“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” (Haddon, 2003, p. 73).

Have you ever wondered why some books have different covers, like the pictures above? Here we have two identical books, with two very different covers. Can you tell which cover is intended to attract the young adult reader and which the older? This is known as ‘crossover’ and in all honesty, I had never heard of this type of genre before. The definition of crossover depends mainly on who you ask. For most readers, authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers, the crossover genre is defined as novels written for children or young adults which can also attract a healthy adult audience as well. For those in public relations and marketing, a crossover novel is when it is written for adults, but young adults read and spread the word – creating a literary ‘buzz’ (Griffin, 2015). One thing they can all agree on is that ‘everyone wins’ when a novel’s appeal is ageless.

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time (2005) by Mark Haddon is a one-of-a- kind murder mystery. The detective and narrator is Christopher, a fifteen year old schoolboy who has Asperger’s Syndrome (though it is never specified in the book). He is raised by his father and is taught social and life skills by his therapist, Siobhan. When he discovers his neighbour’s dog has been murdered, he begins his ‘who dunnit’ mission which leads to him uncovering more revelations than he had bargained for.

In our class discussion we spoke about how this book was made appealing for both young and older readers. We also discussed the roles Christopher’s parents played in the book.

We agreed that the young adult reader could identify with the age of the narrator. The young reader might be able to recognise Christopher’s oddities and find it amusing, such as hating foods of a certain colour or being touched. But I think the younger reader will move past this and be more interested on the murder mystery aspect of the novel. In his own article published in The Guardian (2004), Mark Haddon, the author says that “…the book has simple language, a carefully shaped plot and invites you to enter someone else’s life. And these, I think, are the aspects of the book that appeal most to younger readers….Young readers have to be entertained. No child reads fiction because they think it’s going to make them a better person.” (Haddon, 2004).

The older reader on the other hand would find Christopher’s complicated and logical way of thinking to be more perplexing and interesting rather than the murder investigation itself. Even though the author insists that the main theme is not about Asperger’s Syndrome (Singh, 2015), it does however give the reader an insight into how Aspergers experience the world. To me, it is Christopher’s unique thoughts that makes the story compelling to many adult readers. Combined with the illustrations inside the book, they give both readers, young and old, a connection with the character, revealing an emotional response from the reader (Lewis, 2016).

The role of Christopher’s parents play provided a healthy debate in the group. We could not decide whether one parent was better than the other but we all agreed that both parents were hopeless. I was more sympathetic towards the father than the mother. A single parent simply trying to do his best, I could feel his exasperation over his son’s pedantic ways and yet, lying to his son about his mother does not exonerate him either.

I read the book because I was drawn into the hype but also for personal reasons. I found it to have a simple storyline and quite funny in parts. However, whenever Christopher got too mathematical or technical in his reasonings, this went way over my head. Numbers are not my thing.

Depending on the book, a crossover novel can be read by anyone between the ages of ten and thirty (Rees, 2003). The Curious Incident has several layers depending on who is reading the book. It is simple yet quite complex at the same time therefore I think readers 14 years and older can appreciate it. There is a fair amount of cuss words in the book that some parents might find shocking. But to me, this adds to the real emotions of the novel and the incompetence of the adults – linguistically and emotionally. Besides, any child who does not know the f-word or the s-word is either lying or has been living under a rock.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Griffin, L. (2015, October 19). What is Crossover Fiction? — Lynne Griffin. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.lynnegriffin.com/2015/10/crossover-fiction/

Haddon, M. (2017, September 20). B is for bestseller. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/apr/11/booksforchildrenandteenagers.features3

Lewis, J. (2016, February 23). 7 Reasons Why More Adult Books Should Be Illustrated. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://bookriot.com/2016/02/24/7-reasons-adult-books-illustrated/

Singh, A. (2015, June 8). Mark Haddon – don’t use Curious Incident… as an autism “textbook”. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9311242/Mark-Haddon-dont-use-Curious-Incident…-as-an-autism-textbook.html

“You shall go west, and face the god who has turned… You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned… You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend… And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end.”

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (Riordan, 2005, p.116).

Check out that book cover: Half Boy, Half God, All Hero, Epic Heroes, Legendary Adventures….if Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief doesn’t scream ‘Epic Fantasy’, then I don’t know what will!

I’m not familiar with reading adventure novels and Percy Jackson is only my second fantasy novel I have read (after the Harry Potter series). I do enjoy them but I find that with this genre, it should be read ‘non-stop’. With Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (2005), I read it ‘on-and-off’ because the book came in between other study obligations. I think this really spoilt the fast-pace and flow of the plot and the inconsistency, affected my overall enjoyment of the book.

