The Issue of Likable Characters in YA Novels

It was brought up briefly in class the matter of likable and/or relatable characters and how this can effect whether we like a novel or not: if a character is unlikeable (such as Daisy from How I Live Now) or unrelatable (such as the super-intellectual Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars) it seems that people in class react negatively and it then negatively effects their response to a novel. I personally found this interesting because many times I like and even prefer unlikable characters in my novels. Unrelatable characters offer me a perspective and experience that I'm not familiar with, which to me, is appealing. Unlikable characters I feel reflect the real-world; how many people are 100% likable anyway? I'm certainly not likable all the time, and characters who are likable all the time do not reflect real teens -- they're moody and volatile.

With all that said, I'd like to direct you all to a wonderful post from Australian book blogger Reyjne titled: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Like." Reyjne tries to untangle why "likability" is a requirement for some readers and what does "likeable" mean? I liked that she drew a distinction between "likeability" and "sympathy," as that seems to be a common thread in my class's conversations about characters being unlikeable -- because my classmates don't like a character, they don't feel sympathetic to them and therefore feel no investment in the protagonist's narrative arc. But Rey makes a great point when she states:

"Here’s the thing: I don’t always see myself as a “likeable” person. There are a lot of reasons for that, and I won’t air them all here. But I struggle daily with both wanting to be liked (there is a firmly-ingrained streak of the people-pleaser in me that runs deep) and being aware that “likeableness” is not something I owe to every single person. ... What I’m trying to say with this is that I’m not always likeable. I’m have emotions and days when I’m as easy to be around as a sack of weasels. And I’m okay with that. Because I don’t think that invalidates my feelings, or my personality as a whole. It’s just one part of me."(emphasis mine)

Reyjne goes on to say that she came to connect with prickly characters because she herself is sometimes prickly and not always likable. THIS, this is articulates my thoughts perfectly on the matter. Yes, sometimes I want to shake a character silly when they make stupid decisions; yes, sometimes their personalities are not the most Warm and Fuzzy, but why do we put this pressure on characters? Why do they need to be likeable for us to sympathize with them and like them as people? Reyjne goes on to say that this is something that seems to be perpetuated in our culture; especially with girls:

"As a teen, it was made abundantly clear to me that I was supposed to supress those emotions that made people around me uncomfortable. Because emotions are difficult and sometimes people don’t like difficult. Especially not difficult girls." 

Does characters need to fit our definition of likeable to be compelling? I would argue not, which brings me back to the point I brought above: being in the mind of someone who thinks differently than me, who's instincts function differently from mine, and who doesn't adjust their personality for those around them and social consumption is something that is compelling for me. I would argue that a character who is unlikeable should not be the basis for whether a book is good or bad, and that we should think of the implications that having these assumptions creates. I get frustrated when my behaviour is monitored and I have to be vigilant to fit into people's notions of likeability, so why should I expect it of my characters?

Anyhow, I find it interesting when people claim to dislike a novel because they think a character is unlikable and the blog post I've based this post off of articulates many of my own thoughts and raises questions that I think are important to engage with when we're considering whether we've liked a book a not, whether we liked the characters.

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this, so if you have ideas/opinions, please shoot them my way!  

Week 12: Conspicuous Consumption and Teen Markets

This week for class, we were assigned to watch the documentary Merchants of Cool, a 55-minute episode from the TV series Frontline (produced by PBS) that is a sort of documentary on how businesses market to teens and the effect that this has on youth culture.

Overall, I found myself enjoying the program; I have never really thought of teenagers in such economic  terms (I recognize that they are a demographic that markets try to tap into, but I didn't realize they were quite so vital to the economy), and was surprised how many people dedicate their lives to market research specifically on teens, and on figuring out what's "cool" at the moment.

The program did a good job at representing teens as critical individuals who are capable of disseminating advertisements and what they watch, highlighting how advertising companies have to always change their marketing strategies because teens pick up that they're being manipulated. This was most evident when the program was discussing the evolution of Sprite advertisements, who went from making fun of traditional advertising models (which initially resonated with teens, but they caught on and turned against it), to becoming an icon within hip hop culture. They also showcase teens who discard the mainstream altogether, such as the fans of the rage-rock band Insane Clown Posse, and they do so in a non-judgmental way (towards the teens -- the bands under scrutiny are treated much more harshly.)

