Young Adult Novel, "If I Stay"

Last week, a young upper primary school girl asked me about a book called If I Stay by Gayle Forman, which is apparently being talked about by the girls in her group. I knew that the book was a young adult title, so I thought that I should read it to see whether it is appropriate for this age group. The bad news for these younger girls is that I would wait a while before reading it as I don’t think they have the life experience to appreciate what the book is trying to say. The good news for older readers is that it is, in my opinion, a really moving story, although the concept of the story might be challenging for some.


From the book’s website, the story goes like this:

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

If I Stay has music as its background theme, with Mia a talented cello player, her father once the guitarist in a band, and her boyfriend, Adam, is a lead singer and guitarist with an up and coming band. The book reminds me of the style of Alice Sebold’s Lovely Bones, the story being told by one of the characters existing outside her physical body, and who can see the events unfolding but unable to influence it. The story is told in flashbacks of the important event’s in Mia’s life: being brought up by an extended family of musicians as her family travels with her father’s band to gigs, the birth of her younger brother Teddy being the impetus for her father to learn to drive and train as a secondary schoolteacher, meeting her best friend Kym, her first date with Adam and moving on to the next stage with him, and her audition to get into the Julliard School of Music in New York.

This is a story that revolves around the choices we have to make in life. Her father’s chose the more family orientated life of a school teacher, rather than continue travelling with his band and, at the time of the accident, Mia was considering whether she would have to make the choice between moving to New York to attend school or to stay where Adam is in Portland. Now, her more important choice is whether she can live with the devastation that the car accident has caused.

I polished the book it off in a few days and it did require reading with a box of tissues next to me, so I’m sure that some adults would find it as beautiful read as I did. I think that secondary college students would get a lot out of it and could be the basis of discussion on the effects of death on the people left behind, the concept of choice and that often there is no right or wrong answer, and the importance of family and friends in everyone’s life. However, the level of description of the car accident, a quite detailed relationship scene and the concept of deciding whether she has anything to stay for on earth, would make me say that it is not for younger readers.

"Butterfly" by Sonia Hartnett

I finally finished listening to the audio book version of Sonia Hartnett’s book, Butterfly, which has made the shortlist for the 2010 Miles Franklin Award. Reading the blurb on the back, I assumed that the book was aimed at the young adult reader as the main character was 13 years old. However, once I got into the story I found that I didn’t really think that it would appeal to the young adult reader, and there was a quite a few things about it that made me think that I wouldn’t want my young adult reader reading it yet, so maybe the author intended it for an adult readership. I’m confused.

The novel revolves around a typical family – a mother and a father who we don’t learn too much about, and their three children, Justin, Cyder, and Ariella, whom the family calls Plum. The story is mainly told from teenage Plum’s perspective, not usually a main character that appeals to adults. Plum is experiencing all the teenage woes of pimples, feeling fat and unattractive, and being on the fringes of a group of friends to whom she clings even though she doesn’t really like the girls, because having no friends at all is worse. To top it off, Plum’s house is old; its furnishings are old; not at all like the cool houses of her friends, and her parents are embarrassing. Sounds like a young adult novel so far. The only redeeming part of her life is her two older brothers who we eventually discover to be in their early twenties, not teenagers as I originally thought. Justin and Cyder are very cool – dark, handsome, and dressed in black. So far so good, I’m reading a young adult novel.

As I get further in to the novel, I start to change my mind. After a while, I realise that the novel is set during the 1980’s. This seems a bit strange for a young adult novel as this period is not history and not contemporary but somewhere in between. Populated by strange clothing such as knickerbockers, references to bands and movies that the current generation are unlikely to have heard of (Logan’s Run, Planet of the Apes to name two), descriptions of the glass and steel furniture typical of the period, and the black and white, egg shape TV that Plum covets, seem to just add to the sense of not knowing where you are. As someone who was a teenager during the 1980’s, it is not an era that I particularly want to revisit now that I am an adult, and I can just hear my teenage son – “it’s so dated”.

I found Plum’s relationship with her parents difficult to understand.  With one TV per house in those days, I would not have stayed up as late as Plum gets to do at thirteen and even if I had, I would have been watching what my parents watched. The parents are portrayed as subservient to their children, while the other adult in the story encourages Plum to be a friend even though they had little contact in the past. I found this hard to believe as my recollection was that my father was always right, and while children had a lot of physical freedom there was not as much interaction with adults. I think that parents today are more likely to try to be friends and to discuss choices with their children than they were when I was growing up.

