A new subgenre has jumped onto the scene
of young adult fiction recently; it’s sad, raw and impossible to put down. So,
unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll no doubt have heard of it already
because YA novels featuring terminal illnesses and tragic love tales have been
soaring in the literary charts over the last few years. The trick to this genre
is treating young adults like young adults, authors of this field recognise
that we aren’t children anymore. John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, approaches his work with a great reverence
for his teenage audience and believes that his success is rooted in the fact
that he has never underestimated or undermined his teenage characters complexities.
We are dealing with sex, death, and self-discovery just as much as the next
person and these novels are some of the only source material addresses such
topics and view them through a similar lens. Tapping into such a technique
gives the audience a reference point regarding such topics by showing the
realistic scenarios and troubles that are currently relatable in the lives of
people aged 15-25.
Not six months ago I was 35 000 feet above
sea level cramped into an economy seat on a 14 hour flight home from America and
I made the mistake of reading John Green’s latest best seller, The Fault In Our Stars (TFIOS). I didn’t
even make it through half of the journey before I had become an absolute mess.
Salty tears mixed with clumps of mascara were running down my face and dripping
onto the pages, but not before joining with the snot that had liquidized and
was trailing from my nose. I was failing to conceal the uncontrollable sobs
that were escaping from my lips and resembled the sound of a dying whale. I
felt the need to put down my book and go in search for tissues and a glass of
water before continuing my endeavour, yet to my dismay the stranger to my right
had fallen asleep on his fold out tray blocking my path to freedom. So, here I
was with some kind of dehydration headache forming in the base of my skull,
compression packing in my senses so that I needed to force the air into my
lungs, having to wipe a dreadful mixture of snot, tears, and makeup into the
inside of my shirt sleeve and loving every minute of it. That’s the weird thing
about this newly emerging subgenre within YA fiction, it seems that no matter
how devastating or confronting they are to read we just can’t put them down.
This trend first came to my attention when
I was given copious amounts of books in my mother’s attempt to cheer me up, as
I was bedridden for many months. To my mum’s credit those books worked their
magic, because amongst the mountain of novels that sat upon my bedside table
was Before I Die by Jenny Downham. As
a sick (and mildly sulky) teenager, Downham’s characters gave me some concept
of normality in the unfamiliar territory I had landed myself in. Tessa, like any
good protagonist, became my inspiration. I wanted nothing more than to have
such a blasé attitude about my illness and take control of my life in every way
I could. This resulted in a two-year commitment to vegetarianism, an extremely
stubborn head and the strength to stand behind each and every one of my
opinions no matter how stupid or unrealistic they appeared on the surface. The
novel also gave me some of the first feministic concepts that I felt I could
stand behind, specifically my ideals and values when it comes to virginity and
the gender inequality constructed within society.
Sex and virginity are constantly addressed
in YA fiction, as they are topics that intrigue and confuse a lot of young
adults. After reading Before I Die, I
rejected the concept of virginity being sacred and instead approached the topic
with an attitude akin to Tessa. She avidly addresses the idea of sex as merely
an item to cross off of her bucket list, almost disregarding the notion of
virginity completely. I took this example and started to ignore the term
virginity because whilst we experience a lot of first times in our lives, sex is
different and that societal definition was something I despised. Sex and
virginity are also present factors in TFIOS
yet the stereotypical aspects of them are completely forgotten. Instead, Green
has displayed the love between two characters in an intimate way it’s awkward
and they are giggling throughout the act, treating it like a game and having no
obligations to do otherwise or “act accordingly”. It became an activity to say
the least, just another milestone in Hazel and Augustus’ relationship. The way
both authors have addressed the entire subject matter is very mature and age
appropriate for their audiences. At that age a lot of teens are getting
introduced to this topic and are experiencing it for the first time. Therefore when
both novels depict “the first time” as realistically as possible, it’s a
refreshing change to what is displayed in mainstream media. It takes away that
pressure of perfection allowing for more personal ideals and definitions to be
created.
These YA fiction books relating back to
cancer and real life situations are becoming so impossibly popular due to their
authenticity. After the vampires and cheesy romances, this tragic yet beautiful
subgenre is taking YA fiction in a positive direction and is even starting to make
itself a name in other social constructs. The fact that they are making a
connection to their intended audiences are due to their ability to understand
them and treat them as adults. Their realistic and mature content are show
accurate perceptions of how teenagers deal with new experiences of both the
good and bad variety and give the readers comfort and answers when they find
themselves in similar situations. John Green and Jenny Downham have created
tales that evoke sweeping emotions and positively influence today’s teenagers,
which is why they are taking the world by storm.