In an interview with its author, Rick Riordan, he states that young readers are drawn to fantasy stories because “[they] especially like to escape reality and slip into a fantasy world. It’s easier to read about people doing amazing things like casting spells and riding dragons than about people doing mundane things like going to school. Kids already know that life. It’s nice to pretend you are someone else once in a while.” (Riordan, 2019). As early as 1925, Russian psychologist, Leo Vygotsky (1925) made connections between nursery rhymes and children’s play. “By dragging a child into a topsy-turvy world, we help his intellect work because the child becomes interested creating such a topsy-turvy world for himself, in order to become more effectively the master of laws governing the real world” (Lindquist, 2003).  In other words, it allows the young readers to experiment seeing the world in different ways and make connections between a land of make-believe and their own reality. Austin (2002) says that “all fiction requires a balance between elements of the strange and the familiar.” I believe that Riordan (2005) has cleverly interweaved Percy’s modern America and the world of Greek mythology.

In our weekly literature session, we discussed as a class three adventure/quest novels: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Lewis, 1949), The Hobbit (Tolkien, 1932) and Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (Riordan, 2005). We discovered that all the books follow a similar pattern for the adventure/quest genre. It is Joseph Campbell’s 12 stages of a Hero’s Journey (1968) who analysed a common thread between our stories (Voytilla, 2003). It begins with the Ordinary World, where the reader gets to know the hero and identifies with him before the Journey begins (Percy is dyslexic and has a troublesome relationship with his step father). There is a Call to Adventurewhich the protagonist decides to answer (find the stolen lightning bolt before the Gods start World War 3) but the hero Refuses the Journey because of fears and insecurities, “Look, I never wanted to be a half-blood. Most of the time it gets you killed in nasty, dangerous ways” (Riordan, 2005). The hero then meets his Mentor to gain insight, advice, training, or magical weaponry in order to overcome fears and face his enemy (Chiron/Mr. Brummer). The hero decides to commit to the journey by Crossing the Threshold, “When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back….Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.” (Riordan, 2005). Having crossed the threshold, the hero faces Tests, encounters Allies, confronts Enemies, and learns the rules of the hypothetical world all the while he prepares to Approach the Inmost Cave that leads to the Journey’s heart (Travelling to the Underworld or Hades). The hero engages in the Ordeal , where he must confront his most difficult challenge, “I somehow knew that if I looked [at Ares], I would disintegrate into ashes. The light died. I looked back. Ares was gone.” (Riordan, 2005, p.257) and Reward (Percy returns to Lightning Bolt to Zeus and in return, Percy’s mother is returned). The hero completes his journey and accepts the Road Back to the Ordinary World,“I asked Argus to take me down to cabin three, so I could pack my bags for home.” (Riordan, 2005, p.291). And lastly, Resurrection, the protagonist experiences an external and internal shift where a part of the protagonist dies (his old self) and the other part is reborn (his new self), coming full circle as a changed, stronger and new person, “I’ll be back next summer. I’ll survive until then. After all, I am your son.” (Riordan, 2015, p.291).

I would say, Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (2005) is suitable for 11 year olds and older. Moreover, any child or adolescent with a passion for Greek mythology will enjoy ‘The Percy Jackson and The Olympians’ series. And for those young readers who do not know much about Greek mythology, Percy Jackson is a great way to introduce the classical themes, but also provide a link between the ancient world and the modern world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gunilla Lindqvist (2003) Vygotsky’s Theory of Creativity, Creativity Research Journal, 15:2-3, 245-251, DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2003.9651416

Austin, A. (2002) Quality in Epic Fantasy
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/quality-in-epic-fantasy/
retrieved 26 March 2019

Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968.

Voytilla, S. (2003, June 1). The Stages of the Hero’s Journey [pdf file]. Retrieved April 1, 2019, from http://www.tlu.ee/~rajaleid/montaazh/Hero%27s%20Journey%20Arch.pdf

Love in the Time of Atonement

Cal (1983) is probably my favourite book in the Youth Literature collection. It tells the bleak story of Cal, a young man living at the height of religious and political unrest in Northern Ireland, during the 80s, commonly known as, ‘The Troubles’. Its gripping fast-paced plot, intertwined with a doomed love story, captures the tension in Northern Ireland, making the story, I feel, realistic.

