The on-line home of Sashi Kaufman; teacher, writer, nature lovah!
You may know them as those cute little yellow marshmallow treats, but I’ve always thought that some people (specifically men) were like peeps.
How so?
Sugary, pretty and cute on the outside, but lacking any kind of real substance or flavor. Keep eating and you’re guaranteed to get a gut ache.
How would it be used?
“Oh we went out on a couple dates. But he turned out to be a real man-peep. Really cute but not much going on upstairs.” Kind of like a bimbo, but for men.
Enjoy your Easter holidays!
Last weekend the NY times book review featured a few children’s reviews, as they do every few weeks or so. In one of the reviews was the following line:
“As expected inYA fiction, Lina has both a love interest and a special skill.”
I was kind of horrified. Really? Can the whole genre be boiled down so simplistically? As a test, I decided to look at the last five YA fiction books I read.
1. If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Main character has a love interest (her boyfriend Adam) and is a virtuoso cello player.
2. 8th Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. Main character has a love interest and is a comic book artist.
3. Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan. Main character DOES NOT HAVE A LOVE INTEREST (but is also a bit younger than typical YA main character) but is a talented dancer.
4. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. Main character has a love interest and can understand the speech of animals.
5. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga. Main character has a love interest and he’s a comic book artist (yet again).
Ok, so that’s a pretty good fit. But what books don’t have “love interests”? It’s a pretty big part of life at any age. As for the special talent thing. That’s true. There are an abundance of especially talented and powerful teenagers populating YA. But I think that’s due to the particular desire of young people to feel singled out and important. They’re just on the cusp of being adults and being taken seriously in the world. They’re desperate to be noticed for the “right things”. It doesn’t surprise me that having a special skill or talent has become a trope of YA fiction. However, there are many great YA books where the characters are just ordinary kids.
Congratulations to Sister Mary Edna and Misty Peaks (My two most frequent Blog commenters!) You know who you are ladies, and you shall be receiving your very own copy of Brain Child magazine, complete with my article, in the mail shortly!
Keep up the good karma friends! You never know when you’ll reap the rewards.
Ideas In Things 