So, the past two weeks
have been busy. I have not finished a new book in about a month because of my
school work. I am working on my final portfolio and collecting materials for
it. Along the way I came across this paper about Trends in YA (Young Adult) Literature.
Below is the body of this paper about the books in two trends from 2016. The trends
are Retellings, fairy tales told for the modern audience, and quirky & moving.
The trends are from an article by Lisa Parkin (2014). Hope you enjoy!
Introduction
Lisa Parkin (2014) discusses four trends for young adult
books in the year 2015. These trends include “Retellings” and “Quirky and
Moving.” Each trend is defined by specific books, this paper will discuss two
from each trend.
Retellings
Stories
in the retelling trend reimagine fairy tales
for a modern audience. Retellings have existed for many years with the most
famous being the stories by the Grimm Brothers and Disney (Hintz and
Tribunella, 2013). Two examples of retellings are Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Court
of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
Cinder
Cinder, the first installment of the
Lunar Chronicles, introduces Cinder a teenage cyborg living in a futuristic
world. Meyer’s retelling of the traditional Cinderella story is engaging and
empowering. While the story is recognizable it is well masked by a dystopian
world where technology abounds.
The opening line of the book begins by stating “the screw
through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled
circle” (Meyer, 2012, 3). The introduction signals to readers of the uniqueness
of Cinder and distinguishes her from Cinderella. Cinder does not work as a maid but as a
mechanic becoming famous throughout the city for her work. As a cyborg and mechanic, Cinder challenges the many
stereotypes presented in traditional fairy tales, complementing the feminist revisions discussed by Hintz and Tribunella
(2013).
Cinder’s
family fits the traditional view of a fairy tale family with a wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. Her stepmother is cruel and hates that she became
the guardian of a cyborg even though Cinder is the one who earns the family’s
money. One day while working she meets Prince
Kai, who is seeking the best mechanic to fix his robot. Unlike in a traditional
fairy tale, Cinder meets the prince not
as a romantic interest but as a mechanic to help fix a problem.
Cinder
is taken to be a test subject to help rid the world of a terrible disease,
which her youngest stepsister has contracted. While at the clinic Cinder learns
that she may be the only one able to save the Prince, Eastern Commonwealth and
the world from the evil Queen Levana of Luna. When Cinder finally realizes
this is true she rushes to save Kai from Levana but instead of the happy ending,
Kai finds out she is a cyborg. After her failure at the Cinder runs away, but
instead of losing a shoe she loses her too small foot. The unhappy ending is
just the beginning of the tale as Meyer ends her first installment of the Lunar
Chronicles.
Meyer
has fashioned a world where elements of
the traditional tale are recognizable, with homage paid to the Chinese roots of
the Cinderella tale. Cinderella is no longer a slave waiting for her prince to
come (as in the Disney version) or a powerless girl (as in other versions) but
has become empowered to possibly save the world.
She is gutsy and daring, taking risks to save the Prince.
Court
of Thorns and Roses
In this
retelling of the story of beauty and the beast, Sarah Maas empowers a young
huntress, Feyre, allowing her to save two realms. Feyre is the youngest daughter of a fallen merchant lord.
Feyre
earns the family’s meager income by hunting while her sisters and father sit at
home. Similar to traditional fairy tales the family lives in poverty, a reality in the time when the story is set.
Feyre on
one of her hunting expeditions has ventured further from home to find a kill.
She spots a deer but is not alone, a giant wolf has also spotted the prey. Choosing
to kill the wolf, believed to be a fairy, changes her life forever. Feyre never
questions magic knowing the wolf could be a fairy and acting normally and
logically as she decides to kill him demonstrating the “immersive fantasy”
theory of Mendlesohn (Hintz and Tribunella, 2013).
The same
night her life is changed forever with the appearance of a large beast at her
home. When he demands her come with him or die, citing an old Treaty, Feyre chooses to go. This journey causes many changes
and begins the story of beauty and the beast. At
the fairy’s court Feyre learns that the terrible beast is actually a handsome
fairy lord or High Fae. She also discovers that the wolf was no beast
but one of his men transformed to search out some kind of cure for a sickness
harming the land. Maas has created a tale where the girl is not brought to
protect her father or family but to help save the world she was trying to
destroy because of hatred.
After
months in Tamlin’s court Feyre begins to change, losing her hatred and gaining
affection for him. The romance of many old fairy
tales is referenced here, though with a modern style. In the end, Tamlin begins to fall for Feyre,
choosing selflessly to send her home instead of allowing her to face the true
evil in the land. Feyre cannot stand being away and returns to save Tamlin and
the rest of Prythian with her sacrifice. Unlike other modern tales the couple
receives a fairy tale ending because of the gratitude of the other fairy lords
who each gives Feyre a bit of magic
transforming her into a High Fae.
Maas has
incorporated many different motifs from the original version and various other
retellings. In older versions, the beauty is the youngest of three who goes to
live with a beast for life to save her father. Another tale, the Polar Bear
King, has a girl being taken by a great bear and she must learn to love him
before he can become a man again. Maas’ story leaves questions as to who is
truly beauty in the tale, Feyre kills someone out of spite and receives a transformation, similar to the beast in the fairy tale but Tamlin has the
power to transform into a terrible beast outwardly and must be saved from a
curse. This retelling empowers the beauty with
the power to overcome the evil which has ruined the land and taken love away.
Quirky & Moving
A second trend
discussed by Parkin (2014) for 2015 is “Quirky and Moving,” these stories often
contain “quirky characters, outlandish situations and serious topics…” (para. 15). The
authors use realism to establish plausible, though sometimes outrageous, situations.
