YA AUTHORS WHO TACKLE FORBIDDEN
SUBJECTS AND WHY THEY DO IT
~ REBECCA HILL
But in curren t yo ung ad ult liter ature ci rcles, a sm all gro up of
autho rs a re writing with th at shado w of censo rsh ip ove r th eir
head s. Hundred s of cha llenges a rise every year, a nd th e im pact
can be devastating, not o nly to th e teach ers and libr arian s who
mu st face th em but also to th e writers of th e cha llenged books.
Autho r Judy Blume is very experienced with th ese issues. In her
bo ok, Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Sto ries by Cens o red
Writers, Blume mu ses abo ut th e tim e she wro te, Are You The re
God? It's Me, Margaret: "Controversy wasn't on my mind. I wanted
onl y to writ e what I knew to be tru e. I wanted to write th e best, th e
mo st hon est books I cou ld, th e kind s of books I wou ld have liked
to read when I was younger. If someo ne had told me then [that] I
wo uld become on e of th e mo st banned writ ers in Amer ica, I'd have
laughed." But if hind sight is inde ed fifty-fifty, the qu estion remains
why any author who writ es abou t controversial subjects for teens
wo uld even venture to do so?
Ho w to m easure wh eth er a subject is edgy can oft en dep end
o n a variety of things. Th e tim e period in which a book is written
or publish ed can be a m ajor factor. For Blum e, th e morali sti c
'80s were fra ug h t with ce nso rs h ip cha lle n ges. So me a ut ho rs
might wo rry that in tod ay's pol itically correc t clim ate, choosing a
controve rsial subject m ight be conside red offen sive to particular
a udie nces o f read er s. Still o the rs mi ght ag ree th at in tod ay's
Intern et -ob sessed cu lt u re, nothin g is reall y tab oo any mo reeverythi ng is up for grabs. Whe n int erviewed by School Library
Journal in 2009, Lau rie Halse Ande rso n, a utho r of Spe ak, said
tha t whe n Speak was released , it was con sidered "cutt ing edge and
daring." Now, in co nt ras t with oth er books considered cutting
edge and daring, it has o btai ne d sta ndard pla cem ent in m an y
schoo l cu rr icu lu ms . And er son h as never reall y b een abl e to
acco unt for thi s change.
Most of th ese edgy reads incorporate frank dialogue; shocking
circ u ms ta nces ; a d ysfunction al , so me times graphi c ex iste nce;
and always th e radica l departure from th e more beni gn sto ry
line. Author of Radical Read s 2: Working with the Newest, Edgy
Titles for Teen s, Io ni Richards Bodart believes th at teen s who are
, I VOYA April 2010
strugg ling with th e pressu res of today's socie ty can find relevan ce
in novels th at she calls "radical reads."
"There are no easy answers or pat endings in th ese book s, and
man y cha rac te rs don 't live happ ily ever afte r. [T he books 1 are
ca lled dark , bleak , gritty, depr essing, a nd hard to read ," Bod art
says. "This har sh real ism is o ne of th e reaso ns th at ad ults find
t hese titl es cont ro ver sial. Radi cal read s in sp ire an emo tio na l
respon se fro m th e read er, and for man y people that first respon se
is negati ve . .. th ese are not easy book s to read ."
Th ese so-called radic al read s cove r th e gam ut of controversial
subjec t matt er. Fro m sex to rap e, teen pregn an cy, homosexuality,
dru gs, su icid e, vio le nce , and even murd er , thi s on slau ght of
realism wou ld be a slap in th e face if th ese problem s weren't very
real issues that teens cop e with in tod ay's society. Looking at th e
dail y headl ine s, t he reality explodes off the page. Teen suic ide
is th e third lead ing cause o f death a m o ng yo ung adult s, a nd
homi cide is th e seco nd leadin g cause of death. Juveniles account
for alm ost 16 percent of all violent crim e arrests. Approximately
75 percent of students will have co nsumed alcohol by th e end of
high scho ol. Nearly 50 percent of teen s will have tr ied cigarettes
by twelfth grade, and 25 percent of seniors will have used illicit
drugs. And altho ugh we might lon g for a Betsy and Tacy or Hardy
Boys existence for o ur teen s, th e hon est fact is th at th ey face very
real issues and readin g abo ut th ose issues in fiction can help crea te
coping mechani sms.
