W7A3 – Teen Blogs

I choose Forever Young Adult and Teenreads because, contrary to the majority of the other blogs, they are not personal blogs written by teen authors, but blogs about teen books in general.

Forever Young Adult

Right away, I went to check out the Book Club section, and it was worth it. It is very well made. Easy formula: one book a month. This September selection is Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer. Precisely, the writer who wrote one of the two articles I just commented on. Then you just have to find the closest book club gathering from your home. They are in 43 states, and more than 11 others countries on 3 others continents. If there is nothing near you, they encourage you to create your own club and to invite your nearby friends. The section is just easy to use and explore. It inspires teen participation and based on the numbers of clubs, it is successful. Another big section of the blog is Book Reports. Book Report is an analysis of a book, from the characters to the setting and the writing style. Always written with a sense of humor, full of fun facts, those reports are written for teens but not necessary by teens.

There is a lot of others categories, which are mostly used to inform and share news about YA or teens. Those sections included Cheers! (Just another excuse for you to get your drink on), Home EC (Get crafty), Hotsy Totsy! (Breaking news and scandalous gossip), In the girls’ bathroom (Where shizz gets real), and so on. They have a funny LEXICON section to understand not only Y.A. books but the teens themselves. I was surprised to see a store section on the blog. Or maybe I am just naïve, after all they have to make their money somehow. Finally, Forever Young Adult is also present on a ton of other medium and apps (like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, YouTube, etc.) The teens are everywhere on the web at the same time, I guess to attract them you also need to be everywhere.

The website is definitely written for Y.A. by Y.A. fans. However, those Y.A. fans are not that young anymore, and something it does feel like they are trying a little bit too hard to be young and hip.

Teenreads

Teenreads is a different blog, but as good as Forever Young Adult. One thing I noticed right away is the design of the blog, it looks more … mature. What I mean is there are less catchy pictures with young persons on them, the colors are also less flashy, there is more text and the design as a whole is just more neutral. Basically, Teenreads does not try to look cool and hip, they focus on information and easy use, and it works. One other sign of more neutral territory, Teenreads is only present of three other medium (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) compared to dozen others with Forever Young Adult.

Instead of Book Reports, Teenreads has book reviews (again that sounds little bit less a high-school term than book report). Not all the book reviews are of the same quality, but most of them included discussions questions, reading guide and critical praise. Authors interviews, blogs and others news features complete the website. I particularly like the Ultimate Reading List section, which consisted of only one, like the name suggests, ultimate list of 20 or so pages with all the books a teen should read. Another neat section is called Coming Soon, where one can know and see the upcoming books for next month. Finally Teen Board is the great opportunity for teens on the website. Every year 30 teens become Teen Boards. They write book reviews and blog posts for the website. In a way, they are the life behind the website, and the connection between the owner/manager and the Y.A. community. Contrary to Forever Young Adult, I feel there is a good mix between teens and adult in the management of the website. In fact, because most of the posts are written by teens, it feels more authentic.

W7A2 - 2 articles

I choose the two most recent articles, one published in the New York Times and one in the Publisher Weekly.

A Not-so-Young Audience for Young Adult books by Meg Wolitzer starts with an observation. While teenagers are not interested by middle-aged problems and books, more and more adults read Young Adult literature. She refers to an article by critic Ruth Graham that states that young adult books are too simple for adults. They are written for teenagers, and adults should concentrate their little time on reading grown-up books. Wolitzer does not want to convict Graham, but she wants to explain why she disagreed with her. Firstly, Y.A. is so vast, it is almost impossible to dismiss, or to settle, the whole genre all together. What draw Wolitzer to Y.A. books, and even to a Y.A. book club for adults, is the quest for a particular feeling. Of course, nostalgia is part of it, but also the feeling of a respectful and authentic youth experience.

As a grown-up, she read Y.A. to reconnect to her teenager self, but always viewed from her present and mature self. Adults remind adults even when they read Y.A. It is not a quest for lost youth, but to be immersed in the good and not so good experiences of young characters. Just like any other books, the goal is to forget everything else in our life and to focus on one thing only: a fascinating story, Y.A. or not.