The novel mixes the trials of adolescence with the more mature themes of one of the brothers having a love affair with neighbour, and the brother's use of drugs, neither of which sat comfortably with my assumption this was a novel for young adults. I found Plum to be a character that I didn’t believe in, certainly not very likeable. I don’t enjoy reading a novel where the character is written in such a negative way, as Plum is in this book. It’s like a comedy movie where you’re laughing at someone rather than with them. I also found the author’s constant use of metaphors to be very annoying and affected my ability to take in the plot. I hate to say it but I cringed a lot as I listened driving around Melbourne.

All in all, I can’t say I think it is a good example of young adult fiction, and as an adult I’m not sure that I would want to read this for pleasure. If this hadn’t been an audio book version that I listened to in the car, I think I would have given up on it. To me, Butterfly seems to be for readers who like a lot of “literary” in their fiction, and read for the words, not for the story.

Books to Movies - What's in store for 2010

In 2010, there are a few books you might want to read before you see the movie later in the year.

For the adults, the book which is on my "to read" pile and which I will have to move up closer to the top, is Elizabeth Gilbert's, Eat, Pray, Love.  The film version is due to be released in October 2010.



In my Summer 2009/2010 edition of the Bookseller and Publisher magazine, some other books that may be adapted for the screen in 2010 are mentioned.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak gets a mention, as does We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2005 Orange Prize winner).  The Book Thief is one of those books that you either loved or hated.  Personally I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure how well it will fit the big screen as much of my enjoyment was in the way it was written.  I found We Need to Talk about Kevin  very confronting when I read it a few years ago, as it challenges the premise that mothers are naturally maternal, and offers up the idea that violent children may just be born that way.  Online information implies that We Need to Talk about Kevin is more likely to be release early in 2011.  It will be interesting to see how they tackle some of the more confronting scenes from the book or whether they leave them out.

For the teenagers, the first of John Marsden's Tomorrow series,   Tomorrow, When the War Began,  has been adapted into a movie and is due out in September 2010.  My eldest son really enjoyed this series of books a couple of years ago, and so despite the books having been written in the early 1990's, they have stood the test of time.  Let's hope the movie lives up to it.  Something to recommend to your 12-14 year old to read.




For the kids:  The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is due to be released in time for the September school holidays and is based on a series of books aimed at upper primary/lower secondary level.  I read an interesting article on the Readings Books website regarding graphic books and children who have trouble reading, in this case a child with dyslexia.  The series was mentioned due to its use of underlining of some of the text as, apparently, this makes it easier for kids to read from left to right across the page.  I hadn't really thought deeply about how much the way the written word in a book is presented can affect the way our children engage with it.  It should be obvious I suppose, given how much my children like reading comic books such as Asterix and Garfield.

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta

Most of us who live in Australia have heard about the film Looking for Alibrandi which was released in 2002. Some will know that it is based on the debut book of the same name by Melina Marchetta. I have thought about watching the movie or reading the book a number of times over the years but never quite got around to it as I thought it was one for teenagers and an “Australian” story, and thus probably a bit twee in the way of The Castle and other such films. This year I have been reading a blog called Persnickety Snark as a way to find out more about Young Adult fiction, and Adele who writes it is a big fan of Melina Marchetta. Influenced by this and the appearance of Melina’s latest book, The Piper’s Son, in the bookshops I thought I would finally read one of her novels. In fact, I have now read two – Saving Francesca which introduces the characters that appear in The Piper’s Son, and then The Piper’s Son.  I was so impressed.

I won’t say too much about the storylines – you can look this up for yourself at Melina's webpage – but both of these books are about families, relationships, and friendships. What’s new you might say?  In the Young Adult genre I have read a couple of books that, to me, try too hard to be both “literary” and deliver the “anguish” of growing up. The characters and the writing seem so unnatural for the age group that they are directed at.  I didn't feel this way when reading Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son. The writing flows, the descriptions are just right – not too flowery but still with enough depth to evoke a clear picture of the scene that the reader is reading about. The emotions of the characters are believable, as is the way the characters speak. In The Piper’s Son, Melina uses technology which our teenagers are very familiar with which gives it relevance to the readers it’s aimed at. The use of emails and SMS messages between the characters as they support each other is so right for the today’s young people.

In The Piper’s Son, I felt the confusion and despair of the main character Tom Mackee, who is in his early 20’s and is struggling to deal with the effect his uncle’s death two years previously has had on his family. While technically an adult, he has the life experience of a child, and resorts to drugs to cope with his world falling apart. Dominic, Tom’s father, can’t handle his brother’s death and uses alcohol to prop himself up to the point where Tom’s mother takes his younger sister interstate until his father can get his act together. Just when his father should have been looking after Tom, Tom was expected to look after his father without the help of his mother, and he is angry at the desertion by these people on whom he should be able to lean on in these tough times. Compounding this is his relationship with the girl he loves, but whom he let down and didn’t have the confidence to explain to her why, pushing her away when he should be gathering her close. The story has a strong theme of friendship and how important it is when times are tough, as Tom’s friends from High School stand by him even when he isn’t someone you’d want to know.