It is from th ese very real issu es th at th e sto ries evolve. Whe the r
it is from a sta rk statistic o n teen age prostitution or a lett er fro m
an ano rexic teenage girl now in tr eatment-what th ese aut ho rs
im agin e to be th e sto ry beh ind th ese realiti es is what m oti vates
th em . Wh en Patricia McCormick first wrot e her book, Cu t, no
o ne was writing ab out th e issu e of teen s who were cutt ing. She
felt driven to write a no vel o n thi s to p ic and fram e it fro m a girl's
point of view.
" I felt like it was so me t h ing both fas cina t ing and really
up setting and needed to be told from th e girl 's point of view,"
McCormi ck sa id . " My feelin g was that t here wa s so mu ch
IVWW.voy".col1l
RADICAL
READS
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.JUDY BLUME
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jud g m en t a nd so much repulsion abo u t th e top ic. Most peopl e
d idn't know an yth ing abo ut it."
For h er m o st rec ent book, Win terg irls, An d e rso n fou nd her
in sp ira t io n in th e sto ries o f h er read er s. She hea rd from teen s
w ho were ex pe rie nc ing ea t ing d iso rd er s or who we re recei vin g
t reatment fo r th em. "So m a n y o f m y read ers wro te to m e a bo ut
th e ir struggles w ith eat ing di so rder s," And er so n says, "a n d after
spe ak ing w ith a very clo se d o cto r fr iend of mine, I began to tell
Lia's sto ry."
For Elle n H opkin s, a u t ho r o f C r a n k , G lass , Impulse , a n d
Burned, it wa s a m er e statistic that shoc ked her in to th e sto ry of
teenage pro stitution . T hese typ es of subjec ts, sh e believes, touch
th e lives o f teens m ore th an we ge ne rally know.
"W ith Tricks, I read a stat ist ic th at th e average age o f a teen
p rostit ut e in th e Un ited Sta tes is twe lve yea rs o ld," Ho pkins says.
"W h en I co me across so m eth ing like this, I have to go figure o ut
wh y. T hen I sta rt resea rc hing. Most ly, I th in k tha t it is impo rt a nt
th at we look a t th ese iss ues. It is easy en o ug h to p reten d th a t
they d o n't hap pen- to t ry [to J hide th em in the closet o r co rn e r
so m ewhe re , but they do. T he o n ly way to ske w th ose sta t istics
back up wh ere we wa nt them is by inve sti gating a nd ask in g why."
T hese a utho rs feel stro ngly co m pe lled to be ho nest with th eir
readers, much like o ne m ight imag ine a fra nk d iscu ssio n bet ween
a pa ren t and a ch ild . For teen s, heari ng th ese sto ries a nd rea d ing
abo ut th e possib le realiti es o f poo r cho ices ca n d em o nstr at e th at
th e m o n st e rs th ey e nco u n te r, w he the r s u pe rn a t u ral o r h u man ,
"c a n b e killed , van qui shed , lea rn ed fro m , a nd o verco m e," says
Boda rt . " T ha t's why YA au thors w ri te radi cal reads, and th at 's why
teen s read th em . [Teens] n eed to know th at th e m onsters ca n be
kill ed a nd th at th ey ca n surv ive eve n th e wo rst o f th em, if th ey
choose to d o so. T he y also need to know th at th ey aren't alo neth ere's at least o ne person o ut th ere [who I . . . und er stands th em
and what th ey ar e living wi th ."
An d b ecau se th ey d eal with su bject m atter th at is p ainfu lly
intim at e , read er fe e d bac k ca n illu strat e th e ove rw he lm i ng
resp onsibil it y tha t th ese a uthors have. Hop kin s says th at failing to
be honest abo ut what hap pen s to he r cha rac te rs whe n th ey m ake
qu esti on abl e d eci sions w ill on ly lead her read ers to poi n t o u t
th is fact. " If I d o n't w rite ho nestl y abo ut [the issu e ] th en I' m just
a no th er person say ing 'do n' t do it.' I have to show that its fu n unt il
it's no t fu n a nym o re. Because [it's] th e truth. I ho pefull y w rite th e
t ru th. M y rea ders will ca ll m e on it if I don't."
Fo r Alex Sa nch ez , a u tho r o f Ba it , Rai nb o w Bo ys , Ra inb o w
H ig h , an d Rainbo w Roa d , revealin g the tru th in h is ficti on is part
of his obl igation to be tru e to h imself as a w rite r. " Teens o fte n tell
m e that I a m [te lling th e truth J. Th ey say thin gs lik e, "You to ld
m y sto ry . . . yo u helped m e to un der stand who I am ," a nd o the r
resp onses like tha t . [It] feels great, b ut it's no t what I thi nk abo ut
w hen I write. I most ly wo rk at being tru e to m y o w n vo ice. T ha t's
hard eno ug h ."
