While scrolling through Buzzfeed, I came across an interview with Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of Speak and other wonderful books, promoting her new book The Impossible Knife of Memory and talking about all things related to young adult literature.
Two things in this article stood out to me. The first was Anderson's response to the question, "What do you hope readers take away from the story?" As part of her response she said, "...Not all people love all books, because you can’t write a book that’s going to speak to the condition of every heart." After reading Feed, this quote really resonated with me. I felt almost guilty for not liking the book and that I was unable to relate to it well. It was comforting to know that it is okay, and normal, that not every book will "speak" to me. What matters most is that it does speak to other readers and helps to provide them with new insights, understandings, and comfort for whatever they may be dealing with.
The second thing that stood out to me was Anderson's thoughts on why adults should read young adult literature. I think that many adults are afraid to read young adult literature because they may not think of it as being as challenging or meaningful compared to the literature that their friends may be reading. However, Anderson's explanation of why it is important really helps to shine a more positive light on reading young adult literature. She says that adults should read it because, "It gives them insight into what their kids and the next generation of Americans are dealing with, which is important. It can also give them insight into some of their own stuff, some of their own sadness and sorrows, and shine a light on maybe some work that they need to do emotionally, which is very helpful. And also, the writing’s amazing."
I think that young adult literature has done all of that for me and more. I highly recommend checking out this article and reading more of what Anderson has to share with us!
Here's the link to the article!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/laurie-halse-anderson-thinks-adults-should-be-reading-more-y#.ri3zz1v4d
Enjoy!
[chuckle] You have to know, at first I wasn't sure why you were blogging about Laurie's interview, but talking about FEED.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about this last comment you quote of Laurie's, "YA can give adult readers insight into some of their own stuff...." when you think back on your reading of FEED, what do you think this book helped to shine a light on for you (i.e., what insight did you gain about your own stuff)?
I think FEED helped me to think about how much time I spend on my own feeds on the various social media accounts that I am a part of. He made me consider how the time that I spend on them is not as mindless as I think it is because I am constantly taking in information. Furthermore, the information that I am taking in is tailored to me. Like the earrings example I gave, this made me think about just how much different websites are able to collect about my internet habits and "personalize" them to me so that I am tempted to consume more goods. If anything, this has made me a little more cautious about how much time I spend in front of a screen and wary of allowing websites to "mine" through my information.
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