An Authorly Chat on Fantasy, Gender, and YA

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend a small but amazing talk on Gender in YA Fantasy and all sorts of other bookish YA things (not its official title). It was hosted by Sarah Mesle, a Humanities professor at UCLA. The panel consisted of Leigh Bardugo, author of Shadow and Bone; Cecil Castelluci, author of First Day on Earth, The Year of the Beasts, and others; Javi Grillo-Marxuach, television screenwriter and producer of such things as Lost and The Middleman; and Amber Benson, otherwise known as Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and author of the Calliope Reaper-Jones books, among others.

Like a total teacher’s pet, I arrived early, sat alone in the very front row, and whipped out my notebook, pen poised in anticipation. I looked very cool and blogger-esque. It was an amazing talk covering all sorts of literary topics, with a lot of insightful questions and dissenting views (it was awkward but fun when the authors disagreed with each other, like my bookshelf was squabbling with itself). Not only were these authors brilliant, but they were hilarious. I did my best to transcribe some of their key points, but since my brain is a wonky sieve on the best of days and my notes from that night look like this:

Yeah. Just TRY to read that.

I may accidentally leave out some of their choicest bon mots. But I’ll do my best. First off, each of the authors shared a little bit about their current and upcoming projects. Amber Benson read an EXCLUSIVE snippet of the story she’s working on about an abused boy’s love of escaping into horror movies. Cecil Castelluci read us graphic novel pages from her alternating prose and graphic novel book The Year of the Beasts, and two pages from First Day on Earth about a boy who thinks he’s been abducted by aliens and joins an abduction support group. Javi Grillo-Marxuach showed a clip from the pilot of The Middleman that had us all cackling. Leigh Bardugo, who happened to be wearing kickass boots, read a scene from Shadow and Bone and between Alina and Genya and displayed some amazing fan art by Irene Koh.

Shadow and Bone author Leigh Bardugo

After that, Sarah Mesle asked the panel some questions. A lot of the chat focused on the idea of fantasy and YA literature in general as an escape, with Castelluci noting that her two books, The Year of the Beasts and First Day on Earth, have a strong contemporary part to them. Mal, the main character from First Day on Earth, is looking for “a way to hitch a ride off of Earth because Earth sucks.”

Amber Benson: My character is looking to escape into horror movies.

Sarah Mesle: Into darkness. 

Javi Grillo-Marxuach: Crisis is preferable than the brutality of ordinary life.

The authors then went on to discuss why genre and YA tap into this mentality more than literary fiction.

JGM: Literary fiction is like– you can’t escape, all ends badly–

Leigh Bardugo: Ennui!

Grillo-Marxuach employed a metaphor using Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie, which was directed by Sam Mendes, of American Beauty fame. “I loathe American Beauty with a hot flaming passion,” he said. “It stinks of pretension and bullshit. But when Sam Mendes does a genre movie, he blossoms into an amazing director.” He argued that the “added tool of world-building” provides metaphors and a framework in which to explore ideas.

The conversation turned to the huge rash of dystopians and how they are uniformly dark, and how these themes are just the themes of everyday teen life intensified.

LB: The crisis is made real…They all consist of love under crushing regimes, under duress-

JGM: AKA parents.

Castelluci commented on the heavy amounts of darkness present in YA genre fiction. “When there’s an extreme amount of darkness, you can see that pinpoint of light.”

Grillo-Marxuach discussed how genre fiction depicts the realities of teen life by arguing that decision to leave the state and go to college, “those things are blown up … Emotions are pitched at a high level.” He compared the choice to leave for college to leaving the farm to become a Jedi Knight, thereby earning all the geek credit from the geek audience. “I like the respite of being able to see things blown up into big metaphors and great ideas as opposed to the mundane quality of everyday life.”

“Decisions you make as a teenager are very die,” Castelluci said. “You’re at a crossroads, and you actually can make bad choices that affect your life. Your worry isn’t illegitimate. You have a right to be freaked out.”

Benson spoke about the aspirational quality to YA, citing Bella Swan as an example. “The way Bella appears, readers put their selves in her place, everybody wants her even though she’s klutzy. People want to be her…With fallible characters, people get annoyed. They want (female protagonists) to be perfect. But if they’re too perfect, then they’re Mary Sues.”

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

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Review: Easy by Tammara Webber
Rating: ★★★
 
A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.


I have conflicted thoughts about EASY. On the one hand, it didn’t make quite the impression on me I was expecting from all the hype. On the other hand, I read it straight through, very much wanting to find out what happened.

Also: IT’S NEW ADULT. I love New Adult because I happen to be one. This is a book set on a college campus dealing with the kinds of issues college-aged kids deal with: rape, relationships, sex, careers, classes, etc. The college world was believable and fun to read about. The heart of the subject matter is sexual assault, and I have to say that Webber explores this issue with a pretty deft hand.

