#JustContemporary Guest: Bonnie from A Backwards Story

Today for a Just Contemporary guest post I have Bonnie from A Backwards Story talking about 'The Tough Stuff'.  You can find me at her blog also talking about the tough stuff.   If you want to find out more about Just Contemporary and to find the list of Contemporary posts on my blog go HERE.


Contemporary Fiction and Tough Stuff One of the things I love best about contemporary fiction is the fact that it doesn’t skirt the tough stuff. When I’m immersed in a fantasy novel, the stakes and focus are much different. Contemporary fiction, on the other hand, is more realistic and tackles issues that many readers have experienced. When I go out onto the adult floor for a book, I want something real that steals my breath away and makes me think, or curl up in a ball and cry, or feel grateful for what I have. This year as I’ve begun reading more YA contemporary fiction, I’ve realized that these feelings are true here as well. These books aren’t always about high school catfights or gossip about who wore what at prom. Instead, they focus on issues important at any age, ones that even resonate for adults long past their teen years. Well-written novels can make a reader relive his/her youth (and not always in a good way!).

My favorite contemporaries are the ones that deal with the tough stuff. I don’t like books that are super-relationshipy where all the characters live happily ever after, all tied up with a pretty bow. I want a little more meat on the bones of my books. I think that books about “issues” are especially important for teenagers. It might be the push needed to break a bad habit or to save a life. Teens don’t always feel there are people they can turn to. They don’t want to talk to their parents, don’t trust their teachers, and think their best friends will blab their deepest secrets to the entire school. So who can they turn to?

 Many books have saved lives. The other day, Just Contemporary’s hostess Ashley posted an interview with Jay Asher, author of the moving bestseller TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY. He talked about how many people his book has touched. This past week, the news reported that a teenager committed suicide after no one listened to her pleas for help. How different might her story have turned out if she’d been given a book such as TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY or SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson? No matter what people say, books CAN save lives.

 Suicide isn’t the only thing teens need to be saved from. Sometimes, they need to be saved from themselves. The media puts so much attention into being thin and beautiful or tall with a perfect six-pack that many teens resort to eating/abuse disorders in order to fit in. I’m going to once again mention Laurie Halse Anderson, this time for her hard-hitting WINTERGIRLS, which deals with a girl spiraling into the arms of anorexia. CUT by Patricia McCormick and SCARS by Cheryl Rainfield are two books that explore the horrors of self-mutilation. And while it’s more fantasy than contemporary, I’d also like to include Jackie Morse Kessler’s RIDERS OF THE APOCALYPSE quartet for its in-depth look at these topics. The first book, HUNGER, deals with anorexia and bulimia, the second, RAGE, looks at cutting, and the upcoming third book, LOSS (March 2012) revolves around bullying. What first appealed to me about the series was the fact that it will appeal to teens who DON’T read contemporary fiction. If they’re into fantasy and paranormal, they might find their way to the RIDERS OF THE APOCALYPSE quartet and still have the subject matter “speak” to them.

One of my favorite new teen voices is Daisy Whitney. Her debut novel, THE MOCKINGBIRDS, was one of my favorite novels of 2010. It deals with what constitutes as rape. The companion novel, THE RIVALS, is set to launch February 6, 2012, and deals with a prescription drug ring that pops up on campus. Her writing is extraordinary and she has a way of bringing justice to all the injustices of the world. She shows teens that people DO care and that if you stand up for yourself, action can happen. Things will never change if you don’t speak up and say something. Her message is extremely powerful and I love everything this woman writes.

Books can also help teens dealing with loss, be it the loss of a parent, sibling, friend, etc. Death is never an easy topic, especially if you’re the only one left behind. IF I STAY by Gayle Forman took the teen world by storm as it explored a girl’s thoughts after her family is killed in a tragic car accident, leaving her comatose with an impossible choice. Fall debut THE BEGINNING OF AFTER by Jennifer Castle also deals with the aftermath of a tragic car crash, this time from the perspective of when the accident is caused by someone known to the survivors. In high school, one of my favorite authors was Lurlene McDaniel. I owned every single one of her books, even though many of the characters had cancer. McDaniel is still publishing books today and still has an avid fanbase. And before I move on, let me go once more to Daisy Whitney, who recently sold WHEN YOU WERE HERE, a 2013 release dealing with a teen who has lost his mother. 

Other tough-issue books shed light on issues around peer pressure and doing things one might not otherwise do, such as drinking, smoking, having sex, or doing drugs. Sometimes, teens read these books to experience the thrill of something forbidden that they’d never try in real life. Other times, novels such GO ASK ALICE, will lead teens to swear off drugs forever. Hard-hitting writers such as Ellen Hopkins are often banned because their books are frank and leave nothing to the imagination, thrilling teens even as they describe the horrors of addiction. Sexuality is another major hot-button issue that’s frequently banned, whether it’s a book about *sexuality* and hate-crimes such as SHINE by Lauren Myracle or books about sex. One recent release, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Sara Zarr, even deals with teen pregnancy and the choice a scared teen girl might have to make. Two of my recent favorite books that talk frankly about sex and relationships are SHUT OUT by Kody Keplinger and THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg. These books are about female-empowerment and the support of friends. THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB has a strong message about finding yourself as a person and not letting a guy walk all over you while SHUT OUT explores misconceptions brought on by the media. No, not every teen is having sex, but most of them will pretend they are in order not to get flack from their peers. The media is oversexualized everything and more than ever before, teens are doing things they’re not emotionally ready for. To me, both of these books have a strong message and let teens know that they’re not alone. Not everyone is as experienced as s/he claims to be.

I could go on and on about this topic, but I’ve already rambled long enough. There are so many tough topics explored in teen fiction, more than what existed when I was growing up. Books are more realistic, more frank, more from the heart. They matter. At the heart of every book is a strong story that can literally speak out and change someone’s life. That’s what makes the written word so powerful, and that’s why teen books addressing tough issues must continue being published.