As wri ters of teen fict io n, th ese a utho rs reali ze th at th e elem ent
o f hope is a vita l aspect to th eir sto ry lin e. Using th eir charac te rs
to res po nd to th ese issue s in ways th at w ill help o the r teen s is a n
important factor in ta ckling th ese su bje cts . T he fac t th at th eir
readers ma y lea rn ho w to resp ond in a d ifficu lt situatio n-like th e
1V1V1V.voya.com
o ffer of drugs in excha nge fo r sex o r refusin g to ea t in o rde r to lose
we ight- is no t lost on th em . Also im po rt a n t is tha t th ese aut hors
wo rk skillfully to avo id glo rifying illega l actio ns a nd refra in fro m
usin g g ra tu ito us vio le nce o r sex in a sto ry bec ause they a re so
cogni za nt of their a ud ience and its vu lnera bility.
Initiall y Mc Co rmi ck worried that C ut would be in ter pre te d
as glo r ifyi ng c u tti ng , " My ho pe is reall y to un derst and how yo u
co u ld b e in s o mu ch p ai n, so lon el y th at yo u wo u ld h ave to
ta ke it o u t o n yo ur bod y," Mc Corm ick says . " I was ve ry ca reful
to m ak e it cl ear th at thi s was a b eh a vi o r th at rea ll y e n ds up
co n tro lling yo ur life a nd di stancin g yo u from o t her peop le. T ha t
it is ve ry, ve ry d estructi ve."
H o p kin s ac k now led ge s th a t t h e s it ua t io ns in her bo oks a re
co nt roversia l, but she says she still m akes a co nsc io us decision to
push the envelope when it co mes to these su bjec ts. As an a uthor, she
wa n ts to show her readers that they are not alone-tha t wh at has
happened is no t th eir fault, b ut that they must choos e a way o ut.
" In Tricks, I wa n te d t h e prosti t utio n to be ugl y. Fo r m o st
prostitutes, th is is wh at life is like. T h is is no t Pretty WoIII aII. So
w ith Tricks , it wa s a co nscio us decision to take it w her e I did .
The re a re gr ap hic sce nes, b ut aga in, if I don't sho w it as it is, then
it ca n be em ulated o r glamo r ized a nd I don't wa n t tha t."
Sa n c he z a g rees . Fo r h im , it 's c r it ic a l to put t h e issu es in
pe rs pec t ive, w h ic h m ea ns th at h e e xa m i nes s it u a t io ns fro m
co n flic t ing p oi nt s o f vie w. "Co n flic t is th e esse n ce of dr a m a,
of goo d writ in g, a nd in mu ch of life," San c h ez says. " T ha t
incl ud es sex ual and ro man t ic expe r iences. Any sex ua l enc o un ter,
a t wh a te ver age , proba b ly in clu d es co nfl ict ing e m o t io ns a n d
co ns eq u e nc es , ' h ig hs a n d lo ws.' Pr es ent in g o n ly o ne s ide o f a
sex ual enco un ter wo uld be dull and di sho nes t."
Facing do wn negati ve perceptions of th eir wo rk is an o ngo ing
str ugg le. In fact , bet ween 200 I a nd 20 08, 3,73 6 cha llenges we re
initiated . Of those 3,736 ch allenge s, 68 percent originated in th e
nation's scho o l sys te m . Th e Ame rica Library Asso ciat io n Office
of Int ellectual Free do m (O IF) defines a ch allen ge as "a n atte m pt
to rem o ve or restr ict mat eri als based o n a n o bjec tio n of a per son
o r a g ro u p." They fu rt her defin e book bannin g as " th e rem o val o f
those m at erials." Acco rd ing to the ALA's O IF, th e top three rea so ns
for a ch allenge origina te w it h ma ter ial co nside red to be sexua lly
ex p licit, co nta in ing o ffens ive lan guage, a nd/o r whic h is unsu ita ble
to a ny age gro u p. All a utho rs in ter viewed fo r thi s piece have been
su bjec t, in so m e way, to th is at m osphere .
