Emil and Karl

            Emil and Karl is an astonishing novel about two boys growing up during World War II in Vienna. Only one of them, Emil is Jewish while the other Karl is a regular boy. Emil's father is displayed murdered by the Nazis while his mother went crazy with grief. Karl's parents are "dragged" away because they are socialists. Therefore, the boys are left behind with only each other. Throughout the whole story, the boys went through multiple complicated dilemmas and experience issues because of who they are. Jewish discrimination is a major issue in the book.
           In the book, Jewish discrimination is portrayed as a serious problem. Jews were trapped in Vienna and there are no where to go. Horrible incidents often happens in the book, " Jewish shops being looted, Jews forced to scrub Vienna's streets with their bare hands and to act like animals in a public zoo." Having their parents being taken away, the two boys have difficulty understanding why the Jews are treated so badly. They are even forced to face these humiliations from the authorities. This shows how severe discrimination is and one can be Together, they go through cruelty, courage, desperation and love. Kind people like Hans took the boys in and taught them how to pick the right choice based on their heart.
            However, the author doesn't include the perspectives of soldiers and civilians who hated Jews. The whole novel is written from the perspective of two boys, one that is Jew and one that is friends with Jews. Both boys are young, and have difficulty understanding how serious Jews being discriminated can be. Even though both of them faced separation with their families, because either they are Jews or have relationship with one. The chosen perspectives by the author shows how innocent Jew kids are during World War II and their innocence in doing nothing. The author first depicted the boys as best friends and all they want is to stay together. However, enemies continue to pick on them. Severe consequences came to those who are Jews or related.
            In conclusion, there are many conflicts evolving around Jewish discrimination. The discrimination fit in really well with the novel, because of the chosen time period. War is really horrible, especially when it can influence so many people. Innocent civilians are affected in many ways, either ending up in with a sad ending or dead.

Should YA Fiction Be Limited?

When books and novels were just written, attention-grabbing stories were carefully crafted by writers, who want to comfort and bring pleasure to readers. Yet, over the past years, books had transformed from calming and soothing to more profane and gruesome. Books like “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” demonstrates many essential components of life, but also gives memorable lessons in harsher ways. As a result, many adult question these books and protest certain books should be banned from the book section read by their children. Yet, teens argue that young adult books are written for teens, and that parents should not take away their reading privileges.Therefore, access to YA fiction should not be limited because it is those, shocking books that provide teens experience with real-life situations, and also create a shield from the real world.

Even though YA fiction may contain some terrifying and gruesome materials that is inappropriate for teens, they shape teens’ point of views in a positive attitude and provide comfort to teens when dealing with stress from daily activity of living. The teens are facing extreme pressure and intensive problems daily in their disturbed lives. Books present a way out by writing about adolescents with similar situations. “ And there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read, because they believe, despite the callow protestations of certain adults, that books- especially the dark and dangerous ones will save them.” This quote shows how numerous young adults who are struggling through dark feelings can get comforted from YA books. YA fiction may be cruel, but it is the cruelty that support teens. “... the YA section of your local bookstore can be a pretty damn grim place, rife everything from angsty vampires to sex abuse to bullying. And no, not all of it is great literature.” Life is compose of virtuous and corrupted parts. Some teens may never experience the frightening part, but a lot would eventually have to face those experience in the end. YA books provide guidance for teens on how to deal with those unwanted situations better. The made-up characters bring examples for teens to learn better coping skills.

         Also, another reason why YA fiction should not be limited is that teens are surrounded with literature characters like the big, bad wolf, teens became more used to similar content. Teens has faced dark content in their lives, many since they were young. Adults fed them with tales about big, bad wolves and poisoned apple, while expecting them to stay innocent. So YA fiction is the upgraded version of those tales. “ But there’s something almost comical about raising them with tales if big bad wolves and poisoned apples, and then deciding at a certain point that literature is too ‘dark’ for them to handle.” Teen should not be treated like fragile, vulnerable people who need to be protected and shielded from everything horrible in the world. In his article refuting against Meghan Cox Gurdon, Sherman Alexie says, “ I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.” The tiny little details in those books is what teens experience in their life while growing up. Therefore, YA books provide teens with firsthand experience. Teens slowly build up with experience that will help them survive in the real world.

