaggerated reality of relationships at such a young age. In the novel, Bella has to learn to accept Edward for the way he is and loves him knowing that he is a vampire. Even though the fact that he is immortal creates a struggle for their relationship, she still continues to put in the effort and loves him despite the circumstances. This is the reality of relationships; in a relationship, you have to learn to accept your partner even for the things you may not like or that may make the relationship a struggle because that is what you do for love. Also, the novel expresses that risk that you will take for love and being in a relationship. Bella knows that being with Edward is very dangerous for her and her loved ones, but she is willing to risk everything because of the love that she has for Edward and for the fear that she has of losing him. In general, this novel is absolutely, with no doubt exaggerated, but it’s significance to the world as a book for adolescents because it is showing and expressing the realities of relationships and what you will go through at times for the ones you love.

The novel Twilight is based off of many themes as well, some of which include: making choices between good and evil, love, and isolation. This novel portrays making choices to be very important to adolescents. In the novel, Bella has to make the choice whether to stay with Edward and put everything at risk, or to leave him and make herself safe. Edward, as a vampire, is considered to be evil, because vampires are usually known to be a dark figure. This novel is setting an example for adolescents by showing that making choices is something that they will go through in their life, whether it be for good or for evil. The world that adolescents live in is a world full of choices to be made and is using this idea in the novel itself. Also, this novel has a constant theme of love. Bella and Edward cannot help but to fall madly in love with each other, and shows love to have imperfections, which is the reality of relationships. Bella and Edward’s relationship is not perfect; they constantly are going through the struggle of their unordinary relationship and both know that they are risking hurting each other, but their passion is just so intense that they have no choice but to stay together. The theme of love that this novel is representing is showing adolescents that love is not perfect, and will never be. It is showing adolescents that relationships have imperfections and will involve struggle at times, but that if you love someone, you will do what it takes to make it work. Lastly, the theme of isolation is apparent in this novel. Bella moves to a completely new town for her and struggles to make friends, which is a reality for many young adolescents today. This novel portrays that as not being abnormal and something that even Bella Swan goes through. It proves that isolation can be a part of life, and that is what Bella struggles with until she meets Edward; and even then, she doesn’t have many friends and never has.

The novel Twilight portrays adolescence as a very emotional and impulse driven time of a person’s life. It defines adolescence as a time where you are young and that falling in love and making irrational decisions is the normal way of an adolescents daily choices. It suggests that adolescents are very open to taking risks if it is for something that they feel strongly enough about.

Although the novel Twilight is a top-selling novel and film series, it also receives quite a bit of controversy for a few of the messages that the novel may be trying to portray. One of the reasons that this novel creates controversy is the fact that the relationship between Bella and Edward portray an unrealistic picture of what it is like to be in an unhealthy relationship. Bella and Edward may struggle and go through many hardships, but an unhealthy relationship in the real world is much different than this, and is one of the reasons why Twilight is considered to be controversial. This is suggesting to young adolescents that Bella and Edward’s relationship is the exact picture of what an unhealthy relationship would be, when really it is the exact opposite. An unhealthy relationship in reality would possibly include abuse, either physical, emotional or verbal, being unfaithful to one another, and anything that would hurt one another in some way. Bella and Edward’s relationship isn’t like that, and it is seen as controversial, as it is sending a message to young adolescents saying that their relationship isn’t healthy when it isn’t painting a realistic picture of what an unhealthy relationship would be. One other aspect that is seen as controversial would be the acceptance of danger and Bella’s willingness to accept danger into her life for love. Bella accepts the danger of Edward being a vampire and risks her life and her loved ones for the fear of losing the love of her life. It is seen as controversial because adolescents don’t need to be getting the idea that it is okay to accept danger in their life for anything, especially love. It is suggesting for adolescents not to take any risks or to not put yourself in danger, because society expects us to stay away from evil and the dangers of the world. The controversy comes from this message in the novel and that it is sending a green light to young adolescents saying that it is okay to accept it danger into their lives, which it is not.

Overall, Twilight is a fantastic novel series unfolding the story of two young adolescent immortal/mortal lovers who go through the struggles of keeping their relationship stable through the hardships of being two totally different beings. But it does serve controversy in its messages, keeping it banned from school libraries. However, the controversies do not keep it from being an outstanding novel and film series that keep the genre of young romance interesting and fun.

Works Cited

Silvey, Janese. “MU researchers say latest ‘Twilight’ film raises controversial issues.” Columbia Daily Tribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. <http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/mu-researchers-say-latest-twilight-film-raises-controversial-issues/article_621076b9-428f-5f09-9c9f-e75fa264232c.html&gt;. “Twilight Themes.” Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. <http://www.shmoop.com/twilight/themes.html&gt;.

THe Outsiders and Adolescent Social Cultures

The Outsiders and Adolescent Social Culture

Many adolescents feel the need to be a part of a social group, clique, or gang. During the adolescent years, many children are trying to discover who they are and where they feel they “fit in” in life or belong. Because this is such an important process, alot of adolescent literature concentrates on the idea of different social groups and the conflicts that arise as a result. The Outsiders, first published in 1967, is set in the 1960s and is about the struggles and adolescent boy goes through dealing with what social group he belongs to. Susan Eloise Hinton, the book published as S.E. Hinton, started writing the book when she was fifteen and was inspired by social divisions in her high school that she saw.

