Forgive me if I weigh in firmly on the fence on this one.  A few weeks ago Wall Street Journal published an article by Megan Cox Gurdan  in which she said things like “Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity,” and “Pathologies that went undescribed in print 40 years ago, that were still only sparingly outlined a generation ago, are now spelled out in stomach-clenching detail. Profanity that would get a song or movie branded with a parental warning is, in young-adult novels, so commonplace that most reviewers do not even remark upon it.”

YA writers stormed the internet with impassioned responses.  Some of the best ones I read came from Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian)  and Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why).  Lauren Myracle and Gurdan were later interviewed on NPR. 

I won’t rehash it all but basically these YA authors believe (primarily because their readers have told them so again and again) that their books are saving lives.  They believe that there are kids who need to read about the difficult topics of suicide, abuse, rape, homosexuality and homophobia, self mutilation, drug abuse, and the list goes on, because these kids are already immersed in these problems, whether we want to believe it or not.  These kids deserve to have books that show them that they are not alone, and to help them work out ways to deal with their pain.

I agree.

I also agree with Megan Cox Gurdan that many YA books are much darker than anything I read as a 12 to 18-year-old.  I’m sure there are kids in this age range who either aren’t prepared for many of the disturbing topics offered up today, or just want an alternative.  There are those among us who grow tired of reality, and just want some good escapist literature to pull us into another world.

Variety is what I call for.  Something for everyone!  And I think YA literature is leaning toward variety more than it was a decade ago, when it seemed like every book I found in the YA section was about some horrible situation made even more horrible by the fact that it could be true for any number of kids out there. 

Taboo subjects get a lot of press, but there are YA books out there without that stomach-clenching reality, and this needs to continue on both fronts.  Kids, like adults, come in all shapes, sizes and psyches.  They need different kinds of stories.  We need to keep writing them, and publishers need to publish them from both ends of the spectrum right through the middle.  

Personally, I like my scary fiction more fictional.  Sure, we can talk about difficult subjects, but let’s put them in a dystopian future, like Feed, or The Giver, or OMG The Hunger Games.  (See my rave review in my Kid’s Book Reviews.)    Scare me!  Please!  But in a fun, safe way.  Maybe you could use a vampire or a werewolf, so that when I put the book down I can sleep at night.  Personally, I don’t want to dream about a sadistic rapist or being at the mercy of a drug addicted parent who carries a gun.  I fully recognize that this is my personal need, not to be forced on all YA readers, but I also know that I am not alone in this leterary preference.

Dark reality in fiction means I must not only empathize with and fear for the characters I’ve grown to love, but I must worry about real people out there living in similar situations, and maybe even fear for my own safety and that of my family.  That’s ok, even good sometimes, but I think we all need a break from it, too.  

Difficult, ugly, real topics need to be discussed.  We should not sweep them under the carpet and pretend they don’t exist.  I don’t wish ANY books to be banned.  I only want us to be certain that when a child of any age walks into a library or a bookstore, and goes to their designated area they don’t have to walk out empty handed because publishers think one size fits all.  

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of joining my SCBWI friends, old and new, for a workshop with Australian author Juliet Marillier.  She called it “Old Bones, New Flesh – Drawing Inspiration from Traditional Stories.”

I’ve been slow on the uptake over the years.  Rewriting fairy tales didn’t seem that interesting to me.  The story has been told a million times already, over hundreds of years.  Everybody knows what’s going to happen.  Where’s the surprise, the joy in discovery?

Everybody knows a mean old witch tries to fatten up Hansel and eat him.  So, Gretel has to push the witch into her own flaming oven to save the boy.  Ha!  Read The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli, and see what really happened.  Maybe the mean old witch wasn’t so mean after all.

Heather Tomlinson is making a brilliant career out of adding depth and wonder to fairy tales with such gems in her list as Toads and Diamonds, Swan Maiden, and Aurelie.  

And here I must brag that I knew Heather back when!  Shortly before she was published I had the privilege of reading Aurelie in an early form, when it was more like the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  I wish I could say my critique was what put her on the path to greatness, but she was obviously there already.

Shanon Hale re-wrote The Goose Girl in a way that makes you actually like her rather than think her a weak ninny.  At least the girl tried to save the white horse in Hale’s version!

Those who know the Six Swans fairy tale will recognize it clearly in Juliet Mariller’s Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters Series Book #1).  The thing that makes it special is that the characters are more alive, the details more delicious, and you don’t really know what’s going to happen.

Juliet taught us that traditional fairy tales are just the skeleton for your new story.  It’s how you flesh out the story that makes it intriguing. 

·         Tell it from the villain’s point of view and maybe she becomes a sympathetic character, a hero even. 

·         Tell it from a modern day perspective and the horrible beast living in a castle full of wealth is a rock star with a drug problem, or a youth with a disfiguring disease.

·         Tell it with today’s values, so the meek princess of yore, becomes a strong heroine who stands up for herself and earns her prize rather than having it handed to her because she is the most beautiful in the land.  (She can certainly be beautiful, too, but it better be on the inside ­as much or more than on the outside.)

I came away with a new understanding and respect for this writing genre.  Ideas bounced around in my head the whole drive home.  This could be great fun!! 

In spite of the fact that I now see how glorious a retold fairy tale can be, I still have the nagging feeling that it smacks a tad of cheating, writing a story that’s already been written.  It’s probably because I haven’t tried it, yet, that I think that would make it so much easier. 

Twenty-some years ago, before I had seriously gotten into writing, more than once I finished a book with the words, “I could do better than that!”  This many years later I understand it’s harder than it looks.  Most things are, I guess.

All in all it was a wonderful day, full of friends, reassurances, and bright new ideas.  There is no better time spent than among creative people traveling in creative spaces!

Thank you SCBWI.

(For a refresher on old fairy tales check out SurLaLune.