Response to "Why The Best Kid's Books Are Written With Blood"

Sherman Alexie, the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, writes the article; Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood, in response to Megan Cox Gurdon’s popular and argumentative article about Young Adult (YA) literature “reflecting hideous portrayals of what life is”; Darkness Too Visible. In her article Alexie disagrees with Gurdon and stresses; YA books does not protect a reader from difficult situations that they had already endured but acts as a weapon for the reader to use to tackle down that difficult situation. She believes “book banners” are trying to ban books for the protection of privileged kids who have not yet had their hands dirty. But what about those whose hands are already dirty? She believes that YA books are meant for those kinds of readers, readers who have already have gone through or going through a tragic challenge, to use the words they read as weapons they could use to later tackle their challengers. 

 

In Alexie’s article she talks about teenagers she met at a promotion ceremony for a Seattle alternative high school. She describes how a lot of these kids at the high school have “…stories that are individually tragic and collectively agonizing” and how they all loved and have been inspired by Alexie’s controversial book; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. She also shares her story of major hardships of being a Native American teenager. She states “When I think of the poverty-stricken, sexually and physically abused, self-loathing Native American teenager that I was, I can only wish, immodestly, that I’d been given the opportunity to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”. She says this to say that YA books such as the one she wrote serves as a resource for teenagers who are facing similar challenges as the characters in the book. Then Alexie poses another side of her claim of “book banners” trying to protect the privileged kids. She shares a small story of her meeting a 17-year old boy, who is from a well rounded family, undergoing a very torn situation of being forced to join the army by his father and him wanting to become a writer. He had turned to her book for inspiration and help with his problem. This shows even a“privileged” kid needs help.

 

Sherman Alexie uses several craft moves to help her support her claims. She has a serious tone when she shares stories of the people she met undergoing tragic difficulties now taboo to the world of YA literature. Her seriousness portrays how she strongly she feels about these “dark” topics that she writes about in her books which are actually a common problem to common people. However when she is directing her argument at Megan Cox Gurdon she has a very sarcastic tone and a lot of authority over her in her voice. In her article she says “He  was seventeen and destined to join the military. Yes, he was old enough to die and kill for his country. And old enough to experience the infinite horrors of war. But according to Ms. Gurdon, he might be too young to read a YA novel that vividly portrays those very same horrors.” In this quote you could hear Sherman Alexie saying, “Come on now Ms. Gurdon, really?”

 

Another craft move that Alexie uses in her article is little small moments she shared about herself, and teenagers facing the horrors of life. She uses each small moment to support her opinions. For example, in the small moment she shares about herself, she mentions if she could have read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian when she was facing the same problems as the protagonist of that book, it would have helped her cope greatly. This supports her claim of YA books acting as a weapon for teenagers to use to tackle their worst nightmares.

I definitely agree with Sherman Alexie’s argument. And I most definitely agree with her statement; “I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.” This statement which she directly made, speaks to me. It stands very true to me. When I pick out books to read, I choose books with the characters facing a similar problem as I am. I want to read about someone who’s battling a similar monster as me. I want to learn how they face that monster down so I can do it too. And sometimes the best way to learn something is to have someone else show you how to do it. This is the concept schools use. The best way for a student to learn to multiply numbers is by having a teacher show you how to do it. If that’s okay, then why is reading a young adult book which deals with real world problems not okay to read if it can teach you how to tackle challenges you may face once your out there alone in the world? Basically parents who are in support of the “Book banning” extravaganza want to shield their kids from the real world, typical of common over-protective parents. But this simple act of “protecting” kids from the consequences of the world, which may seem as justice to most parents, can really affect their kids in their adult life when reality slaps them in the face. 

The Forgotten Member of the Family

“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten,” says the great Benjamin Franklin famous for wisdom and his accomplishments. Inspirational and touching as his words are; reality begs a different alternative.

Via Pullman, the older sister of the protagonist of the book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, constantly feels forgotten and cast aside by her mother. She understands, August, her younger brother (the protagonist), requires a tremendous amount of attention from her mom because of his medical condition which resulted in the deformity of his face. She understands August does not have the best school-life, and understands her mom worries about his struggles. She knows how August is very frail, and knows how much her mother worries about that too. She is aware of many things that worry her mom, but sometimes Via can’t help but want her to worry about her too.

