Earlier this week I read an article in The New Yorker about Alloy Entertainment, a big company which proposes ideas for teen and tween novels. According to Alloy’s editorial director, “More serious, angsty literature is where girls are right now. Morbid, dead-girl lit.”
When I read that sentence, my first reaction was: Dead-girl lit? How gross.
My second reaction was: How sad.
My third was: How boring.
Because I don’t think that we all need to be writing one particular kind of novel. And I also believe that the best novels, the ones we tend to reread, have more than just one dimension. My personal favorites are usually funny/angsty or funny/serious hybrids. And I always want to read about complex, vibrant characters, not about heroines who are literally or metaphorically "dead."
When I hear from girl readers, I get the impression that they’re looking for smart, entertaining books that are true to life—not “morbid, dead-girl lit.” But maybe nobody (including me) should generalize about “where girls are right now.” It’s probably true that by next week they’ll be somewhere else, anyway.
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I agree. Hey,I know this isn't the the weird word thing,but I came up with a new one...do you already have SNEEZE?
ReplyDeleteNo we don't!!! Cassie's list has snort, snore and nostril--all nose-related--but somehow not SNEEZE!
ReplyDeleteYay! What a great one. My day is now complete. =)
Good,I'm glad I did it!! :)
ReplyDeleteHehe! Sneeze sounds like peas (like the vegtable)!
ReplyDeleteAnyway...yeah, I get annoyed when people are like "young people like doing this, and wearing this, and reading this..." i mean, usually that's an adult talking, and what do they even know about what certain young people like? Maybe they're looking at a chart or some list of statistics, or maybe they're using professional observations, but science and math can't tell them what I like! Besides, every young person is different - they can't generalize! Ugh!
Sorry, I went on a bit of a rant there :-P
Signing out,
EB787
Hey, EB 787, thanks for ranting! I completely agree--it's wrong to lump all girls together and generalize about their taste in books, music, clothing, etc. And even if a certain kind of book is popular right now, it doesn't mean ALL girls are reading it--or that they wouldn't like other types of books, too!
ReplyDeleteHey, is giggle already on the list? It should be. Is it just me, o oes it remind anyone else f bubbles??
ReplyDelete