People Who Don't Get YA

Exhibit A: The 2008 Delete Key Awards, courtesy of One Minute Book Reviews

Now I don't exactly want to hate on anybody, but when I read that a book I had just ordered had been considered a finalist for the worst writing in 2007, I was a little concerned. Like any discriminating book lover, I investigated further.

The Delete Key Awards are based on the reviewer's choice for worst line in the book. Which makes total sense, until I read the write-up for Sherman Alexie's The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (which just so happened to win the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature). I was expecting maybe something along the lines of clichés, bad grammar, dumbing down, psychobabble, stereotypes, mispunctuation, stilted dialogue, unintentionally comic sex scenes, and overall tastelessness (per the site's guidelines). Instead, I got:

“ARGGHHHHHHHHSSSSSPPPPPPGGGHHHHHHHAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHAGGGGHH!”

Which, after reading the reviewer's comments, only made me more eager to get my hands on this book.

People, there are stylistic conventions in any genre. They are things you must come to expect, accept, embrace or ignore. And in YA, one of those conventions, along with footnotes, Randomly Capitalized Words, and the much beloved list, is the inclusion of words that don't necessarily exist--especially words that describe humorous situations such as a 747 'landing on a runway of vomit." (Now I really can't wait for this book to come in the mail! What kind of genius comes up with this stuff?)

Now admittedly, this reviewer is not very well versed in the world of YA literature. (In the comments section she admits to never having heard of Lauren Myracle's New York Times Bestselling ttyl, after having made the off-handed comment that sooner or later a book will be written entirely in emoticons.) Nevertheless, seeing things like this makes me a little sad. I'm not entirely convinced the above excerpt is bad writing. Maybe I'm too close to the genre, or maybe I'm quick to defend a book I just paid good money for, but I find the offending excerpt somewhat entertaining.

The reviewer states that this is evidence of how "the language of e-mail – or perhaps Hollywood screenplays – is infecting novels for all ages." Yappers, what do you think? Are the stylistic conventions of YA bringing us farther and farther from the well-established literary Norm, and, is that such a bad thing?


Link via Bookslut.