The narrator's epiphany near the end of the program resonated with me as well: marketing/advertising and youth culture creates what he calls a "feedback loop." Market researchers observe teens and try to produce things that teens will be willing to pay money for; teens in turn are affected (to a degree) by this, which shapes their culture; market researchers then in turn research that. As critical as teens can be, it's foolish to ignore that they are affected by marketing, whether for better or for worse. There are always going to be some who will go against the grain, but even they are affected by marketing -- they just react to it in a different way. In this regard, everything that teens do is a response to the marketing they are inundated with every day. So it raises the question (which is brought up at the end of the program): can teens have their own culture? Something that is truly and 100% their own? After watching Merchants of Cool, I don't have an answer, and it's become one that is incredibly hard to answer.

Of course, the program isn't flawless -- after watching I did a quick Google search about the program in search of its IMDB page. What I found was a whole webpage dedicated to discussing the program. One of the pages was an interview that Frontline had with about a dozen teens who watched the program to see what they thought. The first two questions and the answers given highlight how the teens who watched it felt they were not given enough screen time -- they were being told all this stuff about their culture from adults who are just trying to profit off of them. If you want to read more of the interview, click here.

The merchants of cool. Dir. Barak Goodman. Perf. Douglas Rushkoff. PBS Video, 2001. Film.

REVIEW: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (audiobook)

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Narrator: Kate Rudd 
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Contemporary/Realistic
Length: 7:19min (6 discs)

Summary: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Review: YA Master John Green has done it again by bringing readers (young adult or not) a story that raises the bar for YA fiction.

This book has been touted as: "a book about cancer without being a Cancer Book."  This is largely true, but it was sometimes to the detriment of the book, as Hazel's narration liked to remind readers often how much her and Gus's story was NOT about their cancer, an odd bit of hand-holding in a novel that respects and trusts its readers with pretty much everything else. However, I cannot deny that this is a book that defies the Cancer Book "genre."

How does it do so you ask? It manages this feat with the amazing characters. One of the most common complaints I've ever/read about this book is that its teenage protagonists are too "smart", and that teens who do not relate to Gus's existential musings, or Hazel's ability to quote poetry on command feel "inadequate", but I believe that's not giving teens enough credit. Hazel and Gus may be smart, but readers never forget they're teenagers: Gus plays video games and reads vacuous novels based off said games; Hazel loves America's Next Top Model and describes Gus as "hot." Furthermore, presenting teens with potentially challenging ideas such as heroism, existentialism, what it means to live a 'meaningful' life, etc. is something I think (some) YA should aspire to, and should not make concessions on.

To go back to the characters, I loved the humour Gus, Hazel and Isaac all brought to the story. Their gallows humour may not sit well with everyone, but it breathes life into these characters. What really hits this story home however is how Green presents their humanity, even in the face of their death. There are no heroic fights against cancer or characters who keep face despite the fact they're dying. No, Green shows us characters like Gus's last girlfriend, whom he didn't even want to date during the last stages of her cancer because her brain tumour made her say horrible things to him. This honesty about disease and what it does to people, and the respect that the text clearly possesses for people with terminal illness, in that it gives them life outside of their disease, is what makes this book special.

Some minor complaints are that it did have some moments that were a little too saccharine; I'm thinking specifically of Gus and Hazel's date at the restaurant in Amsterdam when people would randomly toast them, or the applause they receive when they make out in the Anne Frank House. Otherwise, this is a moving love story between two teens who, as Hazel would say, "have a touch of cancer."
 
Since I listened to this as an audiobook I do not want to make some notes about the narration. By and large, it was very, very good. It's not surprising that this title received an Odyssey Award (an award given by the ALA for Teen Audiobooks). Rudd's reading is impeccable and she gives each character a distinct voice and way of speaking (though I found her rendition of Isaac to be a nasally.) She brings a lot of emotion to these characters, whether they're being funny or somber. 

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Green, John. The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton Books, 2012. Print.

Week 10: Censorship in YA: A Closer Look at Weetzie Bat

This week for class we are taking a closer look at the issue of censorship in young adult materials. We were assigned to read either Monster Walter Dean Myers or Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. I chose the latter, and will be approaching it from two angles: pro-censoring it, and anti-censoring. (For the record, I'm anti-censoring all the way.)

But first, a short summary of Weetzie Bat:

Weetzie Bat is the story eccentric high-schooler Weetzie who wears old taffeta dresses, Indian headdresses, and is head-over-heels in love with the glitz and glam of Los Angeles. One day she meets Dirk, and the two set out on a quest to find their perfect Ducks (aka boyfriends -- Dirk is gay.) One day, Weetzie receives a magic lamp and wishes for Dirk to have a Duck and for her to meet her Secret Agent Lover Man, and a house for all of them to live in. Weetzie receives all these things, but does it mean happily ever after? 

Written in poetic prose, Block takes readers on a journey through a magical and slinkster cool incarnation of L.A. as Weetzie explores friendship and love.

