Teen Writers Bloc

The Writing for Children MFA experience at The New School — gulp, I can’t believe it’s over — was one of the most enriching educational experiences of my life. Here’s my attempt at capturing it in an ABCDErium with pros, cons and random essentials.

Authors. Meet them, read them, learn from them, learn with them, learn how to be one.

Amazing classmates. I really lucked out with this batch. Cheers class of 2012, you rocked!

ABCDErium. (ABBA-SEE-DA-REE-YUM) An A to Z perspective on a topic that you write after you meditate on it for a while and then just let it free-flow as you unleash your thoughts. An assignment for class I taught was to write an ABCDErium on Miles Davis’ album Bitches Brew. See Juggling.

Books. The MFA was a great way to learn things I never knew and needed to know about the business of books. I saw many of my classmates land book deals during the program. I also read more books in the last two years than I ever had—sometimes more than three books a week. At any point of the program my desk was covered in more than 15 books. Bliss!

Craft. Gathered immense respect for the craft of writing and the gazillion things that make it what it is: Thoughts. Plots. Words. Story arc. Character sketches. Voice. First person. Second person. Third person. Sub plots. Themes. Motifs. Summaries. Outlines. Revisions. Chapters. Buttons. Grammar. Edits. Rewrites. Writing is a beautiful complex organic stimulating scientific thing. As Andrea Davis Pinkney says: Writers Write.

Community of writers. Perhaps the best part of the MFA (at least for me) was the opportunity to share and learn with many inspiring and talented writers and build life-long associations with them.

Deadlines. The four scariest words for a writer — “I have a deadline.” And the only ones that get the job done. I doubt I’d be able to churn out my writing without deadlines — a journalism that trait stuck on. But as the MFA progressed, I feel like I coped with managing deadlines better. (I confess, this post was turned in late, but hey, I’m working on getting better at TWB deadlines.)

David Levithan. Taught us a seminar on teen lit in the first semester. Knows the YA and teen lit genre like the back of his hand and teaches a mad inspiring class about it. He is also very funny.

Expensive. Unless you have benefits, be prepared to be over $60K in debt. A part scholarship doesn’t even begin to count.

Focus. A writing degree with a focus on Writing for Children. As of now, few universities around the world  (seven to be precise) offer such a niche master’s creative writing program.

Feed. A dystopian novel by MT Anderson, one of my favorites from the reading list in the first semester. I loved the fact that the books on our syllabus were contemporary and uber cool.

Go For It. If you can afford it and are even thinking about a creative writing MFA, Go For It. It’s a great way to get started on writing projects that you’ve imagined for years but never gotten around to completing. Who knows, you might finally write that winning manuscript—or at least get started on it.

Harry Potter was not on our syllabus. Nor The Hunger Games. A lot of books you’d expect to see on a syllabus for a Writing for Children program weren’t on ours. In fact, the reading list for the Writing for Children concentration, with David Levithan and Susan Van Metre’s class (the only two classes that focus on children’s literature and were both fantastic) put together didn’t go beyond 30 books in the genre. Sure, we studied a LOT of excellent books, and yes, I definitely read tons outside of the syllabus as my own self-study. But I do feel like the program could use a more comprehensive and extensive reading list, and certainly one with more cultural diversity. Besides Sherman Alexie, Coe Booth and Grace Lin, I found the reading list dominated by white American authors. I don’t recall reading anything by a single Indian author. Perhaps the only Indian character I encountered was Bibi, a Bengali nanny from Julie Sternberg’s Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie.

Immersed. I feel like someone drowned me in a bottomless, delicious tub of kidlit.

Juggling. You could choose to focus solely on your writing, like some of my classmates. Or you could be adventurous and juggle real life (a time-consuming job) and write when no one’s looking, like others. Either way, writing requires some serious juggling skills that an MFA is sure to hone. In the first year I juggled with adjusting to life in a new country, as well as coping with a new system of education. I’d never left home before, so that was all pretty overwhelming, along with learning how to write academic papers, something I hadn’t formally learnt during my schooling in India. In the second year I was offered a Teaching Assistant position with New School’s Riggio Honors Program in Writing & Democracy, which was a fantastic opportunity for personal growth and learning. In Fall 2011 I assisted the amazing Tom Healy with his class The Writer’s Playlist, a close-listening and reading seminar that explores links between music and literature, both of which I’m passionate about. (That’s also where I discovered what an ABCDErium is). In Spring 2012 I joined the editorial team at 12^th Street, New School’s award-winning literary journal, where I had the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of student editors and contributors as we assembled the fifth issue of the magazine, from editing to production, publicity and beyond. Both my TA experiences invaluably broadened my reading range and literary network. Word.

