We have been talking about teen issues and how they are portrayed in young adult literature. What is the best Young Adult Lit book you've read that deals with an "issue"?
I read a book called Before I Fall. It deals with the topic of teen relationships--romatic and friendship. It also has a focus on bullying and peer pressure. (Think Mean Girls) I thought it was really great becuase the main character has a chance to "do over" many of the things she has done wrong--she just didn't realize they were wrong at the time. It's a great book, with a surprising twist you definitley don't expect. It's one you have to keep reading becuase you HAVE to know how it ends. I think most girls would really like it--not sure about the guys...
i think i would like it sure! I shall read it!!
ReplyDeleteI may be a guy, but I'm still up for some romance novels. Does that make me feminine? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteDo I care? No.
Anyway, I haven't read many Young Adult novels that deal with "issues". I usually read things more geared toward adults ("1984, etc.") and anything geared toward young adults usually don't deal with young adult issues (more fantasy/adventure novels. There was also one that dealt with government corruption.)
I've read several books that deal with things that are often considered just "young adult" issues. Its been a while so I can't remember many of the names, but one I can think of is the book Willow, which someone talked about at the beginning of the semester.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't really read much stuff that deals with teen issues. I get enough of that without reading about it. I did read a book that pretty much everyone has read called "The Outsiders". It was pretty relevant to stereotypes and cliques.
ReplyDeleteI've read kaboodles of high school books about teen drama and all that but one I really liked was called You Don't Know Me. It was about a teen boy with a new step-father that beat him. On top of the pressure of not knowing to tell, he enters a relationship with the "Queen Bee" of his class. He later finds out that she's really just a vapid, manipulative girl and there's nothing special about her, but in the beginning he truly wants a relationship with her. She of course just wants someone to date, and later sort of sexually harasses him. (Is it bad that that was the funniest part of the book?) The ending is amazing, but I don't want to ruin it. It's over all a very funny but dramatic book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes high school stories.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the best books I’ve ever read deals with several issues dealt with during adolescence. The Catcher in the Rye is an older book, but still touches subjects that are very valid in young adult life today. It deals with the general feelings of being young and angsty, being torn between emotions and dealing with “phonies” while still trying to figure out who you are, the desire for both intimacy and sex, and figuring out what you’re going to do with yourself when you become an “adult”.
ReplyDeleteI generally stay away from romance novels. I’m not a lovey-dovey-ooey-gooey-romance type of person, and reading books that involve such relationships typically steer me away from a book (but that’s not to say I haven’t read them.) I’m a proud fan of sad and downright depressing books. We’re reading The Road in AP, and I absolutely adore it. I personally sad emotions to be the purest, and perhaps the strongest of emotions. The Catcher in the Rye was not the happiest book (albeit not the saddest one) but I found his emotions extremely valid, and I could connect with him and feel his sadness and frustration. I like books that go a bit deeper than love triangles or drama going on in school.
I read a book called Prey and it's about this new very pretty teacher that comes in as a history teacher and all the boys think she's hot. This one boy has an affair with her and goes to her house and so on. They get caught in the end and suffer severe consequences. This is an issue at some schools and with some teachers/students. If this is happening or does happen it could scare both the student and teacher for life and make them need emotional help. So teacher and student affairs is not just in books and movies it is a real issue in teenager's life.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have not read any books that deal with an "issue" but I am hoping to expand my range of reading different types of books instead of sticking to a certain genre.
ReplyDeleteAny book by james frey to me is a fantastic book , james frey shows so much insperation with his raw way of telling about addiction and recovery.
ReplyDeleteHe is my favorite author and any book by him is about real life experiances that teens ,adults go through every single day.My favorite book by him in a million peices is about a fictional him that goes into a recovery program any tries to get sober. Addiction is such a serious issue and im glad he is bringing it to life.
I think a book that I have read that dealt with issues or an issue over teens was Blue girl....It was a book about a girl that was never really noticed by others and when she was it was mostly by being picked on, and she keeps seeing these ghosts in he school and in her room and they keep talking about fairies and a "thing" coming to kill her.
ReplyDeleteI have read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It is a story about how a boy was bullied from kindergarten all the way up to his senior year. It finally gets to be too much for him and he goes in a depression and goes to the school and starts shooting. This i think is a big issue in our everyday life. There are kids that get bullied everyday but one day they will have enough and either harm themselves or harm others may leading to death. It is a book that will make you realize and think about what goes on around you.
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