New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre? by Rachel Deahl has to do with a new genre publishers started to use: New Adult. Created in 2009 by the employees of St. Martin’s Press, New Adult is mostly a marketing tool. After the success of Y.A. books the last decade, publishers did not want to lose their young readers once they became adult. Young Adult is an intermediate category about adulthood. Nobody reinvented the wheel, those books about the beginning of adulthood always existed; they are just put into a new category for marketing purposes. The millions of teens who bought Hunger Games and Twilight and Harry Potter often discovered reading with those popular series. Editors want to keep offering books they will like, but as the readers grow up the books need to be a little bit more mature.

The only problem is while editors and publishers use this new category, it did not catch on with the retailers. Bookstores are reticent to use it, and are basically waiting to see if the category name will spread around. The tool can be useful among the industry people, but it does not yet mean anything for regular folks. More and more books are crossing the genres and the group ages, maybe New Adult is just the beginning of new hybrid genres.

What to Read Next

The flowchart is titled “What to Read Next” and it starts with one book: Hunger Games. The first suggestions are other very popular books similar to Hunger Games. Then it goes with books in the same vein, but newer instead of popular. Next, it presents survival and apocalypse books after an environmental disaster instead of total war. Then, more dystopia books with people fighting an authoritarian government, and more books with other forms of social control, or a touch of science-fiction. After, more books with a dose of paranormal, or fantasy. And finally there is some classics.

Starting with a one book (Hunger Games), the flowchart shows how many different books (more than 55 titles) one can suggest by staying with the same storyline (a dystopia plot) but changing a little bit the other factor appeals.

Mash-ups of subgenres

 

 

My first thought is about Edgar Allen Poe. Most Poe’s tales can be classified as Mystery because people are killed, or something disappears, etc, but there is definitely something else in his books. Something gore and strange. I will put Poe's works into Mystery- Horror psychological. There is no supernatural in Poe’s books, but there is dark side of human psyche and unexplainable phenomenon. Basically, humans are so complex and dangerous as if, Poe does not need aliens and paranormal stuff to make his stories full of horrors and bizarreness. But at the same time, detective Dupont is often looking for the clues criminals left behind, just like in a mystery.

 

My second idea is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This book is a science-fiction book. It happens in the future and the main characters travel around the galaxy in a story full of adventures and technology. But at the same time, the book is extremely funny and close to home. Not a lot of science-fiction can say the same. In a way, the book really talks about our society and our culture, from a philosophical point of view. This is why I would put this book between Science-Fiction and Realistic Fiction – literary. The latter genre usually aspires to be universal and to a greater truth, and I think this is what Douglas in trying to do through parody and humor.

Third Subgenre

Third Subgenre

Thriller – Medical

Like the Romance-Paranormal, thriller-medical is very popular among TV shows, Dr. House being a perfect example. Medical is a subgenre of thriller. And like any thriller, it usually incorporate fast-paced action, suspense, details-oriented and likeable characters. It can included dark and violent situations, sometimes extremely vivid and realist. The medical subgenre specificity is mostly the setting of the thriller. Also the languages can vary. Thrillers are often full of details, but with the medical subgenre language can be technic and specialist to the medical field. To my knowledge, medical thriller are also realistic, they are at least plausible.

Examples:

 

 

Coma by Robin Cook

Almost any books by Robin Cook could fit in this genre. In fact, coma is often considered to be the first one of the genre. When numerous patients inexplicitly go into comas after minor operations, third year medical student Susan Wheeler try to find an answer to those cases. It becomes clear that somebody is behind for those comas, but how and why a person would do that. Susan will find out.

 

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Like Robin Cook, Michael Crichton is also a physician turned writer. Better known for Jurassic Park, Crichton wrote and created the television show ER as well. In this book. Crichton mixed medical thriller with science fiction when a satellite accidently falls back on earth and people around the crash site started to die from a mysterious sickness. The government was already warmed that the sterilization procedures was not adequate for space contamination, and now it’s almost too late.