Knowledge. It’s the foundation of the MFA, isn’t it?

Kevin Joinville. My buddy and the only boy in our class. The Writing for Children concentration usually has just the token male. This is not a pro or a con, just a mere observation.

Lang Café. Spent a lot of time inside it with peer group. Or by myself in the courtyard next to it staring into trees for inspiration and, yes, eavesdropping on conversations.

Manuscript. What a beautiful word! Say it with me: MAA-NUU-SCRIPT. By the time you graduate with an MFA, you might have one. Or two. Or three! Or you might have the semblance of a manuscript. Whatever the case, it’s a great feeling (I want to say accomplishment) to see a word document grow page by page into a large body of work. I wrote a little over ten pages of a story in the third semester that eventually became the major chunk of my creative thesis. And towards the end of thesis semester, my MAA-NUU-SCRIPT looked like this:

New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made, yo.

New School. I’m proud to call it my writing Alma Mater. I had six other schools to pick from, and the New School was always numero uno on my list. I’m pretty convinced I made the right decision. Too many reasons. New School’s history of writers, which I was totally unaware of until recently, all the people I met during my time there, the fact that New York city is the helm of publishing and watering hole for aspiring writers, my amazing classmates. Let’s just say that the New School was an important and exciting chapter in the life of Riddhi Kamal Parekh.

Overwhelming. See New School.

Others. Writers of other genres. Like them Poets. Or writers of Fiction and NonFiction. Writers completely unlike those who Write for Children. There’s really minimal interaction amongst the WFC people and the other streams. My classmates may disagree, but I wish there was more mingling amongst the genres. Because, I mean, in real life, a writer is a writer is a writer, right? Also, how else would we have met the one and only Lenea Grace?

Peer group. In the fourth and final semester you suddenly find yourself rid of weekly classes and seminars. Instead, you meet with a peer group — a small group of classmates who read your work and give you feedback on it, and you do the same for theirs. My peer group felt balanced, committed and extremely inspiring, making the MFA worth every precious dollar. Amy Ewing, Caela Carter, Jess Verdi, Mary G. Thompson. You girls are my supportive upper lip.

Picture books. A largely ignored aspect of the Writing for Children program at The New School. Because of my interest in the genre, for some reason I had imagined there would be a larger focus on picture books. Perhaps the chance to collaborate with students from Parsons or something. But no such luck. My classmates even raised this issue with the faculty and tried to gain access to Children’s Book Illustration taught by Jacquie Hann, offered by The New School’s Continuing Education Program. This class might have been more beneficial than having to take a class outside of the Writing for children concentration (see Mary’s post for this month on this issue), but due to logistics or something, none of us were offered this class. We did, however, have a series of fantastic weekend workshops towards the end of each semester. One of them was in Picture Books, by the lovely Sarah Ketchersid, and I hope she continues conducting them at The New School. Andrea Davis Pinkney’s weekend workshop in Writing Cross-Culturally was also MUCH needed. Hats off to Dhonielle Clayton for arranging that. Like picture books, Cultural Diversity in Children’s and Teen Literature is another scarce aspect of the program. I’m sure everyone who attended these workshops will agree that they need to be further integrated into the overall curriculum of the Writing for Children program.

Questions. There are many swirling in my mind. Like was the MFA worth it? What happens next with my career? Will I find a job in publishing? Is it the MBA equivalent of Writing? What kind of jobs does one look for after an MFA im Creative Writing? Does it qualify you to teach? Will I ever sell my manuscript? Will I get an agent? Will I be the next JK Rowling? Who knows? Keep checking this blog for updates.

Quiet. There’s nothing as inspiring as a humorous ditty about writing a thesis or some ridiculous Hinglish Bollywood song  to get me recharged and get the words flowing again. But really, I do prefer silence when I’m writing—something I discovered through the course of this program. And yes, most people who are not writers, like roommates or friends who do ‘normal’ banking stuff or members of family may imagine that creative writing is a recreational and enjoyable activity where writers get high and turn on music and snap into the creative zone where writing page after page is just so easy. But really, no. Peace and quiet. Very essential to the process. (Oh bite me, you know Q is hard. But X is the hardest!).