These books often discuss subjects once viewed as taboo in literature (Hintz
and Tribunella, 2013; Chance, 2014).
Mosquitoland: A Novel
In David Arnold’s Mosquitoland,
the reader is introduced to an eclectic group of characters each with their own
quirks and goals. The main character Mary Iris Malone, or Mim, is on a journey
to find her mother. Mim describes herself as “a collection of oddities, a
circus of neurons and electrons…It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange” (Arnold, 41).
Mim’s adventure is littered with dark events and tales
told both in the form of a letter, to her yet unborn sister, and first-person
narrative. Most of her tale, while showing a quirky side, would fall into the
“Dark Modern Realistic Fiction” category established by Chance (2014).
The old
woman is traveling alone with a box to meet her nephew and his boyfriend. An
accident shows the darker side of realism with the death of Arlene, adding a
sad element of reality to Mim’s story. Another dark element involves Poncho
Man, he corners Mim in the bathroom and attempts to rape her. The attack fails
because of one of Mim’s many self-proclaimed oddities, a displaced epiglottis.
The discussions of these taboo subjects easily demonstrate
the ideals presented by new realism and teens desire to read “fiction that
spoke9s) to their immediate experiences” (Chance, 2014, 321).
The last
two characters add a bit of light to the otherwise dreary trek. The handsome stranger turns out to be a college junior named
Beck on a photography expedition. Mim finds him attractive and admits to caring
for him, prompting him to leave in the end. The final character is Walter an
autistic boy Mim encounters under and
overpass. He reminds her of a friend from her past, and Mim decides to help
him.
Mim’s
story ends sadly with her finding her mother in a rehab facility. She must then
reconcile with her stepmother and father. The story is relatable to teenagers
whose parents have divorced or even those who still have both parents because
of the use of realistic events. These events allow Arnold’s story to fit into
the quirky and moving category presented by Parkin because Mim gets herself into
some interesting situations.
No
Parking at the End Times: We are not Okay
A second
example of the “Quirky and Moving” trend is Bryan Bliss’ No Parking at the End Times. Bliss tells the story of twins Aaron and Abigail, whose family has moved to
California after their parents fall prey to the teachings of an eccentric
religious teacher, Brother John. Their father lost his job and most of their
money because he chose to believe that the end was near and Christ would come
back on a specific date. When the Lord does not return the family is left
devastated and
stranded in San Francisco.
Similar
to Mosquitoland this book covers
darker topics often found in modern realism. The topics covered fall into
Chance’s (2014) category of “Street Violence, Drug Abuse and Homelessness”
(71). Arnold presents the ways in which the twins handle their family’s
situation each in their own way. Aaron by internalizing and withdrawing from
the family and Abigail by trying to get their parents to see what is happening
to them, both are realistic views of teens coping mechanisms.
Abigail
is having trouble accepting the reality that her parents are truly not thinking
about anything besides Brother John and his prophecies. Aaron, however, has decided that his parents do not care what
happens to them and wishes to run away, after all,
he sneaks out most nights and they do not even notice. Abigail tells how she
has begun to miss home, using a series of flashbacks to recall happier times. Abigail
sneaks out one night to find him but cannot and must return to their van. When
she does find out she is not happy but accepts it because her brother is
finally talking with her again. The following day everything seems to go well,
except their parents still do not notice them.
A few
days later both of them run away, Aaron first then Abigail because she feels
left behind. When Abigail finds her brother, he is running out of the church
with stolen money. They chose to split up to find one of their friends and buy
tickets to go home. Aaron is beaten up
while they are apart. The darkness of street violence is noted by the words of
the paramedics who come to help Aaron, they call him a ‘street kid’ and do not
seem to care (Bliss, 2015, 259). Abigail rushes to find her parents, creating a
sense of hope that they will be rescued from the streets. Once she finds them
it takes a few moments to convince them to go, especially her father who believes
Brother John. However, the story ends on a happy note with the family in
Aaron’s hospital room together knowing he will recover.
Bliss’
coverage of realistic events through strange situations places this book in the
trend of “quirky and moving.” The book is moving because it shows the hardships
faced by teens when their parents make poor decisions, which many can relate
to. The realism in the book allows readers to relate to the characters and
demonstrates the profound impact of this trend.
Conclusion
Young
adult books follow trends which change based on what teens want to read but
they also shape what teens are reading. Retellings present fairy tales to a new audience, often with a
modern twist as seen in Cinder. Court of Thorns and Roses presents an
empowered heroine who saves the day instead of waiting for her prince. The
books in the Quirky and Moving category display the darker side of teen fiction
presenting real life situation that teen readers can relate to. Mosquitoland displays the effects of
divorce on teens and how they can cope through their own means of escape. No Parking at the End Times discusses
the various challenges faced by teens whose parents seem to forget them when
making decisions. Each of the books provides
a different aspect of the trend they represent and shape the story of teen
literature.
References
Arnold, D. (2015). Mosquitoland: A novel. New York: Viking.
Bliss, B. (2015). No parking at the end times: We are not okay. New York: Greenwillow
Books.
Chance, R. (2014). Young adult literature in action: A librarian’s guide (2nd Ed.).
Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Hintz, C., and
Tribunella, E. L. (2013). Reading
children’s literature: A critical introduction. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.
Maas, S. J. (2015). Court of thorns and roses. [Kindle Edition]. New York: Blumsbury.
Meyer, Marissa. (2012). Cinder. New York: Feiwel and Friends.
