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I'm really glad to discover this thread since I've been looking for more YA suggestions. I've been devouring a lot of dystopian books as of late and I'd love to read something in the paranormal realm that isn't always "girl with latent powers swooning over dark and mysterious (werewolf/vampire/faerie)". I'll definitely be looking into some of the suggestions here, some of them I've already read and really liked. A couple good dystopians that haven't been mentioned yet: Matched by Ally Condie is about a society that predetermines every aspect of the lives of their citizens, such as who they marry (are "matched" with), their jobs, personal possessions, activities/hobbies, etc. The protagonist Cassia is certain she will be matched with her childhood friend Xander, but for a brief second she sees the face of Ky, which leads her to start questioning their supposed "perfect" society. A lot of the reviews seem to think it's a ripoff of The Giver, but I can't say since I've never read it. The second book Crossed is out now with the third being released later this year I think. Legend by Marie Lu is about two warring factions within the United States, the Republic and the Colonies. June is considered a prodigy in the Republic and is being groomed as a military officer; Day lives in the slums and is considered a criminal by the Republic. June's brother Metias is killed and she blames Day for his death, so she is determined to capture him. They eventually cross paths, some poo poo goes down, secrets are revealed, etc etc. I thought the setup was interesting and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
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Jun 8, 2012 05:10
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Ugh, Matched... It had some good concepts, but most of the dystopia was pushed aside in favour of the stupid love triangle. The protagonists were as dull as dirt, and during the time I read this I kept thinking: "Hmm, there's an interesting concept. Now expand on it. No, don't go back the love triangle, I want to see more dystopia!!" "what happens to the people who are unhappy with their mates? How does the society of Matched view people as a whole?"
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Jun 8, 2012 05:32
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"What about gay/bisexual teens? Are they forced into straight relationships?" Only that question is never asked, and considering the author is one of the many Mormons that for some reason ended up writing YA, I'm not surprised. So I have to agree with Violet_Sky. I found Matched incredibly dull. It was essentially an excuse for another YA love triangle, only none of the characters were interesting and the dystopian aspects were a thin backdrop at best. Not to poo poo on you for enjoying the book, of course. I just couldn't personally get past the world building and lack of urgency. I have heard some good things about Legend and I think I have it hanging out here to read. But I still always sort of turn back to the classic YA dystopians. Aside from The Giver (which you really should read, it's much more interesting than the old man cover suggests), I also highly recommend Feed by M.T. Anderson.
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Jun 8, 2012 07:37
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tvb posted:Any opinions on "13 Reasons Why"? I know that it was a sensation of sorts, and while practically every YA without dystopian future or paranormal romance must be about teen suicide, I'm curious. Some reviews say that the narrator is a real whiner, though, and since the author's follow-up (The Future of Us) got such mediocre reviews, I'm skeptical. I read 13 Reasons Why and enjoyed it. Like a lot of other recent ya lit, it sort of beats you over the head with its main theme. However, I still found it a worthwhile read.
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Jun 11, 2012 20:19
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This might be a little younger than some of the others, but I really liked The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness when I was younger. Set in the Stone Age in northern Europe and has one of the best female characters I've read in any children's book.
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Jun 12, 2012 13:54
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Man I was about to recommend The Saga Of Darren Shan but poo poo, I can't believe I actually liked it when I was younger.
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Jun 12, 2012 17:25
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Saith posted:Man I was about to recommend The Saga Of Darren Shan but poo poo, I can't believe I actually liked it when I was younger. I still do  It's fun... well, it all goes to poo poo after book six, but the first half is all right, and the ninth has a good ending (fond memories of bawling like a baby, man fourteen-year-old me was devastated). Haven't read it in a fair few years, mind you. The rose-tinted glasses are probably on.
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Jun 12, 2012 17:48
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eating only apples posted:I still do Well, maybe it isn't terrible. It's just that all the things I can remember are things that are generally seen as poor writing. He uses his own name for the main character, just for starters. The ending is basically a massive 'it was all a dream' type deal. Hell, the author basically states that he literally is Darren Shan, just in a different dimension. Then there's stuff like some vampire chick loving the leaders of both vampire tribes so that they don't know who the father of the only vampire child ever is. I don't know, I guess when it reaches the end, it gets more and more 'fanficcy'. I still have fond memories of it, though, and I can't think of anything that bad about The Demonata series, so.