In addi ti on to th e hi gh n umb er of cen so rs h ip c ha lle nges,
a n o ther co nce rn is th e qui et filt ering of books fro m cla ssroom
a nd schoo l libraries by teach er s an d lib ra rian s w ho are ca ut io us
a bo u t th e po te nti a l for c h alle nges . H op kin s tell s of ca n ce lle d
sc h o o l v is its . M cC o r m ick recall s ti mes w hen s t u d e n ts were
pu lled o ut of school beca use she was visiting. Often thi s typ e of
s ilen t ce nso rshi p ca n be th e d irect result of wha t hap pen s w hen
a n ac t ua l boo k cha lle ng e ha s b ee n previo usly initiat ed. Eve n if
the boo k rema ins o n th e shelf, tea chers a nd librarians m ay feel
co m pelled to filter future m at eri als to avo id more cha lleng es. An d
if sc ho o l ad m in ist ra t io n initi at es di scipl in ar y ac t io n ag a in st a
tea ch er o r a librar ian as th e result of a cha llenge , th e pot ential for
fu ture filtering ma y inc rease.
April20lO VOYA
I
Sanchez knows th at his books can be found in some libr ari es
and abse nt in o the rs. "So me [teach er s] are willing, othe rs are
afraid of cha llenges or complaints. I think it largely depend s on
how mu ch support educa to rs get from their adm inistration."
Ho pkins re la tes a si m ila r ex per ie nce . " I was at a bo o k
signi ng, and there was a parent there. She said th at the librarian
at her dau ght er's school doesn't allow my bo ok s there. I don 't
underst and how o ne person 's sta nda rd ca n be a co m m u n ity
standar d. Silent censors hip is wor se because at least if they raise a
conce rn, it is a discussion ."
Using th e arg ument of "community standa rd," says Joan Bertin,
Executive Directo r of the Natio nal Coa lition Against Censorship,
is deceptive at best. "T here is a big m isperception out there that
schoo ls, schoo l board s, and librari es are entitled to imp ose their
ow n community sta ndard in book and mat eri al selectio n. Th e
term, communit y sta nda rd, de rives fro m Supreme Co u rt cases
dealing with obscenity. We almost never deal in a schoo l situation
with any thing th at co mes anyw here near to bein g obscene. So
whe n peopl e say tha t th ey are ent itled to apply co m m u ni ty
sta ndards , th ey are really m isapprop ri atin g a co ncep t th at is
intended to be applied in ano ther sett ing altogether."
Ber ti n ack no wledges that th is typ e of sile n t censors hip,
altho ugh almos t imposs ible to quantify, is a very real concern for
authors who choose to tackle th ese very tou gh subjects. "You don't
know how many books th at otherw ise would have been assigned
weren't assigned, or which books would have been assigned if a
challenge hadn 't been brought ," says Ber tin .
Sanchez agrees , saying th at altho ugh hi s book s have existed
on thou sand s of library shelves, he has experie nced a hand ful of
challenges. "I think it's a situation where the fear of the opposition
is mu ch greater than the reality. Unfor tunately such fears result in
some librarians being [un 1willing to put th e books on th e shelf to
begin with."
Co mba tt ing thi s type o f silen t cen sor shi p is so me thing th at
Hopkin s, McCorm ick, Ande rso n, and Sanchez have to do on a
regular basis as authors. Much of wha t th ey do is educa te th eir
reading public as well as the teachers and librarians who sup port
th ei r book s. This advocacy is o ngoi ng for th em, b ut th ey are
committed to doin g so because they are dedicated to the books that
they write. Maybe as times change and sensibilities evolve, we will
be more open to the imp act that these books can make in a teen's
life. In the end, we can only hop e that our toleran ce will make it
easier for everyone to accept these books witho ut challenge. Bodart
says that as educators, we have to acknowledge th e real role these
books can play in a teen's life: helping th em meet th e mon ster face
to face or asking for th e help they need to overcome it. Anderso n
believes that when we acknowledge this fact, "our culture will move
for ward and support teachers and libr ar ian s by respecting th eir
professional expert ise, and [embrace 1the wisdo m that good stories
offer teens, instead of fearing books that reflect reality."_
WORKS CITED
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Rebecca Hill is a librarian and freelance writ er. She writes on library, literacy,
and other education issues and has been published in the American Library
Association 's Book Links, M iddle Ground magazille, School Fa m ily M edia and
other pub lications. She is VOYA's new Voyagescolumn writer.
www.voya.com
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Title: Gritty, Tough, Edgy, and Controversial: YA Authors Who Tackle Forbidden
Subjects and Why They Do It
Source: Voice Youth Advocates 33 no1 Ap 2010 p. 30-2
ISSN: 0160-4201
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