Pro-censorship stance: Weetzie Bat's content could be viewed as some that is not appropriate for its teen audience. Throughout the course of the novel, the characters in Weetzie Bat engage in: sexual activity, underage drinking, drug use, homosexuality and pregnancy out of wedlock. Suicide and AIDS are also discussed. Weetzie's alternative lifestyle of living with two gay men alongside her lover may also incur a negative reaction from patrons, as well as Weetzie's decision to have sex with both Dirk and Duck to conceive Cherokee, thus giving Cherokee "three dads." A concerned parent may find all of these issues that the novel tackles to be too mature, or too difficult for a child or teen.

Anti-censorship stance: There are many teens who live, or participate in alternative lifestyles. Many teens are gay and need literature that represents them in a positive light. Dirk and Duck's homosexuality is presented as normative, a small towards supporting gay rights and equality. It's also a fact that many teens (13-18 years) / young adults (19 and up) become pregnant out of wedlock; they need a support system, not to become a pariah or shunned from society, and this book is representative of this lifestyle without condemning it. Presenting alternative lifestyles in a positive way is not a gateway to encouraging teens to participate in said lifestyle, but does provide people who do literature that they can relate to. It is important to consider the experiences of all teens. There is also the undercurrent message of loving oneself and self-respect (p. 24-25) when Dirk and Weetzie are experiencing abusive relationships. Though the passage is brief, it's important message to important on young adult readers.


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You may have noticed that I have not touched on the quality of the writing or the plot, but I do not think those are issues that patrons would seriously consider when challenging a book; they are likely to be much more concerned with content and how said content will affect impressionable readers.

Block, Francesca L. (1989). Weetzie Bat. New York: Harper & Row. 

REVIEW: Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

Anatomy of a Boyfriend (2007)
Author: Daria Snadowsky
Publisher: Ember
Genre: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
Pages: 272 (trade paperback)
Series: Anatomy #1 (a sequel, Anatomy of a Girlfriend was released just this year.)

Summary: "Before this all happened, the closest I'd ever come to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body.

Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing—and touching—parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced a lot of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love.

And then came the fall."

Review: For class this week, our theme is "Sex in YA Lit." Anatomy of a Boyfriend initially stumbled in its execution and the sexual content felt contrived, but by the end, Snadowski gained her footing and this read like a genuine and heartfelt exploration of first love and sexual exploration.

Our story is set in Florida, from the first-person perspective of teen girl Dominique Baylor. The novel chronicles her throes in first love as she meets and falls for track star Wesley Gershwin and the tribulations that come with their relationship as explore and experiment with sex. 

Initially, I found this book to be unconvincing as far as being an authentic look at how teens think about sex. Dom's conversations with her best friend and her thoughts about sex felt like an adult trying to imitate a teen instead of actually embodying a teen mindset. Snadowski did, however, capture the feelings that come with a first serious crush very, very well: the awkward conversations and silences, the wondering and agonizing over whether the feelings are reciprocated, etc. did feel true to life and incurred reminiscing on my part of similar experiences I had as a teen.

Where the writing really shines, in my opinion, is in Snadowski's descriptions of the sexual acts Dom and Wes commit. In the article Are Romance Novels Harming Our Teens (which was also assigned reading this week), one of the criticisms leveled against Romance novels is "their potential to create unrealistic expectations in their readers which may lead to relationship problems in real life" (despite there being romance in Anatomy, it isn't a Romance novel, but this argument could still be leveled against it); I would argue that Anatomy does exactly the opposite of this. The sex scenes, while certainly explicit, were far from sexy. Snadowski says it best in her Q&A at the end of the book, where she states that she was seeking not to condone sex, but to demystify it, and I think she has accomplished this wonderfully. Part IV of the book, which heralds the end of Dom and Wes's relationship, was also very well written and captured the overcharged emotions that accompany being dumped.

Our main characters, Dom and  Wes, are both realistic and would likely be relatable to many teens in how normal they are. Snadowski mentions in her Q&A that she is surprised at how many boys actually enjoy and relate to her novel because they see themselves in Wes, in that he's a normal highschool guy instead of a caricature of a hunky jock, or a supernatural creature like Edward Cullen. Dom and Wes both have interests and aspirations, they have families whom they love (Dom has her complicated relationship with her grandmother and Wes has a soft spot for his family pet) and it is these traits that make them fully realized people that teen readers can hopefully relate and sympathize with.

From a reader's advisory perspective, this novel could be a challenge. While I think that it depicts teen sex in a realistic and healthy way, it is still very explicit and this might scare away not only teen readers who may not be emotionally equipped to deal with it, but also parents. With that in mind, it would be necessary to exhibit caution when recommending this. However, if teen or parent patrons are looking for gateway literature to YA novels that deal extensively with teen sex, this is a great place to start.

