why halo thar

[kaigou]

Over the past two or three weeks, there've been an awful lot of people subscribing suddenly. *shifty eyes* I'm not entirely certain who to blame who to thank. Instead, if you don't mind, please use this thread to introduce yourself.

poll results for readers' choices:
story/narrative analysis 93.1%
snark and rants 82.8%
fandom meta: 86.2%
fiction critiques 79.3%

Comments

[sothcweden]

I can't remember which post drew me in, since I immediately started poking around in your older posts. I very much enjoy reading about fandom: its tropes, practices, and absurdities. I'm currently reading the links you posted about YA fiction and Rape Culture, even though the post is frozen, because I used to work in the YA field (in a library).

[kaigou]

Fandom is an endless source of amusement, because a little deconstruction and you realize it's all absurdities. And I mean that in the nicest existential way possible.

We didn't sell any YA in my bookstore, mostly because we sold very little fiction, and YA is really a subset of its own within that. I had enough work just keeping up with the nonfiction we sold... so in some ways, I feel sometimes like I've come very late to the table on YA.

[sothcweden]

The thing I think is awesome about the development of- and discussion about YA books, is that there are writers who are trying to provide a place for teens to vicariously experience aspects of life that they might fear in reality or might choose to avoid after reading the book. And some of them are simply telling great stories, but aimed at the 11-17 reader, rather than children or adults.

My enthusiasm comes from the fact that when I was 12-13 I used to walk down to the local bookstore and browse the shelves. The teen section was usually filled with Sweet Valley High, Babysitters Club, Cheerleaders, Satin Slippers, and other such series - which is why I ended up reading a lot of books written for adults before I was probably mature enough to understand them (Anne Rice, Frank Herbert). So, when I started working with teens, first in a bookstore then in a public library, I was thrilled to find good writers specifically targeting teens with their writing. I really enjoyed reading them, too, since I often claim that I've never fully returned from Neverland.

Which is probably more than you wanted to know about me and YA fiction, but it's a subject I feel strongly about, and one I miss, now that I'm working in an academic library. Thanks for the link you recently posted on the subject; I'll be checking it out.