 

Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen

After the death of her husband, Dr. Claire Elliot moved with her son in a small town in Maine. Once winter settled in, the teenagers of the village started to act strangely, even violently. Upon investigating. Claire discovered this is not the first time that the village’s teenagers began to act on their violent impulsions, it happened exactly 50 years ago. Claire is convinced to find a biologic reason beyond it. Maybe the lake has something to do with it? Or maybe people are involved as well?

Second Subgenre

Second Subgenre

Romance – Paranormal

Of all Romance subgenres, paranormal looked the most odd and curious to me. But after I thought of it, I realized that some popular television series can fit right into this category. One can think of True Blood for example, in which vampire, human and sex are not only interwoven but they are the selling points. The factors appeals are very similar to romance in general; a passionate story line with an erotic and amorous language and tone. The setting and characters can be a little bit different for the paranormal subgenre, with an accent on supernatural beings and mysterious setting. Romance in general is not known for having unexpected and shocking plot, the reader usually knows where the story is going. The paranormal subgenre has the possibility to have a touch of surprising element within the story, it’s easier when supernatural element can appear at any moment during the book.

Examples:

 

 

  Siren’s Call by Jayne Castle

In a different world, the Island of Rainshadow is full of secrets and dangers. Rafe is hired to make the island safe again, before strange creatures started to lure human and kill them. To do so, he asked his old flame, a singer and a siren, to help him out. Working together can reactivate old feelings and desires, especially among dangers and mysteries.

 

Flight from death by Yasmine Galenorn

A blue dragon is exiled from her land and forced to work for a paranormal extermination and investigation agency. Not only she has to acclimate to human culture, but she has the hot for the owner. When a new patron call for help, many wishes and wants will be set free.

 

Bad Wolf by Jennifer Ashley

Broderick, a wolf shifter, has a busy schedule, and on top of that he is taking care of his three younger brothers. Meanwhile, he tries to impress a female human, Joanne. They cannot be more opposite. While Broderick is a fighter and like manual jobs, Joanne is shy and a computer programmer. Despite they differences, they are draw together and when Broderick is in trouble, Jeanne will use her skills to save him.

First Subgenre

First Subgenre

Adventures – High Seas

Adventures is already a subgenre of realistic fiction. High Seas is thus a sub-subgenre. The genre usually involves sailor’s life, naval rules and hierarchy, violence like wars between nations or piracy, treasures, adventures around the world, etc. The Prezi graph points out that the Napoleonic Wars are a popular setting for the High Seas genre, but it’s certainly not set in stone. The pacing could change significantly, just like the life at sea. It’s could be all quiet, which often give the author a chance to explain naval life and its specificities, or it could be a torrent of adventures one after an another. There is often one main character and around him/her a panoply of secondary characters, often presenting some sort of peculiarities. Language could also greatly vary. It can go from technical naval terms to vulgar sailor dialogue, and everything in between. Like the pace, the tone varies between exciting and detail-oriented. But most of the time there is a suspense because adventures can come and characters can do an about-face at any moment.

Example:

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman

A young orphan, Philip, left London in a hurry to escape death. He signs on with a boat leaving for the English Colony of Newfoundland. At sea, pirates seize the boat and force our hero to participate to their violent expeditions. Against his will, Philip is now a pirate and must deal with the consequences.

 

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life by Hermann Melville

Moby Dick would have been a good example, but Typee is less known. Also Typee include something else about the High-Seas Adventures genre: the crash of civilization. The nineteenth century was the age of the Pacific Ocean discovery and colonization. Melville went there as a young man and discovered the Polynesian simple and happy way of life. The cultural differences led to a series of reflection on good and evil, on nature and culture, on sexuality and frigidity. Typee explains very well this anthropological aspect of the genre.

 

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

Set during WWII, The Caine Mutiny describes the (not-violent) mutiny abroad a destroyer during a horrible storm. Still at sea, the martial-court that follow occupies most of the plot of the book. Instead of pirates and adventures, this book focuses on the ethical dilemma that occur when a group of people live and work inside a small nut of wood in the middle of the ocean. Basically, things are not always the same at sea than on land.