A mass percentage of books published and bought in this day and age are labeled young adult. These books are intended towards the audience they’re based upon, Teenagers. Teenagers in this day and age face a plethora of challenges in their years. Sex, drugs, pressure, money, self compliance, and the like. Nothing completes the essence of a teenager more than Ellen Hopkins. As a bestselling author and writer of over 12 books, Ellen has captured the thoughts and feelings of teenagers in different situations, and ties their lives together in her signature verse writing style. Nothing shows this more than her book, “Perfect”. In this book all things that teenagers face are put into effect as four high school seniors lives are tied together and Cara, the Stanford bound try hard is known as “perfect”. Kendra the model to be is “pretty”, Sean the steroid crazed baseball player is, “buff”, and Andre is “bomb” for his money. Each chapter of this book is told in one of these character’s points of view to add a sense of familiarity between the character and the reader. Beneath all these labels, however, their seemingly “perfect” lives are far from satisfactory. Cara’s brother tries and fails to kill himself after all the pressure both him and Cara are placed by their parents. Cara believes, “ There’s no possible way to satisfy our mother.” As well as their father being absent from their lives probably due to her mother's unpeasable demeanor. Dating Sean, the most popular guy in school had its advantages to her but when she meets a mysterious girl at a ski trip, she questions which team she’s batting for and how this would ruin her After losing his parents he lives with his aunt and uncle. He uses weight lifting and steroid abuse as a distraction for the abandonment he feels. Maybe its the steriods, or maybe something psycological, but his anger keeps building after each pill popped, after each weight lifted. He loves Cara, more than he can imagine, but after a failed attempt of “making love” to her, he discovers her little secret and it takes him over the edge. Can he keep his cool for the baceball scout or will he lose everything like he lost
In the high criminal neighborhood where the other Wes lived, people who live there need a positive role model or a mentor to lead them to a better future. Usually the older family members are the person they can look up to. The other Wes’s mother was not there when the other Wes felt perplexed about his future and needed her to support and give him advises. Even though the other Wes’s mother moved around and tried to keep the other Wes from bad influences in the neighborhood, still, the other Wes dropped out of school and ended up in the prison. While the author Wes went to the private school every day with his friend Justin; the other Wes tried to skip school with his friend Woody. Moore says, “Wes had no intention of going to school. He was supposed to meet Woody later – they were going to skip school with some friends, stay at Wes’s house, and have a cookout” (59). This example shows that at the time the other Wes was not interested in school. Because Mary was busy at work, trying to support her son’s education, she had no time and energy to look after the other Wes. For this reason, she did not know how the other Wes was doing at school and had no idea that he was escaping school. She missed the opportunities to intervene in her son’s life and put him on the right track. Moreover, when the author was in the military school, the other Wes was dealing drugs to people in the streets and was already the father of a child. The incident that made the other Wes drop out of school was when he had a conflict with a guy. The other Wes was dating with the girl without knowing that she had a boyfriend. One night, her boyfriend found out her relationship with the other Wes and had a fight with him. During the fight, the other Wes chased the guy and shot him. The guy was injured and the other Wes was arrested
I think that this book sends a very important message, it tells the reader about the dangers that adolescent girls face and survive every day. It also gives many different perspectives on issues that teens face because she gives us her own opinion and also those of her patients and their parents. I think that the reason this book is so eye-opening is because it gives you the honest truth, it's not candy coated. She tells stories that really happened, and the reality of the book is one of its best qualities.
Having literature that can speak to your situation in life is what young adults need in their books. In Donna’s Norton Through the Eyes of a Child she lists seven characteristics of a good young adult novel and some of them are,“written from the viewpoint of an of young people, main characters must overcome their problem without help from the parent, deal with emotional problem of young adults and have fast paced storyline” (Norton, 2007). The Fault in Our Stars executed theses things perfectly. It is told from the perspective of a sixteen year old girl, living with cancer, but still going through what most sixteen year old’s go through, She has parents who do not understand her life and what she is going through so they cannot actually help her with her problems and she falls in love for the first time and experienced a tragic heartbreak. The story goes on how life does for a teenager, everything is happening fast and very out of their control, and they must live as best as they can with the circumstances of their life. John Green wrote more than just a teen cancer book, he told the experiences of not having any control in your teen years by using
The book I chose for this assignment is Reviving Ophelia. This was a very interesting book. Mary Pipher, PhD. discusses the roles that society plays in shaping the self esteem of teenage and preteen age girls. The author contends that our society today is very look-obsessed and media driven. Through magazines, television, fashion, and retail the "idea" girl is formed and anyone who doesn't fit this idea is not perfect in the culture that girls live in today. Weight issues have caused conditions of anorexia and bulimia putting young girls in jeopardy of declining health. Dr. Pipher chronicles the life of adolescent girls from their carefree days of being energetic, assertive, and tomboyish to their losing themselves at the onset of puberty. Most girls lose their previous selves to fit into a norm of society, being more passive, depressed, and self-critical. The main point of this book is to help uncover the true self of adolescent girls and to give them techniques to help them combat the views of society. This quote from the book summarizes all that the author was addressing when writing this book. "Most girls choose to be socially accepted and split into two selves, one that is authentic and one that is culturally scripted. In public they become who they are suppose to be."