Do you sometimes feel a little sad when reach the last word of the last page of a book you didn't want to finish?  That is how I felt when I finished The Piper's Son, I wanted more.  If you haven’t read Melina Marchetta’s books, don’t be put off by the Young Adult label. The Piper’s Son is a great read for any age (maybe not your grandmother, as some themes may be a little out there for her).

Hunger Games, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My fourteen year son read both of these books while away on holiday, and urged me to read them too as he thought they were great, despite the main character being a girl. So I thought I would give them a try. I’m so glad I did, as I can see why they are so popular with our teenagers.

America is no more and has been replaced by Panem, which is controlled by the Capitol.  Surrounding the Capitol are twelve Districts, the inhabitants of which  work to supply the Capitol with all their material needs, and are kept separate from the other districts via electrified fences.  To maintain their obedience, the Capitol ensure that food is in short supply for all but the merchant class, housing conditions are poor, and the population kept fearful by the vicious Peacekeepers who enforce the law with brutality. Once there were 13 districts, but a long time ago the districts rose up against the Capitol and paid a high price for losing. District 13 was annihilated and the annual Hunger Games were introduced. As part of the surrender agreement, each District must supply two teenage tributes, one boy and one girl, to participate in a contest of survival in an inhospitable terrain, where the objective is to be the last contestant alive.  All of which is shown on live TV as a form of entertainment for the residents of the Capitol. As my son would say, “sick, eh”.

Sixteen year old Katniss finds herself volunteering to replace her twelve year old sister, Prim, when Prim’s name is drawn as this year’s girl tribute from District 12. Katniss knows that it is virtually a death sentence as her District has only ever had one victor in the Games. However, Katniss has hidden talents – in order to survive and feed her family after her father was killed in a mining accident, she taught herself to hunt in the woods on the other side of the fence, a dangerous and illegal activity. The question is, will this be enough? In order to survive to the end, she will also need to attract gifts from sponsors, and to do that she will need to develop a persona that will appeal to the viewing public.

Hunger Games and it’s sequel, Catching Fire, are categorised as young adult fiction but I still found them a gripping and thought provoking read regarding our desensitisation to violence and the power of the media to influence our perceptions.  The Hunger Games are an interesting parallel with today’s fascination with reality TV, in particular, “Survivor”. What is it about this type of show that makes for such riveting viewing.  I read recently about the “Jone’s Generation”, my demographic cohort that grew up with the first sitcoms and drama series on TV. We are voyeurs, trying to keep up with our peers, and fascinated with everything “celebrity”. I don’t, personally, think this is restricted to my generation. Our young people are also growing up in a world where the media provides us with a large part of our entertainment. It is quite an easy jump to a place where the media is so powerful that it is no longer about winning rewards or obtaining immunity, it’s about your life.

The books have all the elements that appeal to today’s youth – plenty of action (the violence is reasonably tame despite the theme of killing), interesting and likeable characters, the dilemma of how to maintain your integrity in an environment designed to strip you of your humanity, good against evil, and, of course, a little romance. Although the setting is in the future, how far into the future is up to the reader as everything is very familiar – it could be set in 50 years time or 200 years and this makes the books appealing to a wider audience than just those who like the science fiction/fantasy genre. One note of caution - while the violence is not described in detail in the book it is certainly there and so I wouldn’t recommend these books for primary aged children, no matter how good a reader they are. The concepts are quite adult, and not just in the violent nature of the storyline, but the emotional development of the characters as well.

The third book in the series, “Mockingjay” is due for release in August 2010 and a film based on the series is in the pipeline. To check out the Hunger Games website, click here.

Children and young adult books feature in the books charts

For the week of the 13th February, the highest selling book title in Australia according to Nielsen BookScan 2010 data (posted on the Bookseller & Publisher website) was "Hourglass" by Claudia Gray, the third in a vampire based series written for young adult readers ("YA") and aimed at the same demographic as the Twilight Series of books by Stephanie Meyer.  I was amazed that this book outsold both of the first two books from the Stieg Larsson Millenium series - an adult fiction series.  It goes to show how popular these books are with our young people and I have to confess that I have read both of these vampire series and can now see what the attraction is.