Cal is a novel of contrasts (Carter & Durow, 2000). We see how Cal, nauseated and sickened by working in a noisy abattoir in the city, eventually finds the peace and quiet, by tending to livestock in a rural farm. We see Cal, trying to discover his own identity as an Irish Catholic man, struggling to learn Gaelic and frequently attending mass, yet is surrounded by loyalists, “He could not bear to look up and see the flutter of Union Jacks…”(MacLaverty, 1983, p.4). We are shown how Cal is shunned or threatened by his Protestant neighbours, yet, the community who does want him, Cal does not want to take part in. We observe how Cal, is reluctantly in ‘The Cause’ but would rather be out of it, “I’m far enough in to want out” (MacLaverty, 1983, p.19). Above all, we are witness to the growing love and infatuation Cal has for Marcella, and yet, “[She] is the one woman in the world who was forbidden him.”(MacLaverty, 1983, p.91) For Cal realises he played a part in Marcella’s husband’s murder.

The picture of a confessional booth is what our group chose to symbolise what the novel means to us. Combined with the Preacher’s ever presence in the background, he reminds Cal of his guilt and the fact that he will never be able to find redemption, “Outside the Preacher stood at the corner shouting at the top of his voice…….’Repent ye; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'” (MacLaverty, 1983, p.142).  We also discussed that Cal is not a typical YA novel, where parents are perceived as hapless or have failed their children in one way or another (Just, 2017).  Cal is close to Shamie, despite his hard ways, but not close enough to share his secrets and guilt. For Shamie, his home means everything to him, and when his home is firebombed and Cal goes into hiding, it destroys Shamie as he slowly falls into depression, “Lying in the bath he worried about his father. He would have to risk it and come back and see him more often….The bastards who had burned them out would rejoice if they knew they had broken Shamie’s spirit as well” (MacLaverty, 1983, p.112).

Appleyard (1991), states that realism in stories are important to adolescent readers because either the story, “…reflects the reader’s experience accurately…..Or because the reader can easily imagine similar situations” (Appleyard, 1991, p.12). I second this because having some knowledge about the conflict in Northern Ireland would help the adolescent reader grasp some understanding of the novel and what Cal is going through. I grew up in the UK, during the 80s and 90s, and The Troubles was all too common on the nightly news. Also, I am somewhat familiar with other literary works regarding the Irish Civil War. For A-level literature, I read several plays by Irish playwright Seán O’Casey and for my literature short story course in the HU, I read Liam O’Flaherty’s story, The Sniper (1923).

Because of the sexually explicit element in the book, this can only be of interest to adolescents who are either sexually active or are about to encounter their first sexual experience much like Cal. Appleyard (1991) states, “The more common expression of involvement is not so explicitly a matter of emotion, but rather of identification with the characters and the situation.” (Appleyard, 1991, p.7). Therefore I would recommend this book for 15+ year olds.

Lastly, the abrupt conclusion of the novel, is summed up in one paragraph:

“The next morning, Christmas Eve, almost as if he expected it, the police arrived to arrest him and he stood in a dead man’s Y-fronts listening to the charge, grateful that at last someone was going to beat him to within an inch of his life.”

(MacLaverty, 1983, p.154).

Cal, finally is relieved of his guilt and is finally atoned from his sin.

Sources

Appleyard, J.A. (1991). Becoming a Reader. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press

Carter, R., & Durow, V. (2000). Cal – An Introduction. London, England: Penguin Student Edition.

Just, J. (2017, October 27). The Parent Problem in Young Adult Lit. Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/books/review/Just-t.html

MacLaverty, B. (1983). Cal. London, England: Penguin Books.

The Story of a Hurt Little Girl

“I can’t stand fairy stories…if you’re very good and very beautiful..this prince comes along and you live happily ever after….But if you’re bad and ugly then you’ve got no chance whatsoever…”

Tracy Beaker (Wilson, 1991, p.14).

Once upon a time, there once was a beautiful little girl who was sweet and caring. She had a mummy and daddy who loved her very much and she lived in a beautiful big house. She had many friends to play with and was very, very happy…….If you are looking for a fairy tale story with a happily ever after, this is not one of them. This is the story of the harsh reality of Tracy Beaker.

The Story of Tracy Beaker (1991) is a confessional autobiography of a little girl in care. She is abandoned by her mother and bounced around from foster family to foster family only to return back to the children’s home, nicknamed, ‘The Dumping Ground’. Tracy Beaker, our protagonist is obsessed with telling her own story, on her own terms. In her ‘Book about Me’, she writes candidly about her daily life in care, her mum, her relationship with the other children in care and her care workers.  She is extensively perceived by her care-givers as having “behavioural problems” which makes her particularly disobedient, cheeky, persistent and outspoken.  She is prone to fantasy where she dreams of a better life with her disappointing, yet idealised mother, who can do no wrong in Tracy’s eyes.

