by Annabelle Smith
This month, we’ve talked about all kinds of banned books. From children’s books to classic literature, pretty much anything remotely controversial has been the subject of challenges across the country. However, these books can feel distant. How many people read classics outside of English class, and how many years has it been since we’ve picked up a picture book?
The truth is that book banning impacts everyone, everywhere, all the time. The young adult (YA) genre often gets a bad wrap: cheesy romances, “not-like-other-girls” main characters, and love triangles galore. That’s not what YA is about, though. Any book written for and about teens and adults through their mid-twenties is considered YA. This means that even The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank are young adult novels. It’s a diverse genre and a massively significant one. By looking at the world through the lens of the people just discovering who they are, you get fabulous coming-of-age novels that view the world in a way that’s totally unique. It’s the perfect way to examine the issues that inform who we are at our core: identity, self expression, and even more difficult themes about how young people overcome the obstacles in their life.
For this reason, the list of banned and challenged YA novels is extensive. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -- all of them have made the list. Whether it be for violence, substance abuse, or political commentary, the censorship of books marketed towards teens is pervasive.
Here’s the issue: teenagers are complicated. It’s no secret that every adolescent makes a few bad decisions while growing up, that the process of self discovery is mostly trial and error. But these mishaps, these sometimes horrible decisions might resonate with someone. They might make someone who’s unsure of themselves feel seen. They might be the first time someone sees someone who looks like, acts like, and feels like them. That is an incredibly important experience.
The YA genre isn’t just Twilight. It’s stories about discovery, about overcoming adversity, and about learning to love all the parts of yourself. Sometimes that means a character lets their emotions get the best of them and lashes out. Sometimes it means they see a part of society that’s uncomfortable to talk about. Sometimes it means that in order to get better by the end of the book, they have to screw up more than a few times. That’s just called being human.
This month of banned books is coming to an end, but the censorship of literature is not. Reading is resistance. Pick up a banned book, write about something that matters to you, and speak out!
Enjoyed this month’s column? The Phantom isn’t going anywhere, and we have some spooky plans in store for the month of October! In the meanwhile, check out some of our favorite banned and challenged YA novels:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
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