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When I was blindsided…
er, approached to write an article for Drops of Crimson
about YA… well, you can probably guess my answer. Yep. I
said, “Just because I speak several Slavic languages… that
doesn’t mean I know much about the Cyrillic alphabet.” After
being slapped by the editor-in-chief, respectfully slapped,
I realized we were talking about YA as in Young Adult books…
not the azbuka writing system, one of my specialties.
I’m here to address the topic of Young Adult books for boys…
or men… or men who act like boys (this has been known to
happen on occasion).
Oddly, I know more about this subject now, at the age of
*mumbling under breath* than I did as an actual boy. Back in
junior high school, when I began to find my escape through
books, there wasn’t a YA section. I remember reading ‘Alien’
and ‘Pet Semetary’ and ‘Night Shift’ and ‘The Howling’.
Trust me… those books were NOT young adult.
Thankfully, my parents were just happy to see me read… they
never questioned the content. My kids don’t have it so
lucky. Hah!
So what is the state of young adult books for boys? You’d
think, since this is what I tend to write, that I would have
no problem addressing the issue. You’d be wrong. As usual.
You see, as an author in all seriousness, I read anything
that I think I will enjoy or will make me a better writer.
I’ve never actually approached the YA bookshelves with the
mind of a young man. So I decided to experiment… I went to
the morgue and tried to rent one, a boy’s brain that is,
promising to return it when I was finished. The mortician
called security. My wife bailed me out of jail, thankfully.
What is available for the young male these days? What would
he find exciting? What book could he carry around and not
get teased by his buddies?
How about Scott Westerfeld? Great writer, great stories…
surely a young fellow would love his stuff… I know I did.
But this is a strange… when I was waltzing around the
library with one of my daughters at her high school… I
pointed out ‘Uglies’ and said, “I’ve read that.” She looked
at me weird… I mean weirder than usual, and said, “That
book’s for girls.”
Really? Why? I’m guessing because the protagonist is female…
the story about ‘looks’. Still it has floating skate boards
and action and killing and good looking babes and so much a
young man would love. Yet, at least at my daughter’s school,
it has the reputation of being a girl’s book. I started to
cry right there. I used the hem of my skirt to dry my tears.
But srsly ™, it was upsetting. I’ve read TONS of books with
female protagonists that are beyond awesome. Boys are
limiting themselves if they only read books about boys.
(Please note: I know this is not the case for all boys, of
course.)
If a teen of the male persuasion approached the YA
bookshelves looking for a book with a male protagonist, in
particular a book with a supernatural twist, sadly his
choices are limited. As a matter of fact, I did a blog post
not long ago about this, trying to put together a list… and
it was too short in my opinion, though I’m sure I missed
plenty of books.
Let’s say a boy wants to read a vampire book… something on
the YA shelf… what would he pick up? Honestly… I don’t know.
How did Dracula become this romantic icon? Sexy and
mysterious and passionate? Grandpa Munster was none of that!
Please don’t get me wrong, I know some boys DO read those
books, but I’m thinking of the odd young man who stumbles
into Borders with ten bucks and wants to be taken on an
adventure by male character he can completely relate too.
I think today’s young man, with his limited intellect, isn’t
being given a proper selection to choose from. Neither is he
being told how great the books with female MCs are to read.
I also think this same young man would rather rent an Xbox
game than purchase a book. I hope I’m wrong considering this
is the audience for whom I write.
How do we solve this? How do we get these young men to take
their hands off their joysticks and pick up a book? Simple…
publish my stuff. Oops… did I just say that? Hnstly ™, the
publishers have to produce more books appealing to the boy
next door, or market the books already out there as
something both sexes will find fascinating.
Overall… what’s my impression? I’m sorry, but I don’t do
impressions. But in conclusion, I think the selection on
today’s bookshelves is awesome. The best ever! I just don’t
think today’s young man is aware of that and limits his
choices because of his lack of knowledge.
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