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Jun 13, 2012 20:02
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Saith posted:Well, maybe it isn't terrible. Haha well yeah the last book is awful and should've been burned. I can't remember if it got retconned at the end but I know at some point in the series it was stated that the protagonist isn't actually The Author, it's a "found this guy's diary, it's pretty cool, gonna change the names, publish it and make a quick buck!" kind of deal. Whether that's better... I don't know. The Demonata always seemed like gore for the sake of gore, really. It wasn't shocking, just boring. I gave up on it after a few books. Bec was the best of a bad bunch as I recall, it was a bit different. Shan's got a new series coming out but it's called Zom-B which is offputting from the start, I doubt I'll read it.
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Jun 13, 2012 20:13
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jcschick posted:Has anyone tried The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. I have a teenage cousin in Maine who loved these and I want to see if they are really worth it. I'm going to disagree with Violet_Sky here. I really loved the Uglies series and thought it was really interesting that Scott Westerfeld could change up his writing style in each book. With each one the personality of Tally is slightly different because she changes rather drastically in each book. It's still her, but altered. I also admire his extremely solid world building that includes a pop-culture angle down to vernacular. The basic premise of all three books is similar: in this advanced world it's easy to change a person's outside... and in some ways easier to change what's inside. This basic idea and battle against it is the core of all three books. There is a romance tied up in there, but it didn't bother me (who at that age didn't do stupid or crazy poo poo for a crush?). In many ways Tally is so painfully approachable that it hurts. She fucks up, and I mean big time, but in ways that can be understood, if not entirely empathized with and there are very real consequences to her actions. There's never any glossing over or "It's going to be all right" moments. She, at first, gets dragged into a situation that she never wanted to be in and has to find her way from there. I hear a lot of complaints that Tally's whiny or selfish or whatever. Show me a normal 16 year-old that isn't a bit self-absorbed, and I don't want high-horse bullshit here. Besides I found Shay as insufferably selfish and whiny if not more so, and no one seems to complain about her. Violet_Sky is correct in that the fourth book of the Uglies series isn't about Tally, but it never claims to be. I actually like Aya Fuse from Extras more than tally in some ways. That said I am unashamed to acknowledge that I have loved pretty much everything Scott Westerfeld has produced. I've read the entire Uglies series. If you like Steampunk then the Leviathan series is for you. Oh god, is that one good! For me it blows Uglies out of the water! It's such an amazing world, a reimagined WWI that's so brilliantly detailed and carefully constructed around actual historical events! In the world of Leviathan powers can be broken up into two basic ways: the Darwinists and the Clankers. (England and allies are Darwinists and Germans and allies are Clankers) In this world Darwin not only discovered evolution, but also DNA and how to manipulate it. With this knowledge great creatures known as fabricants (fabs for short) have taken the place of most major machinery. The famed British Navy is actually an Airship fleet comprised of hydrogen producing fabs and the Leviathan is one of them. The Clankers are exactly as you'd expect, they went in the complete opposite direction of the Darwinists and use complex machines, engines, and electricity. They are as steampunk as it gets. You have two extremely fascinating characters: Dylan (Deryn) Sharp, a girl who wanted to serve in the Royal Navy so sneaked in disguised as a boy; and Aleksander Hapsburg (sp?) the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose death was one of the key reasons for the war to start. There are a ton of other fascinating characters and the plot is great. They're actually tragically quick reads because the spacing is close to double. The illustrations for the book are nothing short of magical though. I've read the first two and though I haven't had time to finish the third. I can't wait! There is a love story and I don't know how it ends up, but it's completely different from the usual type found in YA fiction. Also by Scott Westerfeld is the Midnighters series. I liked the first book all right, the premise is interesting. In this small town of Bixby there is an extra hour of the day, the blue hour, in which most humans can't move. Only a small group of teens (those born at exactly midnight) are active during this time. They possess special abilities, though some only have access to them during the blue hour. But there are creatures in the blue hour that are dangerous. It's a crap summary, I know, but I can't think of a better way to explain it. The main character, Jessica Day, was a bit meh for me. The other characters, especially the math genius, were far more interesting. I haven't yet read the other two (I'm in the middle of moving so a lot of my books are currently in storage), but I've been assured that they get way, way better. Finally to round off this Westerfeld love-fest is Peeps. It's a teen vampire novel, yes, but it holds serious promise. For one thing vampirism is an infection in this world and can be transmitted through sex like an STD. The main character is immune to the virus himself, but he's passed it on to other girls he's dated. There is also a stand alone novel he did called So Yesterday that I really want to get my hands on. Ahaha, now I sound like a hopeless devotee. LevelC fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Jun 21, 2012 |
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Jun 21, 2012 03:18
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Oh hey I didn't know he wrote Midnighters. Everything I can remember reminds me of Persona 3, which isn't a bad thing.
