Hi Anne, Thanks for having me! (True Fact: The main character in BUT I LOVE HIM is named Ann. Sorry, no E on the end.)
Anyway, onto the topic: Dumbing Down books because they’re written for kids.
First, off, I have to say, I’ve never felt that the books on shelves “dumbed down” in order to appeal to kids. I don’t think they would have made it past an agent and an editor that way. The people working in this industry are pretty sharp, and they spot that stuff a mile away.
But as an agent, reading the slush day in and day out, I definitely see it.
The writers who “dumb down” their books tend to be out of touch with reality. Many are parents with teens, and these are the type of parents who think, “that doesn’t go on in my kid’s school.” Or “my daughter would never do that!”
As a result they have an image in their head of angelic teens who bear no resemblance on reality. Teens really aren’t kids. They don’t need to be spoken to as if it requires short words or simplified plot lines. They are so much smarterthan many people give them credit for. They’re not reading The Boxcar children. They’re reading Suzanne Collins and Judy Blume and Sarah Dessen. Complex, beautiful books.
The other problem? Many adults set out to write a YA novel in order to teach a lesson. I cannot tell you how often I see queries that talk about the moral of their novel more than the character or the conflict or the hook. The writer can spend three paragraphs talking about how they are going to swoop in and empower teens with their message.
But teens aren’t stupid. They don’t want to be preached to by adults who don’t understand them. If writers set out only to write a good story, they’ll be much more successful. Certainly, there are books that do teach something—buts its through fallible characters who face real diversity and make the wrong decisions from time to time.
For instance, the single most-banned book in this country right now is TTYL by Lauren Myracle. It’s a book told completely in instant-message format, about three teens who make a series of bad choices—one ends up dancing topless at a party, another finds herself in a hottub with her older English teacher, etc. Adults have cried foul and tried (in some cases, successfully) to ban this book because of the content- -they believe it is “promoting” such behavior. I have to question if they even read the book, because in the end the message is very clear: these were terrible choices and each girl was hurt by not thinking things through. But they were realistic characters and believable choices.
If writers don’t understand the reality of the teenage life—all the pressure, the choices, the temptations—they end up with a watered-down book.
And that’s not good for anyone.
Okay. Admit it. Because I know that you loved it, too. Because it was AWESOME!
Thanks so much, Mandy! I know that at least one person loved it!
You Wish
My Review here
Synopsis (via Goodreads):
What if all your wishes really came true?
Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left,
her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy
Kayla’s secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles,
Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually
came true. Because they never freakin’ do.
Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink
My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year’s
supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with
a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same
name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla’s wishes-past
appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they
MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She
wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her.
Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left,
her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy
Kayla’s secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles,
Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually
came true. Because they never freakin’ do.
Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink
My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year’s
supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with
a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same
name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla’s wishes-past
appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they
MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She
wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her.
And Ben is her best friend’s boyfriend.
Prada and Prejudice
(via Goodreads):
To impress the popular girls on a high school trip to London, klutzy Callie buys real Prada heels. But trying them on, she trips…conks her head…and wakes up in the year 1815!
There Callie meets Emily, who takes her in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. As she spends time with Emily’s family, Callie warms to them—particularly to Emily’s cousin Alex, a hottie and a duke, if a tad arrogant.
But can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, and win Alex’s heart, before her time in the past is up?
More Cabot than Ibbotson, Prada and Prejudice is a high-concept romantic comedy about finding friendship and love in the past in order to have happiness in the present.
And her latest release, Ripple
Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn’t, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love—again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead.
Then Lexi meets Cole. Against her better judgment, she finds herself opening up again, falling in love when she knows she shouldn’t. But when she’s offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free of her curse is giving him up.
In Ripple, Mandy Hubbard spins a sea-ravaged tale of melancholy beauty, and the choices one girl makes between land and waves, love and freedom, her future—and her heart.
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