Reading your work aloud. Yes, you have to do it in front of everyone at the end of your thesis semester. A few weeks ago, I read from my work at an MFA Student reading at Lang Center at The New School. It was the last student reading of our graduate program, where selected faculty and first and second year MFAers from all streams — Fiction, Poetry, NonFiction and Writing for Children — read from their work for about 3 to 4 minutes. Newly admitted students of Fall 2012 were invited to come and watch. Standing at the lectern, I zipped down nostalgia express to the first time I was in that very space at Lang Center. I was part of the audience — the sea of writers at the MFA orientation. I can still remember that feeling of being lost, as we called out our concentrations, and felt a little hope when I heard others call out the WFC concentration — although most said poetry or fiction. Back then, I never imagined I’d have anything to read to a room full of people, let alone be proud of it. If you chose to avail it, the monthly student readings at the New School great chance to the develop the confidence to read your work and to hear your peers and were a super supportive environment for me.

Submission. See Deadlines.

TWB. Teen Writers Bloc. This blog is a result of the MFA program class of 2012. And isn’t it the best thing ever? Three cheers to TWB! I’m proud to be a part of it.

Thesis semester. See Manuscript, Peer group.

Urban dictionary. A great resource for writing-related research. No, seriously.

Uneconomical. Can you learn the things you learn in an MFA program outside it? Sure you can. But will you take the time out to commit to your writing? And then will it be worth it? It’s a call every aspiring MFA candidate must to take. See Expensive, Overwhelming.

Voice. Very important when writing for children, teens, young adults and first-person narratives. David Levithan’s reading list introduced us to some fantastic voices. See David Levithan.

Vermont College of Fine Arts offers a low-residency MFA Program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. MT Anderson is part of the faculty. I’d love to hear more about it and compare the two programs. See Focus.

Writing for children. Gah. Pretty much the subject of this ABCDErium, no? See Go For It.

Xenophile. A deadly word I discovered in a desperate attempt to complete this post. Like the remarkable Dhonielle Clayton and myself, a xenophile is an individual who is attracted to foreign peoples, manners, or cultures. (Give me a break, you know X is the hardest!) See Quiet.

YA. I wasn’t as aware how extensive this literary genre was before I embarked to this program. Maybe it’s bigger in America? I’m not sure. Either way, YA rocks. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_literature) See David Levithan.

Zipped by. Whooooosh. It really did. I wish it didn’t pause for three months during the summer.

Photo Credit: Riddhi Parekh

Popularity: 1%

She sighs. She huffs. She mumbles. She does everything except depend on herself. In the background, there is always a knight on a white horse just waiting to come to her rescue. Even if she pushes him away (usually for his own good, or so she tells herself), in the end she can’t be saved without his help.

In recent years, books have relied on the damsel-in-distress as the main female protagonist. It made me wonder if today’s teens are so blinded by the hero’s stunning abs that they don’t realize the heroine could’ve saved herself if she was a bit more plucky and a lot less sucky. But the times, they are a changin’, and none too soon, if you ask me.

With blockbusters like The Hunger Games dominating screens, bestseller lists, and even news sites, books with strong female leads are popping up on reading lists all over the blogosphere. Everyone wants to root for the girl who can kick butt, and readers are demanding more books with strong females in lead roles, but does that mean that’s all she can do?  It seems that many people equate “strong female lead” with traits usually associated with masculinity, such as being a good fighter and ruthlessness.

Giving a female character mostly male characteristics simply reinforces the idea that the stereotypes associated with girls are undesirable.  There are a lot of traits girls can be proud of, such as our compassion, being fiercely protective of those in our care, and we should definitely be proud of our superior communicative abilities. That’s right — we may talk too much for some people’s tastes, but we know how to make a point and that is a good thing.

When I was growing up, I was enthralled by Anne Shirley, the heroine of Anne of Green Gables. She has spunk, she’s upbeat, clever, and she’s determined. Once she set her mind on something, she made it happen. When her friendship is forbidden by Diana Barry’s mother after she mistakenly gives Diana three glasses of wine instead of the raspberry cordial Diana was expecting, Anne becomes determined to win over Diana’s mother so that they may once again be friends. By the end of the book, Mrs. Barry and the entire town are enamored with Anne and the incident is forgotten.

