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.