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Jun 21, 2012 03:35
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Saith posted:Oh hey I didn't know he wrote Midnighters. Yeah, I've heard that. There was some arguing about him stealing the idea or something, but I think it's just a case of people having a similar concept. As the saying goes: There's nothing new under the sun.
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Jun 21, 2012 03:38
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I enjoyed the Midnighter books quite a bit, and also what I've read of Leviathan. I found the writing a bit simple in Uglies, but I'm pretty sure it was on purpose. I never read the rest of the series but I should get on that. I really like what he brings to the YA table. Scott Westerfeld happens to be married to another YA author, Justine Larbalestier. I heard about her book Liar after the fiasco where the US publisher decided to put a photo of a white girl on a book with a black narrator. The cover ultimately got changed, thankfully. The book itself is told by a completely unreliable narrator and is a twisted journey through one girl's psyche -- it deals a lot with gender & sexual identity and slips between genres. I'm still not entirely sure what ultimately happened in the story, but it sure is fun to theorize about. Based on Maerlyn's recommendation above, I started Legend by Marie Lu and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm really liking the world and conflicts she set up, as well as both lead characters.
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Jun 21, 2012 09:28
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I picked up the second book in the Leviathan trilogy for $3 the other day, along with the Chaos Walking trilogy, and Tamar by Mal Peet, for the same price. I love book sales, and I can't wait to read my new purchases.
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Jun 21, 2012 09:56
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sighnoceros posted:
Thanks for recommending this. I'm about 100 pages into Graceling and it's really holding my interest.
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Jun 22, 2012 18:56
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SlenderWhore posted:Divergent had a good premise, but I couldn't finish as soon as she found twu wuv with a guy who treats her like poo poo and embarrasses her in public. It annoys the crap out of me when YA books do that. It was a decent story otherwise. I know this is old, but I'd like to respond. I thought of it as sort of a grade school crush (from his side) at the beginning. Especially considering he's a 19 year old boy and don't forget what faction he's in (emotions aren't exactly easy to deal with or show). I felt like at first he was just fascinated with how far he could push her and slowly started to realize that his fascination was actually something more (and that's when he started backing down on treating her badly.) I felt that the later treatment of the romance was one of the strongest points of the book. I feel that Roth is one of the only writers that I've seen who is honest about teenage... sex, I guess. She doesn't show the man as the guardian/ gatekeeper of female sexuality, she doesn't allow Tris' assumptions about Four's expectations go unquestioned (well he's a boy and older, so he obviously expects me to put out and soon), she shows that BOTH the male and female of the relationship have fear about making the first step, and she shows the obvious desire and passion between them while still showing a very reasonable thought process in Tris- "As much as my body wants this, I know I shouldn't have it right now" sort of thing. Tris makes her own decisions about sex, not society, not the boy- she does. For anyone who's read Insurgent I'd like to know... Do you think Roth is trying to suggest they did have sex before she gives herself up to the Erudite?
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Jun 23, 2012 16:13
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SassySally posted:Divergent / Insurgent stuff On the one hand, I did appreciate the way that sex/love/lust was handled in the books - it's a bit refreshing to read a book and not see the characters immediately going at it in a fit of 'passion' or what-have-you. I also appreciated that she did explain Tris' reasoning, and as you said also showed that Four was just as uncertain and not ready as she was. As for what you mentioned in spoiler, I did not get that impression from what was written.
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Jun 23, 2012 21:07
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RE: Graceling -- I'm about halfway through the book now, and I'm still enjoying it. I read some of the reviews on Goodreads, and I was surprised to see so many people take Katsa's views on marriage as, like, the author's claim about How Marriage Really Is. (And the reviewers were really angry about it.) I thought it was very clear that Katsa was commenting on how marriage was in that particular medieval-esque society -- the author's own views on modern marriage in our world didn't enter into it. I've read some truly bizarre, taking-things-way-too-personally, Goodreads reviews before, but never so many congregated under one book.