Anne is a strong female lead and although she probably couldn’t punch her way out of a paper bag, she sure could talk you into letting her out. What makes Anne such a strong lead is not that she has masculine traits (because she doesn’t), but that she is written so vividly and convincingly as someone who doesn’t take no for an answer and who uses her guile and wits to her advantage. And really, that’s what being strong boils down to — deciding for yourself what happens next in your life and making it happen.

I’m glad to see warrior-like characters such as Katniss (The Hunger Games) get their due. It’s time for strong female leads to once again dominate the bookshelves and cinemas. But when writing our own badass female characters, let’s not forget that sometimes a feminine touch can go just as far as a punch.

Bio: Jean-Paul Bass recently decided to quit her job to focus on writing full-time and she swears she doesn’t miss having a regular paycheck at all.  She is currently working on her M.F.A. in fiction at The New School and is writing a memoir about growing up in Cleveland, Ohio.   

Photo credit: Flickr – manan0410

Popularity: 14%

I have a writers crush on JK Rowling. If life was Hogwarts, JK Rowling would be the Cho Chang to my Harry Potter, (circa books 4 & 5), the Hermione to my Ron, the Harry Potter to my obsessed Rita Skeeter, the Fleur Delacuer to, well, every Hogwarts male with a pulse.

Sure, she’s old enough to be my mom, but if it wasn’t for her, I never would have had the incredible pleasure of tasting the intoxicating Butterbeer I had when I was at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Florida last month.

Okay, that’s not the only reason why I love JK Rowling. I will go on record, right here and now, and say that JK Rowling is one of the most prolific, skilled contemporary writers of our generation. Her prose is flawless; it has a flow to it that her contemporaries only dream of having in their writing.

Oh, and then there’s the world-building. The wizarding world, Hogwarts, and everything else about the Harry Potter series is so well thought out, so intricate, so tightly woven that it makes me curse the heavens that I wasn’t blessed with the idea (and the talent) to write the Harry Potter series (which means I would’ve been 12-years-old when Sorcerer’s Stone was released had I written it. Whatever, I’d be famous). To think that she is often mentioned in the same breath as Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins is laughable (don’t get me wrong, I also have a writer’s boner for The Hunger Games, but that’s for an entirely different reason). Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is one of the most poorly written book series I’ve ever had the displeasure of trying to read.

But I won’t be negative. Anymore. Starting … now!

Let’s get back to the world-building. She built that series with such care that each chapter in each book fits into each other, and in the end, it all comes together making sense as a whole piece. I can only dream of constructing such a world, a set of characters, a piece of writing. One of my favorite pieces by her is from The Tales of Beedle the Bard called “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” originally featured in the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. JK Rowling was able to construct her own fairytale in the vein of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, which is both entertaining and teaches its readers morals like humility and greed. It is prose poetry in the truest, most sincere form; simply breath-taking.

JK Rowling is an unending source of inspiration for me, not only within her actual writing, but as a writer in general. When Harry Potter was rejected by agents and editors (I bet you’re kicking yourselves now, eh?), she never gave up. She pressed on and became one of the best selling authors of all time. She’s a class act, a remarkable woman, and one helluva talented writer.

Since March is Women’s History Month, I wanted to take a moment to honor JK Rowling because, for this man, JK Rowling is a woman to aspire to.

Popularity: 15%

My grandmother used to work at a library as a book mender, and she would always bring me home the most beautiful old copies of books that she’d saved from the destruction of time, and age, and old binding glue. One of these books was a battered copy of Little Women.

I loved that book so much I refused to read the last page, so that it never actually ended. In fact, I still have not read that page, though I probably would now — but I’d want to read it from that particular copy, which is packed up somewhere in my parents’ attic. Louisa May Alcott’s story of the four March sisters allowed me to imagine what it might be like to have sisters. Marmee was like a second mother. I wanted so badly to have Jo’s courage, though it was Beth who was my favorite — I cried like a baby when she died. I’m even named after Amy, because my mother studied art and loved drawing. Louisa May Alcott created a world I so badly wanted to live in, a world of proposals and petticoats, but also of the strength of family, and the belief that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. She was an incredible woman for her time, and she wrote incredible female characters — Jo March was the first living, breathing juvenile heroine to act from her own convictions and individuality, rather than the stereotypical young woman depicted at that time. And even though her world was nothing like mine, I could relate to the struggles of growing up and trying to figure out who you are.