No one ends up in a care home without accumulating a sad story, but The Story of Tracy Beaker (1991) is written and illustrated in such a way for children to understand difficult subject matters.  I would say the ideal reader would be a similar age to Tracy’s, between 9-12 years of age.  Children at around this age are able to construct complex stories as their cognitive abilities develop. Moreover, it is important to add, that between the ages of 6-8, children start to abandon the magical world of fairy tales and as they grow older, they are able to tolerate more unpleasant stories (Appleyard, 1991). According to Donald Maass (n.d), “Ideally, a great children’s novel leaves the reader stronger, wiser, and better to cope with whatever real-world challenges he may face”(Maass, n.d).

Compared with other children’s novels such as Peter Pan (Barrie, 1904), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll, 1865) and The Secret Garden (Hodgson Burnett, 1911), which all describe a magical children’s world, away from parents; for Tracy that world is very real. Beneath her sass and pertinence, lies a deep feeling of insecurity and sadness. Tracy gets through this by lying and concocting fantastical versions of her life and her mother to make herself feel better.  

In our weekly class, we discussed Tracy as an unreliable narrator to her own story because of her young age and naivety but moreover, her compulsive lying and exaggerated stories. Researching a little deeper, Piaget’s first stage of Moral Judgment of the Child (1932) states that ‘a lie is wrong because it is an object of punishment’. At around ten years old, children know that lying is wrong and Tracy still believes this. From the onset of her diary, she begins with her first lie, ‘My hair is fair and very long and curly’ (Wilson, 1991, p.7), but then she confesses, ‘I’m telling fibs. It’s dark and difficult and sticks up in all the wrong places’ (Wilson, 1991, p.7). Piaget also states that if the punishment is removed and the lie remains undiscovered, then is it a lie? Tracy undergoes this, when she is suspected of breaking her ‘worst’ enemy’s, Mickey Mouse clock. She blatantly lies to her readers, that ‘clocks break all the time’ and when her care worker has no absolute proof Tracy is the culprit, in Tracy’s reasoning, she should be believed that she didn’t do it since even she does not ‘one hundred per cent know that [she] broke it’. (Day & Pearson, 2016).  

Anna Freud (1965) distinguishes between a variety of types of lying. “Innocent” lying is when a child cannot clearly distinguish between reality and fantasy. On the other hand, “Fantasy” lying, is when children can make these distinctions but are coping with insufferable realities by means of wishful thinking (Wachtel, 2004). For Tracy who is abandoned by her mother and has no contact, her wishful thinking is that her mother is someplace unable to reach her, “..my mum’s probably too far away to come on a quick visit. Yeah, that’s it, she’s probably abroad somewhere…She’ll have gone to the States. Maybe Hollywood. My mum looks so great she’d easily get into the movies. You can’t hop on the bus and visit your daughter when you’re hundreds and thousands of miles away in Hollywood, now can you?” (Wilson, 1991, p.48).   

From a mother’s perspective, I wanted to hug Tracy; adopt her even. I understood why she behaved the way she did and said the things she said. I felt sorry for her when she is ‘begging’ to be fostered and sad when everyday she thinks that this is the day her mother will collect her (and I, knowing full well she won’t). For Tracy, her every day is Hope-Disappointment-Hope, an ugly vicious circle.

Appleyard, J.A. (1991). Becoming a Reader. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press

Day, H., & Pearson, L. (2016). Jacqueline Wilson: A Collection of all new Critical Essays by Contemporary Authors. London, UK: Macmillan Education Publishers Limited.

Wachtel, E. (2004). Treating Troubled Children and Their Families. New York, United States: Guildford Press.

“What Makes a great Novel for Children” https://hubl.hu.nl/sites/hu.learn.mentorix.dk/files/userfiles/u2231/documents/what%20makes%20a%20great%20novel%20for%20children. pdf retrieved 11 March 2019.  

Generation K on Fire

Here’s some advice. Stay alive.

The Hunger Games (Collins, 2008, p.56)

What more can a teenager ask for in a book?  A dystopian, post-apocalyptic thriller? Check. A tough-as-nails teenage heroine? Check. A star-crossed romance? Check. And last but not least – hope? Perhaps. This is what The Hunger Games (Collins, 2008) delivers and is exactly what teenagers crave.

