Candice McCallum

All while I was growing up, I was surrounded by books. It was my grandfather's belief that, if you were bored, you needed to read a book. Reading and literacy have been a major part of my world. However, as a young adult, I strayed from reading literature that was within my age range. I went from reading Fear Street and Babysitters club books in Elementary School, to reading Steven King and Anne Rice as a form of entertainment. For whatever reason, within my elevated High School, Teen Fiction, or YA as it is called now, was not looked upon in high regard. At least, it wasn't in my circle of friend's. We were on the edge of Gen X, Millenials grasping desperately for some type of identity. Something that set us apart from the rest. It was the age of Pop Music, Boy Bands, the death of real Hip Hop and Grunge. The birth of Harry Potter and Pixar cartoons and we were all stuck in some strange grey area of trying to belong. So YA was "so yesterday" and what Gen x found worthy reading material, we gravitated to because after all, who wants to go backwards in life?I do!I have a new found appreciation for Young Adult Literature. The themes within many of these books are so unbelievably relevant to what teenagers are going through. The connection teenagers make with the characters in these books has lead to a dramatic increase in YA readership and more and more Adult authors writing YA novels. If you look at Rotten Tomatoes for recent film reviews and profits, you will see a film version of a YA book somewhere within the Top 10. This is a very exciting time for Young Adult Literature, and I'm jumping on that bandwagon! I want to get a glimpse into the real world issues and societal pressures facing the teenagers today and see the universality of growing pains from one generation to the next. In doing so, I want to encourage, not only Teenagers but parents and educators alike, to read these important books. we need to increase literacy in America, and we need to make reading more of a celebrated activity. Teens should not be reading Shakespeare in class. They need to watch it on stage. Teens don't need to understand Dantes Inferno until they get a college and "choose" to read it. Teenagers should not be reading about adult struggles with love and relationships because they are not adults. The materials in English Literature classrooms is dated and needs to be replaced! It is my goal, that this blog and the reviews within, will ENCOURAGE Young Adults to read so