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Jun 24, 2012 00:11
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I've made a start on Mortal Engines, seems like an interesting idea although it's a bit strange for me to be reading about a London so far into the future it's a towering wedding cake on wheels and yet that blue whale in the natural history museum is still there. Hell, I'm surprised the natural history museum is still there even. I really enjoyed Graceling when I read it a few years ago, I bought Fire but never got round to it. That will be next on my list!
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Jun 24, 2012 12:56
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Dr Scoofles posted:I've made a start on Mortal Engines, seems like an interesting idea although it's a bit strange for me to be reading about a London so far into the future it's a towering wedding cake on wheels and yet that blue whale in the natural history museum is still there. Hell, I'm surprised the natural history museum is still there even. I did not enjoy Fire as much as I did Graceling unfortunately. I found the whole "monster" conceit a bit more contrived than I did the "graces" Really really loved Mortal Engines. It's well worth sticking with it.
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Jun 24, 2012 21:21
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Dead Man Posting posted:The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer Yessssssssssss, have you ever read the House of the Scorpion? Its easily one of my favorite books, I must have read it at least 10 or so times as a kid.
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Jun 25, 2012 03:28
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Kind of surprised no one else has mentioned them, but my favorite YA books from my childhood/adolescence was Redwall. Redwall by Brian Jacques Probably one of the longest running and expansive universes created. There are books and books and books to the series but the anchor is Redwall. The book centers around mice that live in an abbey and their adventures with various adversaries (vermin of sorts). The books don't always center around the same characters or the same divergent story lines but it's always the same universe. Deeply detailed and incredibly entertaining. I haven't read all the books but I read all the ones that existed till I was 14 (about 10 years ago).
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Jun 25, 2012 16:41
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I wouldn't be surprised if the redwall books are responsible for the widespread childhood obesity we have today. Those feasts!
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Jun 26, 2012 00:45
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I loved Redwall as a kid but went off it when it started becoming really formulaic. It's also one of those series that you go back to as an adult and realise it was really, really racist (explored in one of my favourite SA articles ever). As I'm typing this, though, I just realised that this username - which I've used on many different websites and had for so long I don't even really think about it - came from the name of a ship in one of the Redwall books.
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Jun 26, 2012 09:05
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Ahoy, fellow poster with a name stolen from a racist children's book series! And I'm pretty sure it's a requirement that British kid lit have incredibly gratuitous depictions of feasting. One book that I read suggested that it dates back to the era of World War II and post-war rationing, where most kids would only get to taste most of that stuff very rarely, which makes sense, I guess (although I feel like there are plenty of book feasts that date back even further than that) . . . And obviously it's more or less a requirement now. People used to complain about the gratuitous feast scenes in Harry Potter, and I always wanted to be like, no, you don't get it; it's tradition, goddamn it. After being left on the edge of our seats watching the protagonist battle the forces of evil for 500+ pages, we deserve some kind of vicarious reward.
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Jun 27, 2012 03:21
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aslan posted:Ahoy, fellow poster with a name stolen from a racist children's book series! How were the feasts in Harry Potter gratuitous? They were mostly held for special occasions, only described in any great detail when it advanced the plot, and the feasts themselves were only described in the most superficial detail.
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Jun 27, 2012 15:56
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PT6A posted:How were the feasts in Harry Potter gratuitous? They were mostly held for special occasions, only described in any great detail when it advanced the plot, and the feasts themselves were only described in the most superficial detail. feasts are a staple of british children's literature. All the way from Blyton's Famous Five and the Swallows and the Amazons in Arthur Ransome's books having a victory fizz ginger pop and packet of whizbanging flimshims after foiling a petty criminal's nefarious scheme to Harry Potter's adventures ending with a feast to recap the events of the book.
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Jun 27, 2012 21:11
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I just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower after being pulled in by the film's trailer and I was blown away. Easily my favorite YA novel. This is the kind of book I wish I had read in high school, because it would have made me feel ok to be different from all the major cliques. I was surprised by the subject matter in some parts, but it was all handled really well and didn't feel forced or thrown in for shock, which was refreshing. Highly recommended if you haven't read it yet.
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Jun 27, 2012 21:17
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I would recommend Maggie Stiefvater. I've read Lament and Shiver and really enjoyed them. I haven't had a chance to read much else written by this author, but I'm hoping to be able to make the time to do so. A YA book I also enjoyed was Dia Reeves' Bleeding Violet. As an adult, I didn't mind the violence, etc. I also thought the main character's having mental health issues made for an interesting point of view. Surprised no one has mentioned yet (or maybe I missed it), but my favorite series growing up was Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. We actually read Book of Three as a class in third or fourth grade, with the teacher reading it aloud. When given a choice, I've pretty much read only fantasy or sci/fi ever since.