I saw the movie before I read the book which unfortunately warped how I imagined the characters to be (Katniss Everdeen became Jennifer Lawrence for example). Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed the book more because Collins (2008) incorporated exciting plot twists and turns that the movie lacked.

A fair amount of controversy has surrounded this trilogy.  Understandably so, parents and teachers may be disgusted in a story that hinges on children forced to barbarically kill other children for entertainment. Adolescent books deal with difficult themes (such as death, sin, prejudice) which are often confusing and emotionally turbulent much like the central characters (Appleyard, 1991).

The truth is, this book treats its readers as young adults and that means that one cannot ‘bubble-wrap’ today’s kids from problems or terror of the real world. Moreover, teens demand that stories reflect realistically the darker parts of life; not everything ends with a happily ever after (Appleyard, 1991). Therefore, I would recommend the book for children, 13 years and older.

In our class discussions, we spoke about what adolescents look for in a good book. According to Appleyard (1991), there are three requirements. Firstly, teenagers want to relate and identify with the characters in particular, the protagonist’s life and personality but also identify with the way the characters think, the choices they make and understand why they act the way they do. Second of all, teenagers want realism in the story.  They want their characters to be flawed and go through painful events just like any other teenager has experienced.  And lastly, teenagers want stories to give them meaning. They want to experience involvement in the book but also make them think critically.

Collins (2008) brings us the anti-authoritarian heroine, Katniss Everdeen. She is gritty, resilient and ‘forest-smart’. You might say she is also the reluctant heroine for the revolutionary cause. When we first meet Katniss, she is prematurely thrust into the adult world. Her father is dead, her mother is depressed and it is up to Katniss to play the hunter/gatherer role and provide for her baby sister and mother. According to Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Conflict (1970), adolescents need to make a healthy transition from childhood to adulthood by means of exploring their independence and developing a stable sense of self (Woolfolk et al, 2012). For Katniss this would have been impossible as any normal adolescent feelings would have to have been suppressed by the huge responsibility placed on her young shoulders. Going further, Marcia (1966) identifies four different identity statuses, whereby Katniss is going through the foreclosure status. She has made a commitment (as a family provider and later, as tribute for her district) without attempting to explore her own identity first. Additionally, Appleyard (1991) states that the divided selfhood, a split between the real inner-self and the ‘artificial’ outer-self (where an appearance is put on for show for others) is how Katniss survives The Games. In front of a televised reality ‘pre-Games’ show, she has to pretend to have feelings for her district partner, Peeta because that is what the citizens of the Capitol want. The two play their roles as star-crossed lovers but for Katniss, she has no interest in romance at this point in her life.

“I think The Hunger Games (2008) resonates with them so much because they are Katniss navigating a dark and difficult world.” (Hertz, 2016).

Many teenagers can equate with the realism of a bleak, unequal and harsh setting of Panem to the ongoing struggles of today’s world. Just like Katniss, today’s teens are shaped by three factors: technology, economic decline and coming of age in a time of great disquietude (Hertz, 2016). Noreena Hertz, an economist and academic, coined the term Generation K (after Katniss) for those born between 1995 and 2002. Hertz, believes that this is a generation riddled with anxiety and huge depression.  They are burdened with economic debt and probably won’t be able to achieve a high standard of living as their predecessors. Moreover, they are distrustful of their government and its policies. Today’s young adults are fighting the establishment on important issues such as gun control, climate change, terrorism, human rights and war. The teenage activist is Katniss Everdeen and as Hertz puts it, “I think The Hunger Games (2008) resonates with them so much because they are Katniss navigating a dark and difficult world.” (Hertz, 2016).

Lastly, The Hunger Games (2008) will (hopefully) stir the average teenager to think critically. For Collins (2008), The Games is really an extension of our society’s current obsession with sensationalist reality tv. Reality TV viewers pick their favourite contestant based on popularity (by looks or talent), they may enjoy watching how their favourite contestant devise a scheming plan, betray or humiliate another contestant for the sole purpose of winning the competition. The parallels between death and “being voted off the island” are undeniable.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Appleyard, J.A. (1991). Becoming a Reader. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press

Hertz, N. (2016, March 19). The Guardian. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/think-millennials-have-it-tough-for-generation-k-life-is-even-harsherhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/think-millennials-have-it-tough-for-generation-k-life-is-even-harsher

Marcia, J. E. (1966) Development and validation of ego identity statuses. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551-558.