Now, other worlds have enticed me — worlds of magic and strange creatures, of battles between good and evil. And these worlds were predominately written by men, until J.K. Rowling came along. Not only did she bring fantasy to a broader spectrum of readers than the genre ever reached before, but she opened the door to female fantasy writers everywhere, allowing them to join what used to be a pretty exclusive all-boys club. Because of her, women no longer have to use their initials to write fantasy for fear no one would by a “boys” book written by a woman. She was certainly an inspiration to me.

It took me so long to discover this path my life has taken, to realize that in writing I’ve really found my true passion. And it wasn’t until I actually sat down and wrote this post that I realized I probably wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t for these two extraordinary women.

Popularity: 17%

I am so uninspried by all things Halloween that I had to do actual RESEARCH to write this post. I googled Literary Halloween Costumes. That’s how uncreative I am when it comes to Halloween. I learned about Literary Halloween Costume Parties (from 2008, so don’t get too excited — no cool event to report from my internet research), and some Literary Halloween Costume Ideas, which ranged from Harry Potter to Dickensian characters to Nancy Drew. (Something to consider. My mother would be proud, at least.)

Then I went through my last few years of (totally uninspired) Halloween costumes. The most successful was a pregnant Britney Spears, complete with MILF T-shirt and a gutsy girlfriend who got corn rows and played my K-Fed. That must have really worn me out, because I promptly spent the following three years dressing as Little Red Riding Hood on Halloween. I guess she is, technically speaking, a literary character. But I lost my cute red hooded cape in my move to Brooklyn, and one can only have so many pictures on Facebook of oneself as Little Red Riding Hood before one starts looking just flat-out sad.

My only other Literary costume was Peter Pan (my friend was Wendy), which was downright adorable when I was seven. I’m tempted to break out the green tights and make it work again.

But that takes a lot of work. So did my other ideas of Amelia Bedelia or Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Just as I was about to give up on ever writing this post, and ever going out in costume for Halloween, I figured out the perfect lazy-man’s childrens book costume. HARRIET THE SPY. Glasses. Red hoodie. Jeans. Marble notebook.

DONE.

Because I pretty much already am Harriet the Spy. And isn’t Halloween just the littlest bit about finding a connection between yourself and a character you love? Sometimes we go fantastical (Peter Pan) but sometimes it feels good to stick close to home. And Harriet is a nice comfy place to spend my Halloween.

Popularity: 44%

In The Outsiders, Darryl, Soda Pop, and Ponyboy’s parents are dead. In The Chocolate War, Jerry’s mother is dead. In The Hunger Games, Katniss’s father is dead. Harry Potter’s parents? Dead. Dorothy Gale’s parents? Dead. Bambi’s mother? Dies right in front of our eyes. Yikes!

Either authors have bones to pick with their families, or they have excellent reasons for getting their character’s parents out of the way before a psychological journey commences.

What purpose does an absent parent serve?

If we look at middle grade books like The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne, the Dinosaur Cove series by Rex Stone, or even at television shows such as the new Cat in the Hat cartoon, the parents are alive and well, but out of the picture. In fact, the parents have be absent, because the children are about to embark on a magical adventure. Face it, would you let your children face ninja warriors? Or walk amongst carnivorous dinosaurs? Or let a talking, mischievous cat drive off with them in a flying thing-a-ma-jigger?

If your answer is yes, you need to consider therapy. Otherwise, you can see why the parents in these stories are left out. Instead of hauling their children inside the house and warning them about stranger danger, these clueless adults chuckle in the background, sure their children are playing pretend and would never actually embark on a journey that included swimming with a Plesiosaur.

In other middle grade books, there’s an entire different reason for being parentless. Think Orphan Annie, for example, where the plot centers on Annie finding someone to love who will love her back unconditionally. Or A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, where the three Baudelaire children not only have to deal with their parents’ deaths (in a fire, mind you), but now are forced to live with Count Olaf, who does not appear to have their well-being in his best interest. In other words, if the parents were still alive, there would be no plot. At least, not the one the author intended.

And then we have middle grade books that are similar to young adult books: Coming of age stories. A child is forced to work through his or her problems without parental aid because…well…there aren’t any parents available to them. It doesn’t even need to be a dead parent. Mom could be strung out on wacky tobacky. Daddy might be too busy getting it on with his hot secretary. It’s all the same, really. The parent isn’t around to be the voice of reason. To stop the young ‘un from making the disastrous choice we know they’re seconds away from making.