Overall, while it had a shaky start, I warmed up to this novel considerably by the time I was done. The writing was largely serviceable, but sex scenes were wonderfully un-sexy and the feelings represented during the emotionally charged scenes were authentic and reminiscent of  my own teen experiences. 

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Snadowsky, Daria. Anatomy of a boyfriend: a novel. New York: Ember, 2008. Print.

BOOKTALK: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Our class assignment this week was to make a "booktalk". For this unfamiliar with what a booktalk is, here's a basic description from Wikipedia:

"A booktalk in the broadest terms is what is spoken with the intent to convince someone to read a book. Booktalks are traditionally conducted in a classroom setting for students. However, booktalks can be performed outside a school setting and with a variety of age groups as well. It is not a book review or a book report or a book analysis. The booktalker gives the audience a glimpse of the setting, the characters, and/or the major conflict without providing the resolution or denouement. Booktalks make listeners care enough about the content of the book to want to read it."

Me and my partner for this assignment, Avery, decided to do ours on a favourite we both share: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins which you can view above. Take a look, and I hope you enjoy! 

REVIEW: Wet Moon vol. 1: Feeble Wanderings by Ross Campbell

Wet Moon vol 1.: Feeble Wanderings 
Author: Ross Campbell
Illustrator: Ross Campbell
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: Contemporary / Realistic Fiction
Pages: 184
ISBN: 9781932664072

Review: For class this week, our primary readings were graphic novels. The other selections were Smile Raina Telegemeier, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki and Black Hole by Charles Burns. I was fortunate enough to be able to read all of these titles, but I decided to focus on Wet Moon, as it was my favourite reading of the five.

The Story: Wet Moon takes place in a fictional southern U.S. town of the same name and largely follows the life of Cleo Lovedrop and her group of friends. There are some secondary characters who are featured as well: Myrtle, who works at a video store and encounters Cleo and her friends, and Fern, a young Asian woman living in a mansion in the bayou who is clearly interested in Cleo (though it's not clear why at this point.) 

There is no plot perse; the plot consists of Cleo and co.'s every day lives. There's gossip, and parties and the woes of moving out of home and starting community college. At first this turned me off somewhat.. I was wondering what the point of everything was. But the more I became acquainted with the characters, the more I found myself immersing myself in these characters lives. There are also several threads introduced in this first volume that are not resolved by the end, leaving readers with something to look forward to in future ones. For example, what is the deal with Cleo and Vincent? Why is Fern interested in Cleo? How is Myrtle going to be incorporated into the plot? 

The characters, following the realistic style of the plot, are realistically drawn themselves. Who hasn't experienced the angst and cynicism that Cleo exhibits? Or the nervousness of moving out and having to live with strangers? The supporting characters are equally vivid and brought to life, and also represent a wide swath of young adult experiences (alternative lifestyles and glbtq most prominently.) 

The Art: Campbell's art style is what initially drew me to this title. I loved Campbell's clean lines and attention to detail (especially in the clothing and styling of the goth/punk characters.) I also loved that the characters presented a breadth of body types. One of the stereotypes of comics (though this is more akin to superhero comics) is the idealized and fetishized versions of women's bodies that are often presented, with the large busts and perfect hourglass figures. This is not the case here: we have characters like Cleo, Myrtle and Mara who are on the rounder side, alongside characters like Tilby who have narrower frames. 

The great things about graphic novels is the interplay between the images and the words, and sometimes it's the images that say a lot more than the words. Wet Moon has many pages where there is absolutely no text; there is so much subtext, so much left unsaid that must be inferred from the images and Campbell's pulls off this feat wonderfully. For example, no explanation is given about Cleo's behaviour around Vincent, but the recurring image of her putting her hand to her stomach, and then subsequent scenes of her shown spinning in front of the window in the moonlight can give readers a pretty good idea of what may be going on. In this way, Campbell truly embraces the graphic novel format and it is this subtlety that made me fall in love with it.

Reader's Advisory: From a reader's advisory perspective, I am curious how this graphic novel would resonate with teen readers. I think that older young adults (17-25 age range) would relate to the characters and the plot of the story. The characters and their interactions feels like it was ripped right out of real life and transplanted on the page. But the story is very understated, which may appear slow or pointless to some readers. Readers must also be adept visual readers, as much of the story is not found in the words, but the pictures, and a lot is left unsaid that can only be inferred from the visuals.

Overall, I loved this graphic novel and would not hesitate to recommend it to young adult readers (though I would be cognizant of the points I listed above). The amazing art, and the authenticity of the characters and their relationships drew me in, and there are several threads left unresolved that have made me want to come back for more.