The first scene is Jacqueline escaping a near-rape. It’s a powerful way to open a book, and yet it didn’t impact me like it should. I think the problem was Jacqueline. It took me a long time to connect to her, and I never felt her as deeply as most heroines. I felt like there was a bit of distance between her and me. I didn’t feel her trauma. Most of her anxiety in the ensuing pages is about her ex-boyfriend, her economics class, and figuring out the mystery of Lucas, the guy who saved her from Buck the would-be-rapist.

Jacqueline repeatedly says her passion is music, and talks about how she tutors local middle school students to play the upright bass. But we never see a scene of her playing or tutoring. I never believed she was a musician; it didn’t affect the way she saw things at all.

It took me a while to grow into Jacqueline, but by the end I started to get to know her. A little late, but the book really improved as I read. Some of the characters really popped, like Erin the roommate. She was the best. Lucas was a little too perfect: he draws, he’s a taekwondo master, he’s a straight A student, SPOILER THAT WASN’T A SURPRISE an economics tutor, handyman, barista, tattooed soulful man with a tortured past. Of course, he was swoon-worthy. Their flirting was so much fun. I actually loved that he lied to her, and that they actually did have arguments. I loved the way he supports Jacqueline and cares for her. The love scenes (for sure mature content) were wonderful and made me weak at the knees. Despite my issues with their characters, I loved their romance.

Oh, I so don’t want to sound this negative. I really didn’t hate it, guys. It has a powerful message about women taking control of their lives and not becoming victims. It just got to a slow start for me. A lot of obsessing over a useless ex-boyfriend and not failing econ class. Jacqueline frequently says she’s trying to forget the assault, but I don’t get the impression she’s really struggling with it. She struggles more with not thinking about Lucas or her ex. Once the book really started dealing with the trauma of sexual assault, I liked it a lot more. Jacqueline begins to take more control. She learns self-defense and how to stand up for herself. There are points that made me want to cheer and shout “GIRL POWER!”

But then there’s also a scene where a male character calls a young woman an “alcoholic skank” to her face and it is played as a victory. It was just one moment in a book otherwise filled with good messages, but it hit me wrong. In a book that taught how horrible it is to put blame on rape victims, to claim they were asking for it, to call them sluts, it was just so weird to me that the author would think it appropriate to use a derogative sexual term for laughs.

I also thought the other girls on Jacqueline’s floor were quick to judge when they thought she was hooking up with two different guys. This is college. That is hardly a shocking thing. Nobody on my floor sophomore year would have blinked if someone hooked up with two different people in two weeks. The less-than-stellar reactions of the Greeks to the rape claims were realistic, however. I enjoyed the way Webber portrayed all the different ways people think of rape.

But like I said, the latter half of the book really picks up. There’s action and heartbreak. We get to know the characters better. A scene where a teacher basically monologues all of Lucas’ background is a little convenient, but it’s certainly a powerful story. And like I said, the romance. It is steamy. It is beautiful. It made me fan my myself and reach for the cold water.

This book takes a very healthy view of female sexuality and at times it was just fun to read. There are also resources for sexual assault victims at the back of the book, which I liked. This book felt supportive. It was trying to reach out to girls who feel like their voices have been silenced, and that's always worthy.

In the end, I liked it. It’s well-written, intelligent, and has a very worthy subject matter. It’s no Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which will stick with you for the rest of your life, but I think it’s worth a read. I won't be thinking about it tomorrow, and I’m not sure it deserves all the hype it’s gotten, but it may be just me.

The Quandary of Boys in YA: A Rant

Not in the mood for my bilious stream of vitriol? Understandable. Go enter to win FREE BOOKS instead. I won’t blame you.

I hope you all had fantabulous Turkey days (or Thursdays, as the case may be). I myself am in the midst of a tryptophan coma and currently look like this:

 

And yet after reading a couple articles about the state of BOYS in YOUNG ADULT FICTION, I have found myself slowly getting ranty. And stabby. And clearly very CAPSY. So I am dragging myself out of my carb-induced stupor to open up a discussion.

Every couple months or so, some bookish person feels obliged to write an article bemoaning the female takeover of young adult fiction (like this one) (plus an awesome rebuttal at Forever Young Adult) (oh, yeah, and another awesome rebuttal). A lot of writers and reviewers and bookish people don’t think this is a good thing. “What of the BOYS?” they say. “How will they ever learn to read if all the heroines and authors are FEMALES? Boys can’t even READ books written by women. It makes them break out in hives. It will teach them bad things about girlish feelings and all the testosterone inside them will mysteriously VANISH!”

Which makes me react like this:

 

Think back to your high school English days (or your current high school English days). There will probably be a couple female authors there, correct? Some Bronte, Austen, maybe Toni Morrison or Emily Dickinson. MAYBE. You are guaranteed to read Fitzgerald, Shakespeare, Dickens, Hemingway, Twain, et cetera, et cetera. I’m a college English major. Except for a little Willa Cather, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the like, the “classic” books I’m assigned are mostly by men.

This is, unfortunately, an accurate representation of the past. The vast majority of writers, publishers, readers, and reviewers back then were men. Fewer women had the education or the chances to be published. For centuries, we women read books written by men. So why is it that people assume boys can’t read books written by women? Or about women? Like it’s some horrendous assault on the construct of manhood?