In Julie Just’s essay in the New York Times “The Parent Problem in Young Adult Lit”, she mentions other examples of books with absentee parents, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. “In the move to independence, the parent is all but forgotten, or occasionally pictured in a fond glow of love and regret,” she writes.

I can’t help but consider how easily pre-teens and teens accept a character with one or both parents dead, missing, or absent and neglectful. Come to think of it, growing up reading books with missing parents, I never found it odd or annoying. And if I think about it further, I realize that pretty much every story I wrote as a child or teen had at least one dead parent, if not two. Completely realistic. Never once questioned it.

Why?

Because if there weren’t any parents pestering a kid to do his homework or standing around making sure the dishes got done, then it made the story interesting. Because what did one do when there was no one to tell him or her what to do?

Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford also wrote a post on his blog about absent parents. He sums it up perfectly: “I’m not a psychologist or an anthropologist or even a cultural historian (though I play one on a blog), but I am a former twelve-year-old, and I can remember how thrilling it was to read books where the kids were off on their own, fighting and outsmarting adults, dealing with harsh landscapes, facing their deepest fears, making unforgettable friendships, and, while I didn’t know it at the time, learning how to be adults.”

On the other hand, could sticking a dead or absent parent into your book seem like a plot device? Leila Sales, author and editor at Penguin Young Readers Books, writes: “It is not believable that so many kids are missing one, if not both parents. Slews of them! Hundreds! To quote Oscar Wilde, sort of: ‘To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose a parent in nearly every children’s book looks like lazy writing.’” She goes on to explain how it’s easier for authors to leave out the parents, how it gives the writer one less character to have to write about. Plus, she adds, adults often come off as boring. (Especially when they really, truly are.)

If you’re considering going parentless in your novel, ask yourself this: what purpose is it serving? Is it vital to the plot? Do the parents have to be dead? Can they be unaware instead? Or would it be best for the character that they remain nearby, in case they’re needed?

After all, not every character wants to ride in a thing-a-ma-jigger with a crazy cat at the wheel. And not every parent would let them.

Guest Blogger K.L. Gore resides in upstate New York with her husband and two children. A part-time writing instructor, she gives writing advice on her blog: www.klgore.com. Her stage play Something Blue (not to be confused with the novel of the same title) was performed on the theater stage, and she’s written and performed puppet shows for local schools and libraries. She loves to read just about anything. Represented by Regal Literary, she is now focusing her efforts on YA contemporary novels (although she is sneaking a little MG fantasy on the side).

Popularity: 22%

I love costumes. Probably for the same reason that I love books for kids — dressing up as something silly is a chance to embrace my inner child.

In the time that I’ve been a grown-up, I’ve dressed up as a Peppermint Patty, a generic pirate, Eminem, Captain Hook, a Double Dare contestant and many others things that I just can’t remember.  I’ve been blessed with a plethora of friends who enjoy this youthful activity with me!

But I am ashamed to say that I’ve never dressed up as a character from literatureThis year, that’s going to change. I’m coming into the library where I work in full costume this year, dressed as a character that all of the kids are sure to recognize. I don’t want to give the character away here in case any of them read my blog, but it will include this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And probably this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credits from Craftster.com

Popularity: 18%

I have a long history of dressing up as kick-ass female characters from literature, film and television for Halloween. As a little girl, I went trick-or-treating as Pippi Longstocking (complete with a wire hanger in my hair to make my braids stick out), Lydia Deetz (Wynona Rider’s character from Beetlejuice), and Jem (of Jem and the Holograms fame). Much more recently, I dressed as Leela, the totally awesome purple-haired Cyclops from Futurama (see photo).

This year, if I actually get invited to any Halloween parties, I think I’m going to go as one of my all-time favorite literary characters: Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. The “permanently-surprised,” wackily-dressed girl is a total hero of mine. She doesn’t give a crap what anyone thinks of her, and though many view her as nothing more than a loopy space-cadet, her insightfulness and unique way of looking at the world get the rest of the Potter gang out of trouble on several occasions. Not to mention that she’s one of the best friends Harry has ever had. Luna is her own woman, and she rocks.

