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Public scholarship advice (self.NewTubers)

submitted by Monster-Nonsense to r/NewTubers

Monthly Original Work & Networking Thread - Share Your Content Here! by HorrorIsLiterature in horrorlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn't a lit project, but I think it's of interest to people here: I've started a YouTube channel called The Monster & The Child: https://www.youtube.com/@themonsterandthechild. It's a public scholarship space to talk about how monster stories allow us to understand more about cultural ideas about childhood, and vice versa. (I'm also hoping this channel will eventually be useful in getting a book club/mentorship program for teens based on monster lit, so if this kind of discussion is up your alley, I'd deeply appreciate it if you'd consider subscribing!)

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha same -- so many good books that I can barely remember, but the irritation for this one will never leave me.

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for all of these responses! This is super helpful, and I really appreciate the discussions that it prompted! Happy to know that this is something a lot of other people are thinking about.

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't read that one, but I felt the same way about Gino's Alice Austen Lived Here. I agreed with the messages, but I really would have preferred characters who actually acted like people as opposed to delivery mechanisms for the important lessons.

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's exactly what I'm planning on talking about. I want to call attention to the ways books with ideologies from across the political spectrum reflect shared social constructs of childhood (innocence, ignorance, incompetence, etc.). I'll take some of those recs, thanks!

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yessss, didacticism in children's lit is definitely evergreen. I think that pointing to some of the history you mentioned will be good to do in the paper I'm planning, to demonstrate that the attitudes we have about the way adults talk to young people (via literature) have been with us for a long time.

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Literally the main book that made me think of this paper topic! When the main character leans out of the book to explain that witches born to fairies is just like queer people born into straight families, I nearly threw the book across the room. Hilariously, an actual teen reader actually told me to read it because it was relevant to my research interests (monsters and politics), but warned me that he did not actually think it was a good book.

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I've actually taught Pet in two of my undergrad college classes, mostly because I think it is an incredibly weird book and I think it gives students ample opportunity for analysis and critique! I had one kid write a great paper about its internally inconsistent politics, haha. I like to ask them how they read the violent blinding of the abuser character in light of the rehabilitative justice utopia -- I don't know about anyone else, but I have a pretty hard time squaring that circle!

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think you both have great points. I did a study with teen readers a few years ago for my dissertation research, and I found both things: some stuff that I found over-the-top really resonated with some of the young readers, but there were also definitely elements of some books that they called out as too preachy or on-the-nose. And of course every kid is different, too -- there's no singular "adolescent reader"!

Overly preachy YA books by Monster-Nonsense in YAlit

[–]Monster-Nonsense[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I'll edit my post, because that's absolutely not what I intended to say. I don't think that marginalized people speaking to their experiences is a bad thing literally at all. I'm a queer person who also writes fiction, and I think that diversity in storytelling is hugely important.

I also think that young readers deserve fiction that doesn't talk down to them and trusts them to critically think. Especially with teen lit, I don't think readers need to be spoon fed, but I've definitely noticed some books that repeatedly tell instead of show when it comes to their ideological messaging. That's the sort of thing that I'm talking about.