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Description:
Young Adult fiction isn't just for young adults. Everyone can relate to the themes because all readers are young adults at some point in their lives. Except, of course, for Ian McKellen. That guy's always been old.
Transcript
- 00:04
Young Adult Fiction, a la Shmoop. The universe is pretty big. Infinite even.
- 00:10
While our problems can sometimes seem world-ending…
- 00:13
…it helps to remind ourselves once in a while how small we really are.
- 00:18
Even those of us who make a habit of scarfing down fourthmeal at 2 am.
- 00:22
We all have to deal with our own personal trials and tribulations…
Full Transcript
- 00:26
…and when they’re happening to us…
- 00:27
…it feels like the planet should stop spinning until we’ve got things sorted out.
- 00:31
The fact is that every one of us has issues that seem like a big deal…
- 00:35
…whether it’s trying to figure out a way to make a million dollars last another thirty
- 00:38
years when we’re 65…
- 00:40
…or considering whether or not to take that job offer in Paris when we’re 30…
- 00:45
…or deciding to ask Brittney Johnston to the Homecoming Dance when we’re 17.
- 00:53
Ugh. As if she even knows you’re alive. While some older, perhaps embittered adults
- 00:59
may look on the problems of a teenager and shrug them off as… kid stuff…
- 01:06
…the authors of young adult fiction understand how important these issues are.
- 01:12
After all, the way we handle relationships as youngsters helps form our aptitude… or
- 01:20
ineptitude… for handling them later on in life…
- 01:23
…and the way we apply ourselves to our schoolwork goes a long way to determining our work ethic
- 01:29
once we enter the… real world. Plus, there’s probably a strong connection
- 01:35
between the way we talk to our parents and the way we’ll eventually talk to…
- 01:39
…other authority figures. Authors like Stephen Chbosky <<chuh-bahs-key>>,
- 01:43
author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower…
- 01:45
…and John Green, writer of The Fault in Our Stars…
- 01:48
…are grown-ups who remember what it was like to be a kid.
- 01:52
They recall the turmoil of adolescence…
- 01:53
…dealing with bullies, the pressure to keep up grades, the first kiss, the first… more
- 01:59
than a kiss… the hormones, the acne… the whole shebang.
- 02:03
They know how amazing it is that any of us even makes it out of our teen years alive.
- 02:08
The next time you’re reading a young adult novel…
- 02:10
…think not only about what stuff you and the main character may have in common…
- 02:13
…but about how your mutual dilemmas might figure into the bigger picture.
- 02:18
How does what happens to you in high school… change you?
- 02:21
How does it prepare you for the future?
- 02:23
Does it strengthen your resolve?
- 02:25
Does it weaken your heart?
- 02:27
Does it make you more adept at forming spitballs? If the author has done their job, you may
- 02:32
close the book thinking…
- 02:34
…This book gets me better than any of my friends do.
- 02:37
At the very least, it certainly gets you better than your alleged best friend Kevin…
- 02:41
…who asked Brittney Johnston to Homecoming before you had a chance.
- 02:44
Hopefully, that jerk will slip in a spilled puddle of fruit punch.
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