Disclaimer: I like YA fiction. I enjoy it immensely. But this has been annoying me.
Why is it that 3/4* of the books I see written for teenagers these days follow the "outcast girl meets heartthrob boy, something paranormal happens, Big Bad is vanquished, they live happily ever after on a unicorn farm**" trope? I enjoy a good urban fantasy romance just as much as the next girl, but come on!
I like Girls Who Do Stuff books, like Tamora Pierce. Or Robin McKinley. Or Cassandra Clare. Girls who freak out*** about whatever they're facing and then put on their big girl panties and deal with it instead of waiting around for another character to come and sort things out for them, be it an emotional problem or the Big Bad of that particular story. Yes, Alanna gets a little mopey when she and Jon have a fight during the Lioness Quartet~ books. But she doesn't sit around for three months in a funk, she deals with the problem(s) at hand (evil sword, evil shamen, that sort of thing) while sorting through her emotional issues instead of drowning in them. In Sunshine by Robin McKinley, the titular character spends most of the book scared out of her socks about what she has to do, but does it anyway. I recently went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I absolutely loved it. The Disney version has always bothered me because Alice comes off as this blonde little ditz who just kind of wanders around getting into trouble. But Tim Burton's Alice actually Did Stuff and Was Awesome. These characters acknowledge their problems, deal with them, and keep on going.
Yes, I've made a lot of pointed jabs at Twilight. I've read them, I own them, I enjoyed them before I realized how much of a whiney person Bella actually is. And Edward's completely a Captain Cardboard character. You can dream in whatever personality you want into him, because he doesn't really have one, at least not to me. Jacob, though he's annoying sometimes, actually has a personality to be annoying with. That's who he is. He's hard on Bella because he knows what'll happen to her if Edward leaves again, and he doesn't want her to end up this catatonic shell like she did before.
The "outcast girl meets heartthrob boy, something paranormal happens, Big Bad is vanquished, they live happily ever after on a unicorn farm" trope is all well and good, I'm just tired of seeing it.
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*Not an accurate statistic, I'm just generalizing.
**Or married, or in a relationship, or whatever.
***Understandably+
+Wouldn't you freak out too if you were faced with a dragon/kraken/evil sorcerer or sorceress /actual vampire that does not sparkle?
~By Tamora Pierce. It's awesome. Read it.
About Me
- Extribuli
- Extribulum, plural extribuli, is a book that originated on the internet, as coined by copperbadge on Livejournal.
This blog will focus on extribuli and ebooks and the ebook revolution. To search through topics, just look through the tags. I will do my best to tag each post appropriately to make browsing easy.
I am a graduate student at the University of Alabama in the Library and Information Studies program. I'm hoping to one day be a young adult librarian. Or maybe work on something in the technological side of the library. I work in a computer lab on campus right now, and have worked there since August, and I thoroughly enjoy my job.
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Good point!!! :) I love your blog. It is so creative. You are obviously much better at this than I am.
ReplyDeleteI think that might be why they're so popular--you can insert yourself and your ideal and just live vicariously in your head for a sweet little while.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the paranormal version of an already over-used storyline in YA fiction is definitely reaching a new level of annoying. When I can outline the plot just from reading the publisher's marketing blurb, it's time to move on.
I agree with stephanie on knowing the plot from the blurb becoming a problem in YA. I myself read very few YA books but I love unicorn farms, crazy people, mystic battles, etc., etc., etc. but you have to have variety in your female leads, and male leads for that matter it's just the females bother me more. I am an extreme fan of the female leads coming in and saving the guy's butt or being the one to step up and show some courage. I think that the stereo type that is being proliferated in these books is very damaging to growing female minds in a way because it encourages the "someone will save me" mind set and that doesn't happen if you don't do it yourself don't cry that is never gets done. Great Job on the blog!!
ReplyDeleteThe YA section has frequently been referred to as the vampire section. :) I like this blog post!
ReplyDeleteThese kinds of books have enjoyed a burst of popularity due to the sucess of Twilight and they will keep being printed untill the next popular trend comes along. I'm hoping the next popular trend will be steampunk. As for the supernatural boyfriend books some are better then others. I liked The Darkest Powers Triliogy by Kelly Armstrong.
ReplyDelete