Darkness Too Visible response Susan Lester 809

              The article, “Darkness Too Visible,” by Megan Cox Gurdan talks about how young adult books these days are extremely dark and can be very disturbing. The author also mention’s that many of the books are extremely inappropriate and not ok for young teens or even older teens. Overall she is trying to get us to realize that we (as in teens) should not be reading those types of disturbing books.

            In this article Megan Cox Gurdon, uses a lot of craft moves and learning techniques. For example she uses a lot of loaded words such as “redneck bigots” and “unusually profane”, to describe the authors and books in this banned book list. She also uses imagery in this article. For example the article says, “The boy has been savagely beaten and left tied up with a gas pump nozzle shoved down his throat, and he may not live.” This quote gives a great deal of imagery talking about some of the risky books that should be banned. Another quote that has a lot of imagery in it is, “Young Jack is drugged, abducted and nearly raped by a male captor. After escaping, he encounters a curious pair of glasses that transport him into an alternate world of almost unimaginable gore and cruelty.” This also shows a lot of imagery. The author supported her opinion with backing up her statements with a bunch of books that are extremely disturbing and makes you feel that teenagers shouldn’t read those books.

            Although the author of this article makes a lot of good points, I feel that anyone should be aloud to read what they want to read. Also some of these books talk about people going through some really difficult situations, and maybe you can relate to that. For example if you are gay and you feel that no one really understands what your going through, there may be a book that can help you get through it because the character in the book is going through the same thing. Even though I feel that you should be able to read what you want to read, Megan Cox Gurdan made a lot of good points. Some of these books like, “The Marbury Lens,” is extremely inappropriate and probably wouldn’t help anybody with their problems, but maybe instead make them even more worried and scared. A lot of books the author mentioned in this article are extremely disturbing, and I have never heard of any of these books. The books really stood out to me because I didn’t know that someone could be going through something so horrible, or be making up a character that goes through that kind of stuff. This article definitely made me realize how disturbing some books are. It changed my perspective on books.

Reconstructing Amelia Susan Lester 809

            The teenage years are not easy. According to recent studies, one in six teens are regularly being bullied and one in eight teens suffer from depression. Teens are also confronted with having to deal with unwanted sexual contact, and there is a significant amount of teens abusing drugs. Many young adult books focus on these difficult issues, and it can be troubling for people to read about them because they don’t want to think about these problems and what life is really like for some teens. However, I think that it is important to be aware that teens really do deal with these issues. 

            One book that does a very good job of exploring the difficulties of the teen years is Reconstructing Amelia, written by Kimberly Mccrieght. This book portrays teenagers smoking, drinking and doing drugs, and having sexual intercourse, among other in other inappropriate behavior. The story is about a teenage girl named Amelia, who people thought jumped off the roof of the school, but are now starting to suspect that someone pushed her.  Although some people might think that what happens in this book is too troubling to read about, I was able to deal with it because it taught me a lesson, and I learned from the characters mistakes.

            One-way Reconstructing Amelia might be considered a troubling book, is because throughout the book there are teens drinking doing other drugs. For example on page 110 it says, “There were girls piled up on the couches and stretched out across the floor. It was filled with smoke too. Pot, cigarettes; most people had a beer in their hands.” This image of teens acting stupid and reckless could be troubling to a lot of readers because they don’t like to think that underage kids drink and do drugs. However, I’m glad the author put it in because it makes me aware of how dangerous drugs and drinking at a young age can be. It is scary to think that many teens don’t realize how horrible drugs and alcohol at a young age can be. When you’re a teenager, your brain is still developing. Drinking alcohol and smoking pot can hurt your brain’s development and make you less smart than you would have been. Also if you have an underlying and undiagnosed mental disorder such as bipolar or schizophrenia, it can be triggered.

            Alcohol and drugs aren’t the only substance the teenage characters abuse. Amelia’s friend, Zadie, smokes casually throughout the book. For example when Zadie was letting new girls into her club, it keeps mentioning how she smokes in-between sentences. This can also be find troubling because when Zadie smokes, she thinks she looks cool but she doesn’t realize it could give her lung cancer. I found this troubling because it made me think about the preteens and teens I know that smoke E cigarettes, and even though they aren’t as bad as regular cigarettes, they still have nicotine in it and that is extremely addictive.

            Another way this book can be considered troubling to readies that there are a lot of teens having sexual intercourse. On page 199, Amelia has to take inappropriate pictures of herself if she wants to stay in the Magpies (one of the many clubs at their school, this one is for the cool kids), and post them online on a blog. It says, “In the first, Heather was in a lace pushup bra and matching panties. That’s what I had to do. Oh god was it all worth it? For Dylan, it was.” That quote is troubling because teenagers posting pictures of themselves online basically naked is not what people want to see. Especially their parents. I also found this troubling to think about because there are tons of creepy people out there that might see your picture and then hunt you down. Another thing that happened that could be found troubling to readers is that Amelia and Dylan had sexual intercourse, and they were sixteen. Some readers might find this upsetting to read because they don’t want to think about girls this age having sex, because they may feel they are too young. I didn’t find this as troubling as the other things in the book because I feel that if you are in a serious relationship with someone you love, and you’re ready and use protection, it can be fine to do those sorts of things.

            Reading this book confirmed my feelings that although what happens in a book can be troubling to read about, it can also teach you a very good lesson. By portraying the mistakes the characters made, this book taught me to be aware of my actions and what I do, because there will be consequence and I will have to deal with them. So therefore, in the end even though young adult books can be troubling, there is usually a reason why they are like that. To teach you something