The first two books in the series by Claudia Gray are "Evernight" and "Stargazer".  The Twilight and Evernight books revolved around the themes of first relationships, and the confusion of growing up, but are interspersed with lots of action and adventure.  The books are a safe way for our young people to find empathy for the feelings and changes happening to themselves and let's confess, who wouldn't want to be the centre of attention of some hunky guy when you're 14.  The vampire bent adds that fantasy aspect that is so popular.  Don't worry, the main characters are nice vampires - they don't attack humans, and the need for the vampire to consume blood (usually animal) is dealt with very discretely.  You get all the good parts of vampires - amazing strength, not needing to sleep, well read and intelligent from living so long, as well as handsome guys falling for "ordinary" girls, without any of the gory bits.

At the top of the highest moving section of the charts are two other children's/YA books - the latest in The 39 Clues series of books, "Viper's Nest" by Peter Lerangis and Robert Muchamore's "Secret Army", the third book in the Henderson Boys series.

Writers at the Convent - #3. Destinctive Debuts

My third session of the day was entitled "Destinctive Debuts" and the six authors who participated were a diverse mix.

"Do you want Sex with that?" by Claire Halliday

This book is part memoir, part investigation and considers the place of sex in Australian life.  What make's Claire's book different is that it considers the issues regarding sex in our society with reference to her own experiences.  The excerpt that she read from her book outlined, in uncomfortable detail, her own  negative experiences of sex as a young adult, and it made me shuffle in my seat not knowing where to look.  How sad her reading was.  Is this all our young girls have to look forward to?  I didn't really get a feel for her book from the reading, but have read reviews of it since. I am sure it would be very informative but I think that I want to keep my illusions about what happens out there a little bit longer.  "Too much information"  - as the saying goes.

"The Legacy" by Kirsten Tranter

Set in the world of art in New York, this mystery/thriller follows Julia's quest to find her friend, Ingrid, after she disappeared on September 11, 2001 - yes, 9/11.  As one review I have read said, 9/11 was a day when almost anything could happen.   Did Ingrid disappear or did something more sinister happen?  Although set in New York, the main characters are Australian, and the book is written by an Australian now living in New York.  To me this meant that the writing style had a bluntness to it, more in common with Australian fiction than that the American mystery/thriller writers that I am more accustomed to.  The book has had good reviews so I think I will put it on my "to-read" list for the future.

"Cooee" by Vivienne Kelly

Vivienne selected a scene from her book where the main character, Isobel, is having lunch with her reluctant son, Dominic, who resents that his mother left him when he was ten and just wants to get the lunch over with.  From the audience's response, I think a few could relate to the sense of defeat that Isobel felt as she tries to establish a relationship with her adult son.  I found the reading funny in a dark sort of way, but the book was not something that I will rush out and buy in the near future as I feel uncomfortable with this sort of humour and found the scene quite depressing.  If anyone has read this book, please let me know whether you liked it.

Should young adult books have labelling for mature themes?

I am a parent who is interested in what my children are reading, and would like, one day, to open a book shop. I have a fourteen year old boy who is a very capable reader. Thus, I have been reading some books in the young adult genre. I recently picked up "The Nest" by Paul Jennings, the author of children's beginning readers such as the Rascal the Dragon series and books such as Wicked. I read the blurb - a book about difficult relationship between a boy and his father, an unsuitable girl who's pursuing him, and mystery surrounding his mother leaving them when he was a baby. The sort of topics I would expect from a book shelved in the Teenage section of our local library. My son read the book, and then said "you've got to read this, mum". "Why?" "It's different and interesting" (in a weird way was the implication I got). This is from a boy who has read "The Da Vinci Code" and the whole series novels written by Matthew Reilly.

Well, I have just finished "the Nest". I agree with most of the reviews I have subsequently read that it is well written, dealing with topics that teenagers are being exposed to, and clever in it's construction. The problem I have with this book is that I chose it for my teenager to read based on the blurb on the back cover and the reputation of the author. On reading it, I was a little shocked with some of the content - nudity, drug use, murderous thoughts by the 16 year old main character.

My question is - is this book suitable for a child under 15 (no matter how mature they appear these days, they are still children) to read? Would I be happy for my 12 year old (who is also a very capable reader and borrows books from the teenage section) to read this book? To be honest with you, no, I wouldn't. However there was nothing on the cover or front pages of the book to alert me to the fact this book wasn't really suitable for under fifteens.

This is not about the ability of the reader, it's about the maturity of the reader to understand the concepts in the book. This issue is not restricted to just the young adult section. I often see children who are quite capable readers, reading books which has content which they don't understand as they have no life experience of the emotions or events which the characters are dealing with. Over the years I have had many discussions with my children's teachers on this point.

What is my son's opinion? When I quizzed him on whether the content of "The Nest" was appropriate for children younger than him - his response was , "they all have it".

I think I'm getting old.