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Jul 1, 2012 16:09
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PT6A posted:How were the feasts in Harry Potter gratuitous? They were mostly held for special occasions, only described in any great detail when it advanced the plot, and the feasts themselves were only described in the most superficial detail. Less gratuitous in a literary sense and more gratuitous in a "Why do they need so much loving food?" sense.
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Jul 2, 2012 03:24
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After wallowing in the YA writing world for a year or so, it's really interesting to see what publishing describes as 'Middle Grade' lumped in with YA here. I guess readers don't care as much as publishing thinks! My current favorites from the YA field are Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series (although I've only read three books) and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone which I thought was beautiful, if a bit flawed in the second half. First of a series, of course.
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Jul 4, 2012 06:33
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aslan posted:Less gratuitous in a literary sense and more gratuitous in a "Why do they need so much loving food?" sense. Many magical worlds assume that the energy required to do magic requires more food/ calories.
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Jul 4, 2012 15:58
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aslan posted:And I'm pretty sure it's a requirement that British kid lit have incredibly gratuitous depictions of feasting. One book that I read suggested that it dates back to the era of World War II and post-war rationing, where most kids would only get to taste most of that stuff very rarely, which makes sense, I guess (although I feel like there are plenty of book feasts that date back even further than that). Interesting, but kind of a long draw to bow. Was the book American or British? I bet it was American.
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Jul 4, 2012 16:45
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Haha, I'm sure it was an American book. I don't remember the actual title, but it's a popular enough argument that google searches will turn up various references to it in regards to Redwall and Enid Blyton, at least. In fact, in this article, Brian Jacques draws the connection himself. But I have to guess that the trend predates World War II, right? Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and some of Frances Hodgson's Burnett's stuff are pretty food-y if not quite as feast-y as later books.chrysoula posted:After wallowing in the YA writing world for a year or so, it's really interesting to see what publishing describes as 'Middle Grade' lumped in with YA here. I guess readers don't care as much as publishing thinks! Adult readers probably don't care that much. Actual teenagers would probably draw a thicker line. But yeah, A.V. Club did an article a couple weeks ago about "favorite young adult novels" that showed pretty much the same result--I was surprised at how much of the stuff they listed was actually middle-grade or just straight-up children's lit (Dogsbody, Bride to Terabithia, Narnia, Judy Blume, His Dark Materials). And then half the other stuff wasn't YA either, just adult books that children often read (To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451). And almost none of it was written post-1980 . . . for a publication that actually has a YA column and a contributor that's written a YA novel, they seemed pretty clueless. Some of the hang-ups YA publishers have seem totally irrational to me, though. Fortunately they've been gradually loosening up on their "no stories set in college" rule in the past five years or so, and the max age for YA protagonists has been bumped up a couple years . . . I've never understood why college-set YA stories were so hard to get published, since those were my favorite when I was growing up. It took me until I was an adult to realize that it's not that those stories weren't getting written, they just weren't getting published.
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Jul 4, 2012 19:40
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aslan posted:Some of the hang-ups YA publishers have seem totally irrational to me, though. Fortunately they've been gradually loosening up on their "no stories set in college" rule in the past five years or so, and the max age for YA protagonists has been bumped up a couple years . . . I've never understood why college-set YA stories were so hard to get published, since those were my favorite when I was growing up. It took me until I was an adult to realize that it's not that those stories weren't getting written, they just weren't getting published. It's probably that a good number of potential readers wouldn't actually have a chance of going to uni for a large amount of reasons, and I know that I for one wouldn't have been able to stand reading a book set in one back when I found out that money was a thing that influenced that. Also, the Feast thing? I never really noticed it. I guess I can remember, looking back on most of the books I read, but it never seemed out of place for me. e: Hey, you guys have Susan Collins, right? Food porn is hardly exclusive to the UK. 
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Jul 4, 2012 22:26
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It was my understanding that that style of feasting came about on large estates because of the need to feed not just the top nobs but all of the levels of servantry and that enable their lifestyle. So they'd prepare tons of food and the nobs would get first choice of the best stuff while the servants would eat leftovers the next day. Oh, and the nobs would also have leftovers the next day. The idea being that they only have to fire the ovens once a day. What gets me about YA classification is that I suspect a lot of novels published as straight fantasy twenty years ago would now be considered YA, since it seems like the only requirement any longer is that the protagonist is a teenager (or possibly an emergent adult). I _am_ glad 'emergent adult' is, er, emerging as a genre, since it's often seemed to me that the only difference between some paranormal YA and paranormal adult/UF is, uh, the age of the protagonists and _possibly_ the amount of sex.