However, there are opponents who argues YA fiction has negative effects on teen readers, causing them to lose innocence too soon. In the article “ Darkness too Visible,” the author Meghan Cox Gurdon argues, “ self-destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue.” This shows how fast the darkness described in YA books can spread to readers. According to her, readers would hurt themselves because those books are too effective and powerful in spreading darkness. However, she does not acknowledge the fact that teens are already experiencing stressful things in real life. These dark and gruesome matters are already going on in their lives, teens are less likely going to hurt themselves after reading those books. Just like what Sherman Alexie says, “they wanted me to profess my love for God without considering that I was the child and grandchild of men and women who’d been sexually and physically abused by generations of clergy.” He reflects on how no one had consider the fact that he had already been through these things.

          In conclusion, YA fiction should not be limited in any way because YA books provide a comfort zone and help readers survive through tragic events in life. The cruelty of books help transform teens into more mature and understanding. They learn about life and how to survive through it bravely. In addition, YA books is a good way for teens to express their feelings. They can overcome internal fears with the help from YA books, and become more independent without seeking help from adults. Being able to achieve this would benefit teens in the future.

What I saw and How I Lied

              What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell is a novel about the life of a 15 year-old girl named Evie Spooner living in the period after WWII. She goes through many difficult stages of life with her beautiful mother, and the lack of a responsible father. Then, her mother met young Joe, and they soon fell in love, presenting Evie a real father. However, Joe left to enlist in the army, leaving Evie without a father again. When Joe comes back, all Evie hope is to have a normal life. But the war had left Joe with dark memories that makes him angry and irritated all the time. In the novel, the theme growing up is always presented in parts of Evie Spooner's life, which makes her to become more mature.
            In the beginning of the book, Evie and her best friend Margie Crotty is presented to readers trying on candy cigarettes and talking about wearing lipstick. All Evie wants is to grow up, to become her beautiful mother who catches the attention easily. Evie says in the book, "the way she held a cigarette, the way she danced in the kitchen, they way she could make supper with a cocktail glass in one hand-- that was movie star glamour. You could almost forget she was just a housewife from Queens."  Evie is jealous of her mother's beauty, and want to become her. But her mother, Beverly is overprotective. She claims she doesn't want Evie to grow up too soon, even though Evie is almost 16. At this point, Evie is still a child.
          When Joe return from the war, Evie thought they would finally return to normal life. So when Joe suddenly decide to take the family to Florida for vacation, she is thrill. They met the rich Graysons, and one day Evie decide to dress up fancy like Mrs.Graysons. When Mrs.Grayson found out, despite her mother's protest, she dressed up Evie into an outstanding woman. This is the first time Evie had experience growing up. And because Evie thought she is glamorous, she went to a dance where she met a movie-star gorgeous man named Peter Coleridge. The 21 year old named her "pussycat" and gave her attention she had never receive from a boy, let alone a man. 
         In addition, Evie also experience deciding what's right or wrong. When Peter acknowledge Evie about Joe stealing Jewish people's property during the war, she felt that is wrong and know something has to be done. Therefore after knowing the Graysons are jewish, she decides to take the money and return it. By doing this, Evie can decide the justice in the world, and finally achieve the goal of maturing.
         In conclusion, by going through the many events in one summer, Evie slowly mature from a girl to a young woman. Growing up is slowly built up by experience. Even though Evie depend heavily on her family, she learn to grow up and become independent. She discover the true her and know what is right.

Non-Fiction Critical Analysis

           In "Has Young adult fiction become too dark?" Mary Elizabeth Williams refutes against Meghan Cox Gurdon's argument and inform readers on how YA books provides a safer environment while also giving life experience through literature that can rip open some scars. One thing the author does is by including her own childhood experience with YA books, such as "Flowers in the Attic". She relates how not all teen readers do things described in the books. She also refute against Gurdon by suggesting she is the mother of two children and that she cares about the books her children read. But she says, "you can't compare what's crowding the shelves now with a tiny handful of classics that have endured." She then include opinions from young readers around the world, such as Emma and her own daughter. By doing all this, she shows how YA books may have change over the time, but teen readers enjoy reading about the characters, and to learn things that scared and fascinate us.

        Mary Elizabeth Williams wants to persuade readers that YA books provides good experience, and can feel things people deemed too inappropriate in the safety and comfort of literature. One way she achieves her purpose is by only including the perspectives of teens, for example, "good literature rips open all the private parts of us-and then they stitch it all back together again before we even realize they're not talking about us." She argues that good literature are meant to influence readers in ways without actually writing about them. She encourage readers to feel sympathetic toward herself, a mother who wants the best for her children. Also, she purposefully include the perspective of her daughter, because kids know what they want for themselves.
 
        The way Mary Elizabeth Williams have written about YA books changed my perspective. She made me think that YA books are good for teens and can actually help them in some way. By carefully picking certain quotes, she convinced me YA books heal the scars of troubled teens.