This week’s guest post comes to us from recently-debuted author Stephanie Kuehn.
Stephanie Kuehn holds degrees in linguistics and sport psychology, and is currently working toward a doctorate in clinical psychology. She lives in Northern California with her husband, their three children, and a joyful abundance of pets. When she’s not writing, she’s running. Or reading. Or dreaming. Her debut young adult novel, CHARM & STRANGE, was published by St. Martin’s Press on 6.11.13. COMPLICIT will be published in 2014 (St. Martin’s Press).
Does
anybody else experience the world the way that I do?
anybody else experience the world the way that I do?
Am
I really all alone in this?
I really all alone in this?
It
wasn’t until I went away to college and took my first philosophy
course that I was able to put names and terms to some of the scary
and lonely-making questions that had been floating around inside my
head. But before that, back in high school, we didn’t talk about
philosophy, so the only times I felt understood in my fearful
loneliness was when I was reading.
wasn’t until I went away to college and took my first philosophy
course that I was able to put names and terms to some of the scary
and lonely-making questions that had been floating around inside my
head. But before that, back in high school, we didn’t talk about
philosophy, so the only times I felt understood in my fearful
loneliness was when I was reading.
It
was William Golding’s LORD OF THE FLIES that assured me I wasn’t
the only who doubted the nature of humanity (myself included); Robert
Cormier’s THE CHOCOLATE WAR that spoke to me, bleakly and honestly,
about the experience of helplessness; Joyce Sweeney’s CENTER LINE
that showed me what love is and what it isn’t; and both Daniel
Pinkwater’s YOUNG ADULT NOVEL and Gordon Korman’s DON’T CARE
HIGH that pointed out the ways irreverence and absurdity fill our
lives, reminding me that laughter is infinitely more enjoyable than
cynicism.
was William Golding’s LORD OF THE FLIES that assured me I wasn’t
the only who doubted the nature of humanity (myself included); Robert
Cormier’s THE CHOCOLATE WAR that spoke to me, bleakly and honestly,
about the experience of helplessness; Joyce Sweeney’s CENTER LINE
that showed me what love is and what it isn’t; and both Daniel
Pinkwater’s YOUNG ADULT NOVEL and Gordon Korman’s DON’T CARE
HIGH that pointed out the ways irreverence and absurdity fill our
lives, reminding me that laughter is infinitely more enjoyable than
cynicism.
These
books didn’t necessarily address issues of philosophy in an
explicit way, but the concepts of individualism, determinism,
fatalism, humanism, and Dadaist surrealism were all there, woven into
the pages. I read these stories and knew I wasn’t alone in the
questions I was contemplating and the doubt I was feeling. So when
people today ask me why
YA? Or
what
makes YA different? My
answer is this: YA asks the questions. And it’s okay with not
knowing the answers.
books didn’t necessarily address issues of philosophy in an
explicit way, but the concepts of individualism, determinism,
fatalism, humanism, and Dadaist surrealism were all there, woven into
the pages. I read these stories and knew I wasn’t alone in the
questions I was contemplating and the doubt I was feeling. So when
people today ask me why
YA? Or
what
makes YA different? My
answer is this: YA asks the questions. And it’s okay with not
knowing the answers.
Being
okay with not-knowing
is a skill that gets lost with adulthood. This is a shame, I think,
the stifling pressure us adults feel to always have the answers. But
tapping into this experience of not-knowing is precisely what makes
YA literature so special and raw and distinct. The stories you’ll
find in this section of the bookstore can be anything, but many of
them are deeply philosophical, yet filled with the vibrant
uncertainty of adolescence.
okay with not-knowing
is a skill that gets lost with adulthood. This is a shame, I think,
the stifling pressure us adults feel to always have the answers. But
tapping into this experience of not-knowing is precisely what makes
YA literature so special and raw and distinct. The stories you’ll
find in this section of the bookstore can be anything, but many of
them are deeply philosophical, yet filled with the vibrant
uncertainty of adolescence.
There’sJanne Teller’s NOTHING, which uses direct, unflinching, and
evocative prose to narrate readers straight to the edge of the
existentialist abyss, while skillfully highlighting the uselessness
and meaninglessness of our daily lives along the way. More sweetly
and subtly, and with a hell of a lot of southern charm, John Corey
Whaley juxtaposes the search for meaning outside of oneself with
self-defined meaning in WHERE THINGS COME BACK. In 47, Walter Mosley
blends a multitude of genres and worlds, all while breaking down the
dichotomies of our zero-sum social order, as exemplified by the
poignant directive: “neither
master nor nigger be.”
For a stark look at balancing fear of the self against fear of living
in a world that’s frightening and violent, there’s Andrew Smith’s
THE MARBURY LENS. On the flip side, Kat Rosenfeld deftly examines the
fear of not
living
by exploring death, both literal and metaphoric, in AMELIA ANNE IS
DEAD AND GONE.
So
you want to read YA? Good. Sit down. Get comfortable. The questions
are profound; the possibilities are endless.
you want to read YA? Good. Sit down. Get comfortable. The questions
are profound; the possibilities are endless.
***
Stephanie Kuehn’s debut novel Charm & Strange released this month. You can pick it up now (and it’s fantastic)
I've heard so many mixed things about Amelia Anne. Some people seem to love it – others not so much. Which makes me super curious to check it out!