In spite of its seemingly benign nature, young adult literature has received tumultuous responses. Back in August, education consultant Joe Nutt published an article for teachers and educational professionals called “Why Young-Adult Fiction Is a Dangerous Fantasy.” The article reflects the not uncommon belief that YA has directly harmed young people and that these books have “prevented [them] from ever becoming literate adults.”
Those are some fighting words.
Nutt bases his assertion off of the fact that he considers YA to be “gossip fodder” that does not introduce readers “to the real, adult world” full of responsibilities and roles.
Now I am not going to sit here and claim that YA is a perfect genre – it certainly has it flaws from overused tropes to sometimes less than stellar writing – but those weaknesses are not unique to YA nor do they mean that it should be completely overlooked as a…
View original post 398 more words
Viv Drewa - The Owl Lady 