...g the perfect life should seem unrealistic to anyone evaluating the goal from an objective perspective; however the circumstances of the characters in the presented literary works exaggerate the expectations of everyday society. Each work focuses on portraying a flaw inherent in human nature from a different angle and ultimately, the characters’ quests for perfection demonstrate that the flaws permeating human nature are inescapable, prophesying failure for all those who seek to embody perfection.
Recently publishing companies have focused efforts to release books that are intended for the large teenage audiences. However these books have unintentionally become popular with adult readers who have been drawn into these book franchises, such as The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Twilight. The argument within the article, Adults Should Read Adult Books, focuses on the growing number of adults reading young adult fiction and the consequences of this trend. While many people would argue that the genre of a book should not dictate readership, the author of the article, Joel Stein disagrees. In his article, Stein argues that adults should be ashamed for reading a YA book. Additionally, he argues in for adult reader to gain knowledge from a
American teenagers are often criticized for being irresponsible and immature. Some in the older generation will also state that kids are taking too long to move out of the house. These views of young adults are pessimistic and demeaning to the current generation. While the adolescent stage has been extended, American kids are taking an ample amount of time to accept the responsibilities of becoming an adult.
Teenagers can identify with characters and use some of this particular literature to identify with some of the challenges in society today. Critics say banning such books from libraries or attempting to keep young people from reading them is tantamount to censorship and is counterproductive. Some people can really identify themselves in some of the literature like ‘Twilight’ series by Stephanie Meyer. Young adult literature that dives into disturbing topics such as suicide, addiction and self-mutilation has the potential to depress and dangerously influence teenagers, who are more impressionable than adult readers. Parents and librarians should screen books for young adult readers more actively
Five teenagers who don't' know each other spend a Saturday in detention at the suburban school library. At first they squirm, fret and pick on each other. Then after sampling some marijuana, a real encounter session gets underway. The stresses and strains of adolescence have turned their inner lives into a minefield of disappointment, anger and despair.
Because of the life that Christine leads, the role of mother and daughter are switched and Rayona often finds herself watching out for her mom. When Ray comes home from school, she would often learn that her mother had gone out to party. Times like this meant that Rayona had to care for herself. It is not uncommon for one to stay out late; but when it is the parent who is doing so, one must question the responsibility of the person. When Christine leaves the hospital, Rayona shows up and helps prevent a potential disaster. She realizes what her mother plans to do, and that her mom will not crash the car with her on board. While Christine is not very reliable, she has no wish to hurt Rayona either; Ray's prediction was correct. As a child, Rayona must fulfill more obligations than a normal teen. Over the time that leads to her abandonment, Rayona begins to feel displaced from her mother. Christine's increasing self concern causes Rayona to feel her mom is ignoring her, when that is not true at all.
The story follows three girls- Jeanette, the oldest in the pack, Claudette, the narrator and middle child, and the youngest, Mirabella- as they go through the various stages of becoming civilized people. Each girl is an example of the different reactions to being placed in an unfamiliar environment and retrained. Jeanette adapts quickly, becoming the first in the pack to assimilate to the new way of life. She accepts her education and rejects her previous life with few relapses. Claudette understands the education being presented to her but resists adapting fully, her hatred turning into apathy as she quietly accepts her fate. Mirabella either does not comprehend her education, or fully ignores it, as she continually breaks the rules and boundaries set around her, eventually resulting in her removal from the school.
This book is exactly what it says it is – a Guidebook or Manual for both parents and teens that offers insight and advice on a wide range of adolescent developmental concerns. Organized into convenient topical sections for both parent and teen readers, the text can be easily consulted when seeking advice on a particular issue, or simply read cover to cover. Either way, the reader will find a wealth of practical advice for both parent and teen.
Thirteen: The Age of Adolescence Adolescence is the stage in life when you are no longer a child, but not yet an adult. There are many things that still need to be explored, learned, and conquered. In the film Thirteen, the main character, Tracy Freeland, is just entering adolescence. While trying to conquer Erikson’s theory of Identity vs. Role confusion, Tracy is affected by many influences, including family and friends, that hinder her development. Many concepts from what we have learned in class can be applied to this character, from identity development, to depression, to adolescent sexuality and more.
Adolescence, the period of life involving the transformation from a teenager into an adult, is a vital time in one’s life where many begin to unearth who they are and the very things they desire as they transition into the adult world. In J.D. Salinger’s timeless American novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden is a downhearted teenage boy struggling to leave his childhood behind in transition to the phony adult world he despises in order to explore universal themes including the phoniness of the adult world and the loss of innocence that is associated with the transition into adulthood. Through Salinger’s abundant use of symbolism, the reader is able to analyze Holden, his struggles, and angst towards change as he transitions into the adult world so that one is able to come to a deeper understanding and comprehension of the themes explored.
The American teenager is particularly different from any other teenager around the world. The American teenager experiences many particular experiences that change the lives ultimately that will affect the rest of his life.