Most of you are probably aware of the ridiculous article, Darkness Too Visible, published in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. It is an opinion piece, disguised as a feature article, by Meghan Cox Gurdon about the darkness in YA literature. It has, to say the least, caused tremendous uproar in the YA community amongst bloggers, authors, publishers and general readers. While I'm not planning on posting my own rebuttal, I thought I would share with you some of the fabulous counter-posts that have popped up over the last couple of days.
Jackie Morse Kessler, YA author of Rage (which Gurdon used as an example in her piece) fights back with Making The Darkness Visible.
Cecil Castellucci, YA author and Young Adult Editor of the LA Review of Books, writes a fantastic post, Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness.
YA author and former journalist Gayle Forman talks about "crappy journalism, and the dangers of bullying loudmouths setting the agenda" in her blog post Wall Street Depravity.
Margaret Stohl, YA author of The Caster Chronicles series, contributes her two cents worth with Funhouse Mirrors.
YA author Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak and Wintergirls, weighs in on just how much difficult topics help YA readers in Stuck Between Rage and Compassion.
YA blogger Emma from Booking through 365, blogs a letter to Gurdon from a teenagers perspective.
And on twitter, check out #YASaves, set up by YA author Maureen Johnson where readers can share their positive experiences with YA literature. As Margaret Stohl says "#YASaves is the real rebuttal to Ms. Gurdon’s editorial."
All of these are fabulous posts and just some of the hundreds that can be found online.
Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows Mrs Gurdon. It's time you realised that.
Jackie Morse Kessler, YA author of Rage (which Gurdon used as an example in her piece) fights back with Making The Darkness Visible.
Cecil Castellucci, YA author and Young Adult Editor of the LA Review of Books, writes a fantastic post, Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness.
YA author and former journalist Gayle Forman talks about "crappy journalism, and the dangers of bullying loudmouths setting the agenda" in her blog post Wall Street Depravity.
Margaret Stohl, YA author of The Caster Chronicles series, contributes her two cents worth with Funhouse Mirrors.
YA author Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak and Wintergirls, weighs in on just how much difficult topics help YA readers in Stuck Between Rage and Compassion.
YA blogger Emma from Booking through 365, blogs a letter to Gurdon from a teenagers perspective.
And on twitter, check out #YASaves, set up by YA author Maureen Johnson where readers can share their positive experiences with YA literature. As Margaret Stohl says "#YASaves is the real rebuttal to Ms. Gurdon’s editorial."
All of these are fabulous posts and just some of the hundreds that can be found online.
Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows Mrs Gurdon. It's time you realised that.
I'm not posting my own rebuttal either, but I definitely support all the posts (and tweets!) against this article. Ughh. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the article, I thought to myself: when did reading become a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteAnother great one: http://lareviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/outsiders-caissie-st-onge.html
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Thank you very much for linking to me! I loved Laurie's rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteSo many awesome responses to such a horrible article. Thanks for the links :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that the article was horrible and wrong, since when was reading in any form bad?
ReplyDeleteLaurie's rebuttal was great, i reckon if the author of the article read some of these links she might think twice before writing again.
Thanks for posting the links!
http://omnom-books.blogspot.com/
Imo :D
love this post jess
ReplyDeletethanks for all the links and stuff
i am proud of how everyone rallies together
we are an awesome force, hey ;)
x Nomes
We are indeed a force to be reckoned with! I've always felt amazed and blessed to be part of such a fabulous community and the way everyone has come together has really reinforced that feeling.
ReplyDeletexxx
Here is another great post from Adele at Persnickety Snark:
http://www.persnicketysnark.com/2011/06/wsj-thoughts.html
Blogger has been giving me issues signing in, so didn't comment when I saw this yesterday. But wanted to say how much I frickin' LOVE that photo, plus the candles picture is cute too. Thanks for the awesome links, I have spent way too long this afternoon reading them all finally :) I still think your little rebuttal at the end of this entry may be the best, though! xoxo
ReplyDeletei've got my response up, i just couldn't help it. i know it's slightly late, but i felt i had to say something.
ReplyDeletethese are great links. i really feel conected to this book community as i call it, why anyone could insult that is beyond me.
An article from Publisher's Weekly:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/47570-are-teen-novels-dark-and-depraved---or-saving-lives-.html
Read the article. Have to wonder if a) she reads the news. Life ain't pretty unicorns and fairies! and b) I wonder what she'd say to the books we were made to read in school?
ReplyDeleteInterview with Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why, and how it is and has saved lives...
ReplyDeletehttp://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/06/13/jay-asher-thirteen-reasons-why/#more-8633
Article/opinion piece from a parent with a poll at the bottom as to whether dark themes in YA are helpful or harmful. Helpful has 90% of the votes :D
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/05/should-book-covers-shield-young-adult-readers-from-the-world/
I really liked that parent post.
ReplyDelete