In the article I linked to above, the author worries and worries that all the little boys growing up don’t have good role models in literature, as if boys are incapable of learning life lessons from female protagonists like Katniss. She cites many nineteenth century books as presenting a better, more classic idea of what being a man is. It’s an out of date idea that completely negates all the gender progress we’ve made in the last century (make sure you read the comments of that article. The commentators got FEISTY and it was great).

Yes. Since I’m a girl, I was incapable of learning anything from Harry Potter, because we do not share the same parts. This makes total perfect sense.

 It just BOGGLES MY MIND that people NOW, after women have fought so hard to have a voice, complain that men are getting shafted in the world of literature. And by “shafted” I mean they are not the majority (in the specific world of YA lit). Take a look at this interesting article about the gender imbalance in YA awards. NPR did a reader poll of the best children’s and young adult books. There were 59 female authors on the list and 44 males. People were all “OMG THE FEMALES THEY ARE TAKING OVER GRAB YOUR FAMILY AND RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!” The article said this:

It's interesting how a slight predominance of female authors on a list immediately makes people think "female dominance". If the numbers were reversed, we would perhaps say appreciatively that the list was close to being gender balanced. We expect to find male dominance everywhere - anything else is an unusual occurrence, and as such it stands out. And this affects how we view the world far more than we realise.

I think that hits at the base of the problem. People EXPECT male authors and protagonists to be the default setting. Take this article, for example. The author was listing which tropes are overused in young adult literature (a valid discussion) and she was positively foolish enough to include the use of a female protagonist in her list.

This is the definition of a trope. From Merriam-Webster.com:
a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech
b : a common or overused theme or device : cliché 

You know what is not a trope? HAVING A FEMALE PROTAGONIST. Thankfully, a commentator names AnimeJune piped up:
 

“I’m sorry – what? A female protagonist is a TROPE? Excuse me? Having a female POV is an overused cliche? Or, I’m sorry – a theme, a motif, etc? Really? Because, you know, women with stories and agency, they’re just a passing fad. It’s not like they’re half the world’s population or anything. 

And it’s too overused? Right. There simply aren’t enough books with male protagonists. Except, oh I don’t know, THE LAST FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

How sad is it that you list the definition of a trope in this same post and then get it completely wrong.”

SNAPS.

I also posted a comment on the article, because I’m cantankerous like that.

“This would be a great post if not for trope number 2. HAVING A FEMALE PROTAGONIST IS NOT A TROPE. That assumes that having a male POV is the default setting. That assumes that authors are choosing to write from a girl’s POV to jump on the bandwagon. Classing that with love triangles, Mary Sues, and quirky best friends is really just offensive. 

Authors do not chose female protagonists because other authors are doing it. They choose female protagonists because females are (over) fifty percent of the world’s population. Those poor males. SO underrepresented in the world of literature.”

The awards bias and gender bias also implies that literature about and for women and girls is somehow lesser. Like we girl readers/authors will get all caught up in our hormones and crushes and start blathering about One Direction. As if the thoughts and feelings of teenage girls are not meaningful. As if we aren’t equal people.

But books written by men about men are Important. They deal with Big Concepts like penises. SO many books I’ve read as an English major are about men and their inability to Penis (yes, that is now a verb). It’s just something you deal with as a female reader. The author is male. He is discussing what it is like to be male. It is interesting to read. But apparently boys are incapable of doing the equivalent?

It also does a disservice to the boys who do DARE to read books written by females without somehow growing ovaries in the process. Boy readers are intelligent and thirsty for good stories, just like girls are. There are a lot of GREAT representations of boys in all forms of media.

It does a disservice to YA in general. Right now, YA is where it's AT. This category is sophisticated, varied, diverse, welcoming, and wonderful. YA readers are active. They question things, like whitewashed covers and misogynistic characters. They obsess over books and words and characters. They engage with authors. They are the utter BESTEST, and treating them like they're nothing more than sugar-addicts, craving the next sweet-fix disguised as a book, is wrong. This category is all about learning who you are and growing up. Male AND female.

It does a disservice to female authors who are just as talented as their male counterparts, but who are being slapped with labels like “fluffy” and “romantic” (which the industry for some reason thinks is bad. As if an author who writes fluffy books is somehow less talented than one who writes about Big Ideas).

I love John Green and the books he writes, but NOT because he’s male, but because he’s good. I loved Endangered by Eliot Schrefer not because it was written by a male, but because it made me cry. And I loved Where She Went by Gayle Forman NOT because it had a male POV and I found it “refreshing”. I loved it because it had a STRONG PROTAGONIST, regardless of gender, and was beautiful.

So can we stop lamenting the tragic state of boys in young adult literature? The boys are fine. There are millions of great books out there for them to read. We should be encouraging boys to pick up books written by women and portraying women. We should be encouraging authors to write about whichever gender they want. We should actually try to act like the genders are EQUAL. For a change.

What do you think about how boys are portrayed in books? Am I just ranting on like a crazy old lady (entirely possible)? Sound off!