Before getting to the actual discussion and my views; I had read an article on bookriot.com and this was one of the subjects for their articles. Now we fast forward and I finally managed to get my butt into a book store for the first time this whole summer (it is amazing I hadn't withered away or made it this long without buying a book) and when I go to a bookstore I do the rounds for my supremely favorite authors and it occurred to me that one of the authors that I read is always filed away under Young Adult/Teen sections.
So I just wanted to know what everyone else thought, because there were some comments that were so-so or felt that it really shouldn't matter where you get your books as long as your reading. While others felt like they were allowed to make fun of us adults who dabble a little bit in the young adult section; mocking our reading abilities and such.
For me personally, Tamora Pierce and all of her books placed in Tortall are easily in my favorites. I got into her books when I was in 6th Grade/Middle School (about 8 years ago). I still to this day re-read those books because I love the characters, outside of Terry Practchet Discworld books, I had never fallen so in love with a character in a book before. But then again that could be explained by the books I had access to which weren't Harry Potter (loved it by the way). And I absolutely love the story that is being told. I have read them many times and know exactly what is going to happen and when, but for me the way she has written those books I do not even care. I will keep those books forever and still read them 10 years from now.
And so when I think about it, I really do not think that it should matter whether adults decide to peruse the young adult section. Do I think most of the books will interest them? Maybe not, but I think that if it has an intriguing story that pulls you in, then it should not matter where you get your reading in. The only thing I would question is whether you are an adult going into the kids sections for books to read; however I don't know your life and you probably have a good reason. I also feel that some people over look the potential the books in the young adult section have on developing people. Going back to Tamora Pierce, I think the part that really pulled me in was the fact that the protagonist was a strong woman, and a woman that is going to go against the grain in some way, and one that is fallible in a realistic sense and NOT a ditzy sense.
For example, the Lioness Quartet is focused on a woman who wants to become a knight in a country and world where lady knights have pretty much gone extinct. She disguises her self as a boy and takes her twin brother's place going to knight school. And she struggles with trying to come to terms with turning into a woman in secret. She still struggles with the idea of trying to be a strong woman but wanting to have moments of being soft and having a man in her life. She falls in and out of relationships, makes mistakes, but learns from them and definitely comes out in the end as a woman that would make a good role model.
The second series is the Immortals Series, which focuses on a woman who is born with Wild Magic, and immense amounts of it. She was born in an area of the world that is bandit ridden and quite backwards. So no one realizes what she has, and she sort of adopts the ideas and thoughts that are thrown at her that she is not right in the head. Her family is killed and she deals with the struggle of her Wild Magic and thinks she went mad when she hunted the bandits down with the local group of wolves. She comes to Tortall, and it is a complete 180 from what she knew, and she struggles with becoming more comfortable with herself, her powers and making a change to this new life of hers. The Lioness from the previous series makes a reappearance and so does her husband who push her in the right direction. The main male in this series starts off as her teacher, because he is the only major wizard who has any idea how Wild Magic works and actually believes it is a kind of magic. But once he helps her get on her own two feet, she is indeed a strong woman.
The third big series is the Protector of the Small. The woman in this book attempts to follow in the Lioness' footsteps and tries to become a knight. It shows an interesting world on the brink of change, she has to deal with similar struggles as the Lioness, but has the benefit of not needing to keep it all a secret. And to be honest, out of the three this small series is my favorite. She has a key different struggle however, she is a woman who cares more than the average noble about the common folk and those under her command and she has to struggle with being able to extend the protection that she wants to achieve but do so in a manner in which she is still accepted. And in this book, the Wild Magic woman makes a couple appearances and gives her a couple mini lessons, and you find out that the Lioness has also been helping her along in an indirect way.
I apologize from this major deviance, but I felt that it would do much better to tell my side of things by looking at the books from one of my favorite authors to show that there are still things to find in the young adult/teen section even when you are a grown adult.
So pretty please comment for me either how you feel about the topic in general, or a book series you are still in love with from the young adult section even though you have 'outgrown' it.
No comments:
Post a Comment