The narrator of the story is a fourteen year old boy named Ponyboy Curtis. The book follows Ponyboy over the course of two weeks and the events that unfold and how they will shape the rest of his life. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darry (age twenty) and Sodapop (age sixteen), live on their own because their parents recently died in a car accident (Hinton). The novel focuses on adolescent characters and adults do not play a major role in the novel. Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy belong to a gang or social class that the novel defines as “greasers”. The greasers are from the east side of town and poor. Their main rival and those they confront through the whole book are in the social class of the socs. Because of Ponyboy’s subjective viewpoint the reader comes to understand how the narration is distorted by the effects of hatred and rivalry between groups. Short for socials, the “socs” are kids who are from the west side of town, rich, and well off (Hinton). The novel opens up with pony boy being jumped by a group of socs until members of the greasers run the socs off (Hinton). Starting the novel this way allows the reader to understand that fighting between these two groups will not need logical provocation. Later in the novel the greasers and socs see each other at a drive in movie. Here the socs are offended that the greasers were trying to be nice to girls that socs liked. Once again the socs and greasers confront in a park and one of the greasers, Johnny, kills a soc. Pony boy and greaser friend Johnny run away with the help of another greaser member. They hide out in an abandon church and change their appearance. Meanwhile one of the girls from the drive in movie, Cherry, is now helpful to the greasers and testifies that Bob’s death was self defence. Johnny and Ponyboy come to the realization that they should turn themselves in. Upon arriving back at the church from a night out, the church is on fire. Ponny and Johnny race inside and rescue the kids but as the building collapses, Johnny breaks his back and dies of his injuries (Hinton). One of the greasers, Dally, is so overcome with grief that he decides to rob a grocery store. As the police confront him Dally reaches for a “black object” and the police shoot him. The violence has its effect but Pony deals with the grief and frustration by writing this book.

The social conflict between these two groups draws on a larger theme of the novel which is that belonging to these groups gives teen the feeling that they have an extended family. The novel draws heavily on the fact that many teens feel the need to belong to a group (Gillespie). Another major theme from the novel is that social injustice is all around. Ponyboy and his brothers grow up seeing injustice on a daily basis. They are from the wrong side of town, their parents are dead, and they are caught on one side of gang violence. Can they escape?

At one point in the novel Hinton writes, “Greasers will still be greasers and socs will still be socs it doesn’t matter” (chapter seven, Hinton). One major question this book addresses is that is the difference between the socs and greasers to much to overcome? Hinton suggests that the differences do not have to make natural enemies of the group. Hinton does this through the characters of Cherry, a soc, and Pony boy. The two discuss what they have in common and the conversation points out how shared passions or interests can bridge the gap between rich and poor. By the end of the novel Pony boy realizes that both groups, all teens or adolescents as a larger theme, must over come things like sorrow, love, and fear; even if they may look different to the two groups.

Outsiders has been challenged and banned in many schools because of the fact that it includes underage drinking and smoking, strong language, slang language and the large portrayal of gang violence (Baldarasso). The book does not glamorize gang and drug culture although the school districts that have banned it think so. The significance of school district wanting to ban this book means that they are unwilling to accept that adolescents may want to form social groups and gangs, may want to experiment with drugs, and may make the wrong decisions.

While The Outsiders does portray gang violence and drug use, the book is in no way shape or form an advocate for either. The book simply addresses issues that Hinton thought adolescents dealt with and draws on her own experiences. The fact that she chose to write about what can happen if groups don’t overcome their differences is very powerful. Chapter nine of the novel really speaks to this theme (Hinton). In a copy of Gone with the Wind, Ponyboy finds a handwritten note from Johnny urging him to “stay golden”. Also Johnny’s dying words are to stay gold (Hinton). Ponyboy realizes that this quote means to focus on the beauty in the world and to overcome the injustices. The school districts that have banned this book are hindering kids from realizing they can overcome social injustices adolescents face.

 

 

Works Cited

Baldarasso, R. “Banned Books Awareness: The Outsiders.” Banned Book Awareness: A Worldwide Literacy Project to Celebrate the Freedom to Read. Deep Forest         Productions, 8 May 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

Gillespie, Joanne. “Getting Inside S.E. Hinton’s The Ousiders.” English Journal 95.3 (2006): 44-48. Print.

Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Puffin, 1997. Print.

Malone, Michael. “Tough Puppies.” Nation 242.9 (1986): 276-80. Print.

Welcome to our course blog!

“Censors wish to hand out blueprints for the writer to follow, blueprints that include designs that are safe and secure, that contain no concealed passages, no corners around which surprises or challenges wait. A house, in which every room is furnished with the bare necessities, with no shadows no closets, no hidden corners. And no light.

“But a book is not a house.” –Robert Cormier

Among the books most frequently challenged or banned in the United States, literature for adolescents and young adults is prominent. More than one third of the works included on the American Library Association’s list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 fall into the category of Y.A. fiction. This persistent and fraught relationship between censorship and literature for young people raises a variety of questions: Why is there such a significant disconnect between the representations of adolescence found in banned/challenged literature and the notions about adolescence that adult challengers have? What conflicting ideas regarding the purposes Y.A. fiction should serve underpin the issue of censorship? What are the the perceived risks of reading these books that adult challengers seek to circumvent through censorship? This blog seeks to address these and other questions about adolescent literature and its place in our world through exploring various specimens of Y.A. literature that have come under fire in schools and libraries across the country.