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.