Dislike These? Well, Your Daughter Probably Loves Them!

Are books like Gossip Girl, A-List and The Clique the sort you want your kids to read? Should such books be included in libraries? Would parents like young adult books to come with warning stickers?

You can read what I think in today's Tots to Teens, which I've so helpfully reproduced below ... ;-)

Do also read Roger Sutton's comments in his blog, and try the link to Naomi Wolf's article and Q&A. You will have to register (if you haven't already) to read it but it's FOC.

From Star Mag, 26 March 2006

Necessary evils for every library

TOTS TO TEENS
By DAPHNE LEE

A COUPLE of weeks ago, feminist writer Naomi Wolf wrote an article in the The New York Times about the alarming state of young adult fiction for girls. She talks specifically about series like The A- List, Gossip Girl and The Clique. 

Yes, I too really dislike these books, which glorify shallow, mean and selfish behaviour, overstate the importance of a good haircut and a trendy wardrobe, and, for titles whose readers are mostly below of 16, have way too much wild, irresponsible, casual sex. 

The article has got people (in the United States) talking. In a linked Q&A (with questions from parents, teachers and teenagers), Wolf suggests that young adult books should come with warning stickers! I can think of a few parents I know who’d think that was a very good idea!

On the whole, I would prefer books not to be labelled. If parents care about what their kids are reading they should pay more attention, not rely on some governing board (whose tastes might be dubious to start with) to decide for them.

Caption: Gossip Girl, Darren Shan and movie tie-ins - they're what most children want.

I read about Wolf’s article and the responses it got on one of my favourite book blogs, Read Roger (http://www.hbook.com/blog). Librarians are discussing if libraries should stock these books and blogger Roger Sutton (who is also editor-in-chief of The Horn Book a children’s and young adult literature journal), quotes a book editor who thinks they shouldn’t: “Most libraries do not have an abundance of money to spend on questionable purchases.”

It has made me think about what I would do if I were responsible for choosing books for a library. Well, actually I am helping set up a library in Petaling Jaya, Selangor – I have to make most of the decisions about what books will go on the shelves. Would I allow Gossip Girl? I would love to say “No!” but I think I will probably have to get the entire series and in triplicate!

This is because I agree with Sutton that choosing books for a library is not about personal tastes. Neither is it merely about maintaining high standards (although we won’t be turning our nose up at quality fiction and non-fiction either). 

I do believe that a good children’s library should have books that reflect what children and teenagers are actually reading and enjoying. I want this library in PJ to be the best kids’ library the Klang Valley has to offer and so, Mister Midnight, Russell Lee’s True Ghost Stories, Harry Potter, Darren Shan and, yes, Gossip Girl, will all find a place there.

Sutton writes: “In my opinion, the stocking of mass-market paperbacks in a public library is a signal to kids that their interests are represented and respected. Why should a kid respect my recommendation of, say, Francesca Lia Block, if I don’t respect the kid’s enjoyment of Gossip Girl? (Note: I don’t think you have to have respect for what somebody is reading in order to respect her right to her own taste.)”

Yeah, I’ll tolerate James Lee and Cecily von Ziegesar if Philip Pullman and Laura Ingalls Wilder get a look in. Sometimes (most times) you just have to compromise to get what you want. 

Comments

[Josette]

I've read the Gossip Girl book once and I simply hate it! What are they trying to teach young girls? In the book, it seems cool to smoke, have casual sex, walk around naked(with lots of guys!), and to do crazy things.

But, some got caught after some crazy stunts. That was the first and last time I'm ever reading the books. It's just too wild and does not make any sense.

I certainly would not recommend such books to anyone below the age of 16.

[Subashini]

daphne, this library sounds amazing... i wish there were more libraries cropping up all over PJ.

but, as for choosing books... this is a dream i've indulged in quite liberally over the years ("if i were a librarian and got to choose which books i could shove down people's throats..." :) i always think that i would definitely leave in all the crappy serial teen books, just because i read them like crazy when i was younger. i think it's essential to be able to read any crap you want, really, but to have enough of a healthy sense of criticism/skepticism to understand what you're reading. certainly, when i was in school (less than a decade ago) critical thinking was not AT ALL an integral component of our education. it was all: read, memorise and take what WE shove down YOUR throats without question. i don't know if things have changed drastically now. if you educate whole generations along those lines, then of course you'd have to censor every kiss that comes up on screen, and wring your hands when teenagers read crappy books and start thinking they have to emulate the crappy behaviour that is portrayed in those books.

i think the problem is more complex than bad books vs. good books. i remember devouring sweet valley twins and laura ingalls wilder and nancy drew (and tons others) and not really seeing the difference between "high" art and "low" art. and if you're not really being taught to think critically in school, then maybe you'd develop your own sense of it by being exposed to all sorts of stuff. that's my naive, idealist dream.

i'm not saying that some of those books aren't dangerous in their depiction of shallow, consumerist, ego-driven teenage lifestyles, but maybe that is more of a reflection of "reality" than we'd like to think. how did teenagers get to this point? nothing, of course, beats parents actually reading the stuff that their kids read and maybe engaging in some form of dialogue with them.

btw, daphne, this is not a rant at you - i found your post interesting, and i love children's literature, and certainly we have to think about the more complex issues of the production and distribution of children's literature than simply saying, "ban this!" like a warning sticker is going to change anything. did it ever do any good?

[aza]

Hi, any books you would like to recommend for my 6yo Afiq. He can read quite well both in English and BM. I've quite a number of books at home but I guess it's time for me to buy books that he will read. He usually choose to read those related to movie kind of books eg chicken little etc. He is into cars, tigers and a lil bit of dinosour.