After losing her grandmother, a person she greatly loved and a person that greatly loved her back, Via was devastated. Via was alone. Her grandmother had once told her she was her favorite grandchild. Her grandmother told her she was there to look after her, to pay attention to her alone. Via’s grandmother had told her everyone was there to pay attention to August, but she was there to notice Via. After her grandmother past away however, no one was left to look after Via. She lacked the attention she desired. This desire for attention branched into a jealousy. Over time Via became jealous of the amount of attention her mom gave August.

On the anniversary of Via’s grandmother’s death, she wanted her mom and her to grieve together. To bond with one another for once. When the phone rang and news from August’s school came saying he was feeling sick, “August’s mom came out,” and “Via’s mom was put away”. Though she understood why her mom would have to rush out on her, Via probably wished she didn’t. I can tell because if I was in her position, I wouldn’t want it. I would want to keep Mom all to myself, the way Via would have wanted to.

I have two younger brothers. They are very troublesome at home and at their school. I understand they aren’t that great in their academics. And I am aware that Mom worries about their grades more than they do. I know leaving them alone in the house to step into the bathroom can result in an instant mess of papers, toys, and food on the floors. I realize Mom must take that into account whenever she turns her back. I know Mom wants me to be the one she does not have to worry about, but sometimes I want her to worry about me. To ask me what’s up when I’m angry. To yell at me to get up on time in the morning. To give me some of her attention so I don’t feel so forgotten. So my jealously over my brothers does not grow any bigger…

 Benjamin Franklin said in a family, no one is forgotten. No one is left to keep up alone. I’m not so sure about that anymore. 

The Infernal Devices; Clockwork Angel (You have to read this!)

 Over the summer I have involved myself with an infamous series among kids my age, "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare. More specifically; the prequels to the series, "The Infernal Devices". I have finished the first book of the prequels which is titled; "Clockwork Angel" and enjoyed every word on each one of it's pages. 

"Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare is an intriguing science fiction and romance book with satisfying content. The series "The Infernal Devices" holds a very twisty and "near-the-edge" plot. The book takes place in 1800s London, surrounding around the protagonist Tessa Gray who has a mysterious power of shape-shifting. She is targeted by the strange Magister of a peculiar club called "The Pandemonium Club" and gets involved with Shadowhunters, a dominant race over other supernatural beings, who's job is to eliminate demons.

What really made my eyes dart from word to word rapidly were the unsuspecting cliff-hangers at the end of mostly every chapter. I was caught off guard several to many times, which chiseled my interest wider. For example when Tessa's brother, Nathaniel Gray, turned out to be a spy sent from the Magister himself, my stomach almost flipped. I had not expected Tessa's brother to simply betray her and agree to hand his blood sister over to an evil man for wealth. Cassandra Clare had gave me the impression throughout the book that Nate was an innocent victim to the Masgister's plans and cared from the bottom of his heart for her sister, Tessa. To so suddenly reveal his true nature was genius!

I also fascinated by the character development of Tessa. As the story began she was under the influence that only men had courage and the bravery to face their enemies. Even as the story exceeded the middle she wasn't able to muster up enough courage to protect herself from constant dangers. The key event that peaked a change in her mind was when she was forced to shoot a bullet at De Quincy, the assumed Magister. Towards the end of the story Tessa pulled of a great feat of faking her death to avoid being captured by the real Magister. Tessa proved herself that she, a girl, could pull of something extremely extraordinary that perhaps most men cannot.

Another factor of Clare's work, "Clockwork Angel" that I appreciated was the balance between the amount of romance and the actual progress of the story plot. In most sci-fi or fantasy books that I mostly pick up and end up abandoning, there is no balance between the two. In most cases the romantic parts of the plot drags on for an immensely long period of time; making the plot to appear to be very slow moving. Clare's book had the right about of emotional scenes at the right moments while the plot progressed at my favorable pace; not to fast where I can't even spare time to comprehend past events, but also not at a snail's pace where I become rather impatient and end  up giving up on the book altogether.

I was very happy with the first book of the Infernal Devices series, "Clockwork Angel". The amount of plot twists kept me hooked and on edge. Tessa's development and her grand feat left me breathless. And I thank Cassandra Clare for understanding that there has to be a balance between the all too popular theme; romance, and the actual events of the story.