Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Teen Books Aren't All Depressing, Right?

If you follow Twitter or read the Wall Street Journal or pay any attention to book blogs, you might have noticed the web was all a flurry with #yasaves all weekend. So what gives?

On Saturday, June 4th, Megan Cox Gurdon, a writer for The Wall Street Journal wrote an article about how nearly all teen books were depressing and dark and about things like self-mutilation and hate crimes and kidnapping and that they might cause teens to self-destruct. You can read the whole article here.

I know what you're thinking- this is nuts, right? If you've been into a library or bookstore recently you'd know teen books aren't all about dark stuff and vampires. Sure there are books that reflect the harsh realities that we (and teens) face, but there are plenty of books out there that are funny or feel good books. Authors like Meg Cabot, Ally Carter, Maureen Johnson, E. Lockhart, Don Calame, and Adam Rex.

What are your favorite funny or feel good books?

3 comments:

Noah said...

Definitely anything by Gail Carson Levine...her fairytales are sweet and fun to read. Especially Fairest or Ella Enchanted, two of which have a few dark tones to them, but turn out for the best. No matter how many times I re-read them, I'm left with a fuzzy feeling.

Kj said...

My favs are The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Very feel-good, happy, summery books. Can't wait for the next one to come out. =)

Rachael said...

I totally agree with Noah. I don't think I could ever get tired of reading Ella Enchanted.
I also like the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Yes, there are dark moments in those books, but there is a stream of humor running through them as well.