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Jul 4, 2012 22:51
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I wanted to thank this thread for recommending "Unwind". It is definitely YA, but it was pretty deep for a YA novel and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
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Jul 5, 2012 16:24
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aslan posted:The Book Thief is great, for the poster who was wondering--it's a novel about the Holocaust without being a Holocaust Novel, if you know what I mean. I actually loved Zusak's earlier book, I Am the Messenger, even more, but that seems to be a hate-it-or-love-it type deal. Most people are more into The Book Thief, so I would start with that. From ages back, but I really loved I Am The Messenger ... except for that awful mindfuck of an ending!! I have reread it about 20 times because I absolutely love the rest of it, but the ending always disappoints me  On the topic of why there is so much food in children's/young adult fiction - it's because children love reading about food, especially magical foods that we can't get in our world, or unhealthy sugary cakes and sweets that their parents won't let them eat. That's why Charlie and the Chocolate Factory became so popular. I remember when I was little, I really loved reading all the ridiculously in-depth descriptions of food the characters were eating. I recently read Before I Die by Jenny Downham, and I thought it was pretty good. It's about a 16 year old girl dying from leukaemia and she's trying to accomplish a list of goals before she dies. The story could have easily been a huge sentimental cliche, but in fact it's really down to earth, the protagonist isn't perfect, she gets on everyone's nerves and is often rude and stubborn, she fights with her little brother and her best friend, and her 'bucket list' mostly consists of things like taking drugs, breaking the law etc. It's still a very sad read of course, but it's written in a really matter-of-fact way and Tessa is all the more likeable for behaving just like a normal teenager despite her illness.
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Jul 5, 2012 18:19
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blaarghh posted:From ages back, but I really loved I Am The Messenger ... except for that awful mindfuck of an ending!! I have reread it about 20 times because I absolutely love the rest of it, but the ending always disappoints me Yeah, the ending seems to be the part that polarizes everyone. I read it for a college class on YA lit and half the class didn't even seem to get it, but of those who did, we were evenly split. I love it, but I'm a writer, so I would. It just highlights the relationship between author and reader to me, and the power of a really good book to change people. But he definitely took a risk with that ending, because I'd say more people probably hate it than like it. Saith posted:It's probably that a good number of potential readers wouldn't actually have a chance of going to uni for a large amount of reasons, and I know that I for one wouldn't have been able to stand reading a book set in one back when I found out that money was a thing that influenced that. I think their argument is generally that most kids like to read books with protagonists a couple years older than they are, and by the time somebody's 18 or 19, they're just going to skip to adult literature, not read college-set YA. But that's changing as more and more adults are reading YA--with less of a stigma, kids are less likely to skip over older YA for adult lit. I'm sure the class issues would turn off some readers, but I don't think that was ever an argument for not publishing it--"lifestyles of the rich kids" escapism like boarding school stories has pretty much always been a big YA seller. And in regards to Hunger Games food porn--it was definitely interesting to see that in those books, because we just don't have a history of it the way the Brits do--Dorothy doesn't stop at the side of the yellow brick road for a tea party, Nancy Drew doesn't need an elaborate picnic spread before she sets off on a case . . . The closest thing I can think of are the Christmas scenes in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but half of that is because they're usually half-dying of starvation before they get their penny candy or whatever. Part of that is probably just that we don't have quite the same fantasy tradition that the Brits do, though.
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Jul 7, 2012 08:44
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aslan posted:The closest thing I can think of are the Christmas scenes in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but half of that is because they're usually half-dying of starvation before they get their penny candy or whatever. Candy, a tin cup, a penny, and some sort of plain rear end cake, I think is what she and that bitch Mary got. Girl got more presents stuck in a snowstorm in the 19th century than I ever did! But you bring up a good point since I can't really recall anything past that either. I think Americans just like to be contrary and so we have deprivation/starvation porn down pat. Flowers in the Attic had kids surviving on cold chicken picnics at first, then poisoned doughnuts, then RAT BLOOD, and Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt had the kids surviving on like, $2.83 and a couple fishing poles or whatever. That's just 2 examples but I'm sure there's more out there.
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Jul 8, 2012 22:06
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