Blog #8

When I first read these articles on why/ why not you should read YA novels, I thought Jonathon Franzen was trashing all of the YA novels, After I had reread the article I realized that he wasn't trashing YA novels but he was actually criticizing adults who read the YA novels. I think that Franzen is oblivious to other people's views because in the article on women writer's he suggests that "She has no case. So she tweets." Here he is referring to Weiner, a women writer. I believe that women writers are unacknowledged when it comes to writing because they aren't seen as writing "good literary material" and many people see them as unqualified to write literary materials just because they are women. Especially, since he has not even read any of Weiner's work, how would he know what her writing talent is then? He has not even tried to read any of her novels just because other people say that she is not a good writer. I think he should at least read one novel written by Weiner because he needs to understand how her writing is probably good and he needs to give the writing a chance.

In the second article, "Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner Speak Out On Franzen Feud: 08/026/2010" I think that Weiner and Picoult were well-represented and shown as strong female writers with good work even if it was not considered literary and material for adults. All adults must get sick of literary book after literary book and they need a good thriller or mystery to read every once in a while. I don't think that adults are "too old" to read YA novles because YA novels can be read by a variety of audiences and shouldn't be considered only for teens. I also believe (I may be biased) that YA novels are better because they are more enjoyable to read, and overall have a better plot then many literary novels. Overall, from the second article, I believe that women should be represented more as strong female writers and authors who write good, quality material.

Lastly, in the third article, I think that Ruth Graham negatively critiques YA novels because they are not mature enough and too fake for adults. I believe that  YA novels are often times very mature because they bring up real life situations and they show possible solutions for the problem. They also teach-in my opinion- good life lessons. They show how someone, not just young adults, could solve a problem. I also think that what you read can change, but you shouldn't become a different reader. Most likely, you still enjoy the same genres or novels and they still seem new and fun to you. However, Graham thinks otherwise.

In conclusion, don't make inferences on a novel written by women or YA novels that are considered too young for many adults, before you read them.