YA Literature: A Response To William Porter

In William Porter’s article, “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker” published in The Denver Post, it discusses the topic of banned books. In the article, it talks about the idea of children reading mature books is ok. Porter goes on to talk about how our world is evolving and if children are experiencing or witnessing this in real life, there’s no reason to hide it from them in a book. “Given what teenagers are exposed to these days, from war on TV to pornography on the Internet, the Blume brouhaha seems almost quaint,” the article states. He also talks about ways to protect, yet not steal, this content from getting on the hands of those who are not emotionally ready. He explains that some libraries are putting advisory labels on shelves with questionable books. As it goes on, he explains how dark books can be somewhat good. Porter says “Dark as these books can be, they tend to be leavened by redemptive endings.”

            Some of the craft moves William Porter makes that I enjoyed are when he used a lot of quotes from a lot of different people. He quoted a teacher at a college, an editorial director, and even a young adult literature specialist. This made me feel like his article was more a community, or a group of people giving their opinions, instead of just his, which authors sometimes do. I felt more as if the opinions and ideas are shared and have not just one but many people backing it up.  Another other craft moves he does is when he ended his article about a quote that kept me thinking which was perfect for a response. The quote left me persuaded and a little bit unsure about my prior opinions, as well as giving me closure to the article. I believe his craft moves really made the article worth reading.

            In response, I agree with this article. I believe that books are getting very adult and dark, but that’s no reason to stop reading.  I think this article displayed this opinion very well. A part in the article that really stood out to me was when Porter talked about how not only teenagers are getting their hands on young adult literature, but so a adults. I find this really interesting. I’ve always had the feeling that adult books never have edgy plots. It’s usually a soppy love story, or something about kids a childcare. Teen story seem to have a more realistic story. They also represent the hidden and forbidden sides of life that we would never want to be in the middle of, but deep down, we’re all pretty curious. So, when he said that adults tend to be attracted to these books, it made sense after a moment of thinking.

            I guess what I’m trying to say is “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker” by William Porter was a well thought out article with many depths of opinion. I’m thinking of investigating this topic further because this article really interested me. 

There Is No "Because" In I Love You

“ ‘ But everyone everyone was hopingand praying that is the elephants could survive only one or more day, the war might be over and the elephants would be save.’ ”

                        -Faithful Elephants

            In the evocative story Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya, it tells a tale about a zoo in Tokyo during a war were bombs are being frequently dropped. Just in case the bombs dropped on the zoo, broke the cages, and have the animals rampage through the city, they would have to put large, harmful, animals down to protect the people of Tokyo. These animals included three beloved elephants named Tonky, Wanly and John. I feel that a strong theme in this story is love.

            Love can be found at any page of this book. It can be found when the zookeepers finally feed Tonky and Wanly after they have starved the elephant for a great amount of time. The zookeeper hugs their legs and tries to get them to eat. I think the only reason he did it was because he loved them. The author is saying that love means never giving up. Love can also be found when in the story it says, “…the elephant trainer loved them as if they were his only children.” When people say this, it truly means something special. When you have children, all you can do is love them, and it’s unconditional. So, putting them down must have been really hard. You can also find love at the end when the elephants are about to pass; the zookeepers end up staying away from their cages. See, when you love someone, you can’t see them in pain so clearly the zookeepers loved Tonky and Wanly because they couldn’t bear to see them suffer.

            I think this is important because I can relate to having a relationship with an animal that is unconditional. Recently my tortoise named Button, who was living at my dad’s house, fell on her back and stayed there for two days. Without food, water, range of motion or sleep, this posed a possible threat to her life. My dad, who is a truck driver, leaves her alone for days and sometimes weeks at a time. And after that, he finally told me he could no longer take care of her because Button was not getting the care she needed. I was shown two options. Give her back to the shelter she came from two and a half years earlier or bring her over to my mom’s house (where I live full time). My mother sat me down and told me that she would not take care of her. I begged and cried and fought with my mom about keeping her. Eventually, she allowed her to stay if I took care of her. For a lazy thirteen year old that was a lot of pressure. But I couldn’t let Button waist away, without daily kisses and weekly baths, in a shelter. So, she was now my problem. Even though I forgot to feed her a couple times and she might have pooped on my hands more then once I still loved her. This relates to the zookeepers and the elephants because like me and Button they loved the elephants like their own children and tried so hard to fight to keep them just like I did with Button.

            I guess what I’m trying to say is that love is the theme in Faithful Elephants because of the relationship between the elephants and the zookeepers. Just like me, I believe everyone’s life should be filled with love from animals just like me and Button and the zookeepers and Tanky and Wanly.  And I don’t believe anyone should live without that special, sweet, and beautiful feeling. Should they?