Is Young Adult SF/F Too Explicit?

[ellen_datlow]

I participated in this week's Mind Meld:
Is Young Adult SF/F Too Explicit?

Comments

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

Great answer. I remember getting the "adult" card at the library after I finished all the kiddie books. First thing I went for was Naked Lunch. The librarian warned me, "This book isn't what you think it's going to be!" and I said, "We'll see about that." She was right.

First adult book I bought with money: The First Omni Book of Science Fiction, edited by you.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

You flatterer, you ;-)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

But seriously, I find the question weird because of my experiences...(and yours, and a lot of other readers')

[vylar-kaftan.livejournal.com]

A library with an adult card? Is that common? I don't think I've ever seen it.

I think I checked out children, teen, and adult books without much preference between the ages of 7 to 18 (although my choices got weightier as I got older). I remember really liked Harlan Ellison's story "A Boy and His Dog", which I found on the bookshelves at home. I was 11.

[secritcrush.livejournal.com]

My childhood library had one as well. It wasn't so much that you couldn't check out adult books with a children's one, but your parent had to be there if you did. (It also had a much smaller limit on how many books you could check out.)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I vaguely remember this (it was wayyy in my past :-) )

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

Wow ... that's a heck of a fight brewing.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Only between John Wright and ....everyone (so far) ;-)

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

I can sympathize with his viewpoint, but I've traveled that route. I prefer knowledge.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I liked your reply to him.

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[bondgwendabond.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid to look, because I'm trying to meet a deadline! :-)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Heh!! But you need to...

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

I wonder what John considers 'perversions' -- Holly once told me that there were supposedly only a few topics that YA editors would pass on. One was bestiality. I forget the second.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I don't know...but if you want to get embroiled, you could certainly ask him :-)--if you dare.

[livia-llewellyn.livejournal.com]

Anal sex.

[rob-davies.livejournal.com]

This does not bode well for my YA novel Hillary Potluck and the Barnyard of Shame.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[blackholly.livejournal.com]

'Boring' was the second. They were "the two things you couldn't do in YA" from a talk Susan Vaught gave at the Nebulas a few years ago.

[lupa.livejournal.com]

lots of great answers here, though i resonate most with yours because i also read The Magus at 15. i find it odd that this is coming up again, though - i thought the flap about banning Judy Blume books sort of settled that. ;)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, banning books as too explicit or offensive in some other way is always coming up--again and again. The only thing we can do is keep arguing against such short sightedness.

[lupa.livejournal.com]

you're very right. i don't like to think of the fact that people don't learn from past events, particularly since censorship is a huge deal for me. therefore i tend to be slightly more flippant about the topic than it warrants.

your comment that young adults are young ADULTS and not children is something i think a lot of adults don't want to hear, and it's somewhat saddening as well.

[blackholly.livejournal.com]

I was sucked in!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

LOL. So I saw. But your response was perfect. Interesting though that so far ONLY John Wright is the nay sayer...and in a very nasty way.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

If Wright thinks a 14 yr old is "innocent" he's in for some nasty shocks.

[charlesatan.livejournal.com]

I read the original post before I went to bed but it seems the comment thread is just as interesting (welcome to the Internet!). =)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I like it :-)

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

My bookgroup read N.M. Browne's Basilisk last year and the Catholic members of the group were very upset at the rape in a YA book. I said "what rape?" They said "The one indicated here." So they were upset at the implication of rape. I'm sure some teens watch TV or read the newspapers whre there's a lot more about real rape.

(My father always went to the base commander to get me an adult card as soon as we were transferred.)