Harry Potter image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Popularity: 16%

Earlier this year, I went to visit family in Alabama. During my stay, we went to a bookstore which was part of one of the largest chains in the area. (I’ll call it Store X.) The first thing I like to do is go directly to the YA section and look for certain authors, such as ones that I’ve heard at readings or whose books we read in our seminar classes.

So I searched the shelves and found most of the writers I was looking for. Libba Bray, Judy Blundell, M.T Anderson, Laurie Halse Anderson… they were all there. But some were missing. Julie Anne Peters wasn’t there. Nancy Garden wasn’t under “G.” The books that David Levithan co-wrote with other authors were on the shelves, but I couldn’t find any that he had written on his own. In short, there were no teen books about gay and lesbian characters.

Interestingly enough, there was a bookcase containing the Twilight series and other vampire themed books. Harry Potter and his wizard adventures were prominently displayed underneath a sign proclaiming “Reader Favorites.” And an entire section of the bookstore was dedicated to Bibles and Bible accessories. But I still couldn’t find Boy Meets Boy or Luna.

To be fair, I went to Store X’s website as soon as I got home and I found that they sell these books online. But my guess is that readers who come to this bookseller’s site aren’t aware these books are available, since they have significantly fewer reviews in comparison to other book selling websites.

My concern is that they chose not to put these books on the shelves. Young readers who come into the store would never know about great stories that could expand their points of view, like Brian Katcher’s Almost Perfect or Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez. I know this isn’t outright censorship, but this particular store appears to be controlling what they want people to read. If a teen happens to come across Annie on My Mind while browsing the shelves, let that person decide if they want to read it or not.

Of course, being a private establishment, Store X has every right to put what books they want on their shelves. As much as I loved J.K. Rowling, maybe Store X can remove some copies of the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from the ten that are on display and make room for some Julie Ann Peters titles. If Store X could open up its shelves a little, I’m sure they could open so many minds.

Photo credit ntwowe at http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2043

Popularity: 19%

As a former teacher, I know the importance of independent exploration of the library and bookstore for children and teens, but I also know how the wrong book at the wrong time can be counter-productive and expose kids to material that they may not be developmentally and/or emotionally ready for. By no means am I am pro-banning books and restricting them from the library, but I am a supporter of organizing books so that they are kept for the right kid at the right time.

I  would like to group them by subject matter, reading level, content area, etc…, which some might argue is as bad as banning books. Many of the books on the banned books list are banned for  silly reasons, such as:

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: Thought to be Satanic

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series: Promotes witchcraft and devil worship

Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Offensive language

Before my teaching experience this summer I was totally on the “Why would anyone ever ban books” team, then I had an interesting experience that made me re-think my ideas. Liberals, bear with me, I’m wadding into moderate/conservative waters…

I taught a 5th grade English Language Arts summer school class at a charter school in Harlem and had a little 5th grade student (a 10 years old) who we will refer to as A, and she was reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. If you have not read this book, please go read it, it’s fabulous, but also definitely suited for a teenage readership, not upper elementary. During morning meeting, this little bug was showing her friends the edgy parts of the book: the masturbation, the curse words, etc… I took it from her, but it was too late. And of course, what happens the next day: I get a slew of parent phone calls about A and monitoring what the kids are reading.

Sherman Alexie’s novel is fantastic and brilliant for a 9th grade reader and above, not an elementary school student. It contains graphic language and references to male masturbation that a 10 year-old girl probably shouldn’t be reading about at this time. When she hits 9th grade, sure! I am not saying that the novel should be banned entirely, but it should be placed in a section of the library where my 5th graders wouldn’t have the privilege of visiting yet. They should look forward to getting to each new section of the library where there are more books for them to read and varying subject matters.

What do you think? Is there room for grey area in this debate? Is categorizing books in a similar vein to banning them?

The history of book banning and burning is just horrible, so I don’t advocate or support this practice. However, I would like for books to be organized so that the right book finds the right kid at the right time. The one book I remember explicitly from my childhood is Judy Blume’s Are You There God Its Me Margaret. Whenever I see the cover it brings back an emotional memory. I can recall what it felt like to read that book, to ponder God, getting my period and if my boobs would grow. Equipped with a trusty flashlight, I read the book from cover to cover after bed time because I just had to know what happened. I am thankful that I was given this book at the right time by an insightful teacher, and I hope to recommend and give books to my students that can inform the experiences they are having right now.

Photo Credit: AP Photo

Popularity: 17%