YA is Most Certainly not just for Teens

I'm going to comment on this, but first I need to simmer down.

http://dft.ba/-notcool

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Ok. Now that I have let this sit for a few days, here's my take on it.

This article was published in the "Room for Debate" section of the NY Times. Mr. Joel Stein seems to believe that by reading young adult books, I am embarrassing myself. Mr. Stein, it is you who should be embarrassed; embarrassed for thinking books written for children and teens would be anything but complex. He, like many others, seems to be taking the younger populations for granted, and belittling the great works of fiction that today's YA authors are writing for our children and young adults.

YA authors take risks. They delve into things that make us uncomfortable. As Patricia McCormick, author of Sold, a YA book about sex trafficking (Sex trafficking for YA! That is beautifully written!) wrote in her article "Authors Taking Risks Isn't Kid Stuff",

"Here are a few audacious books you won’t find in the adult section of the library. A Holocaust memoir narrated by Death. A novel written entirely in electronic messages. A historical novel in prose poems. A murder mystery in screenplay format. A 550-page novel in pictures and words that may or may not have been written by an automaton... Young adults are willing to accompany an author just about anywhere -- to a dystopian future or the ancient past -- but they will not tolerate anything extraneous or self indulgent."

Yes, these things are located in the Children's or YA sections of our bookstores and libraries, but am I ashamed that these are the sections where I spend 90% of my time?

Absolutely not.

Mr. Stein, you say you do not know if the Hunger Games delves into problems of identity or self-justification, but let me say, you are missing out. It is so much more. More than a dystopic love story written for hormonal teens, but a commentary on society and where we are heading. (An interesting take on the Hunger Games, by Mr. Hank Green, brother to author John Green, can be found here.)

Feel free to stay up on your high horse with your "3,000 years of fiction written for adults," because then my lowly and embarrassing self who lives down here in YA land won't have to deal with you.

Oh Library, How I've Missed You.

I started an internship at my library this week. A few things it has made me realize (or, actually, remember):

1. I've really missed my job. Shelving just isn't the same. I've missed helping people.

2. My love for public libraries only continues to grow.

I love public libraries because of the questions that get thrown at you when you're working the reference desk, and even when you're not. People will ask you questions about anything! Which makes my job so much fun.

Today was my first day back on the reference desk where I was actually allowed to answer questions, and not just observe.

My first question, via phone, was an easy one (and one we public librarians get constantly for the first 4 or 5 months of the year):

"Do you have tax forms? State and Federal?"

Question 2: Also via phone was from a woman who wanted me to locate a book for her. When I couldn't find it after several minutes of searching, I took her information and told her I would do some more research and call her back. It turns out that the book she wanted didn't actually exist, but instead was an online internet archive hosted by a university. When I called her back to give her this information, she was surprised, but even more surprised when I had a web address for her and explained what it was she would be looking at.

This was followed by many more tax questions. Which will not end until the end of April. And this is how many librarians feel by the end of tax season:

I then was approached by a woman who pulled out a letter. This letter was from 1902. She wasn't sure what language it was in, but she wanted to know if we could help her translate it. Through trial and error (and some reference interviewing) we discovered that the letter was in Swedish, and we sent her off with a Swedish dictionary, and I told her about online translation sites, such as Google translate.

Followed by tax questions. Lots and lots of tax questions.

This has been day 3 in the life of a new library intern. Who has greatly missed her job, and looks forward to heading back on Friday for another round.

Pottermore

This is completely not library-related, other than the fact that it's about a book and a fandom, but I got into the early Pottermore registration, and I am freaking out about it.

This may become the downfall to my GPA. I can see it now: "Blaine, why isn't your paper finished?" "Um, I was up until 3 a.m. on Pottermore, trying to solve Snape's potion challenge..."

Yeah, I can definitely see that happening...