Teenage Fiction

Teenage Fiction

Entry into adolescence can be a time when the whole world seems to be overflowing with new information. For most it can be time of almost overwhelming realisations and the discovery of a whole stream of never ending questions and choices, many of which often seem to have come all at once, almost like some sort of epiphany towards your existence and the existence of the world around you. This might sound a bit elaborate but I know it was certainly true of my entry into adolescence. Suddenly secondary school presented new responsibilities, new challenges and most of all, new people. Older people who did things like swear and smoke and drink and rebel. People who seemed to make their own choices and no one can really tell them what to do, not even the teachers. These people look different and speak differently, they seem so sure of them selves and this causes you to start to really notice this thing called personal identity. Then suddenly the realisation comes that you can be one of these people, in fact you are one of these people. There are choices and YOU can make them, and so, through a processes of trial and error, starts the quest for your own personal identity.

Now this chain of events may not have been the same for everyone, but looking back I certainly know that this was true of my own experiences at that age. With all this going on it is easy to see that, as stated by Appleyard (1997), reading (and academia as a whole) will often take a back seat in the minds of adolescents who are preoccupied by their journey of self discovery. It can therefore be very difficult to get a teenager to read a book and I feel that it is our job as English teachers to try and show teenagers that reading can be another way in which they can discover the world. A way which can be entertaining and that does not have to be dictatorial. I personally feel it is important to allow teenagers room to make their own decisions. I also feel however that, to use the words of the girl in Stephens’ interview, a lot of sneaky guidance is also essential. In this sense I agree with Stephen that this sneaky approach that Junk takes towards educating children about the dangers of drugs is of the main reasons why I would recommend the book to the right teenage reader.

I found Junk to be a completely compelling read, once I started it I really did not want to put it down. This could however have been influenced by my own round-about connection to the story. Not only is the majority of the book set at the bottom of my road, obviously allowing me to really visualise the location, on purchasing the book I found out that it was loosely based on the youthfull years of the parents of two close friends of mine, who were squatting in Bristol at the time the book is set and knew Burgess as part of their social group. They are both now respectable pillars of the community; however they were the lucky ones.

Regardless of adding to my personal interest of the story this may seem irrelevant to other potential readers. However the knowledge that Burgess is writing from personal experience really shines through in the story. This sense of authenticity that Junk holds is crucial to why this book is so compelling and why I would recommend Junk to a teenage reader. To me as a teenager authenticity was a crucial part of any story, if I was not convinced that what the author was saying could happen that book would instantly loose my attention. This adolescent obsession with truth may stem from what Appleyard describes as the discovery of our subjective self and subjective experiences (Appleyard 1997). I know I vividly remember my own desire to know the truth about myself and the world around me which meant all I was only interested in was reality. Suddenly there was so much reality so why create false scenarios tat would just confusing things!? This sense pf authenticity o felt was something which Wolf lacked.

I agree with Stephen when he says in his pod cast that, Wolf has a somewhat clumsy sentence structure as it tries to over explain people everything. To me this not only underestimated the readers ability to interoperate the text, but it also seemed that Cross was writing from supposition in many cases rather than experience. This seemed especially true of the lives of Goldie and her life in the squat. The name Goldie itself, to me seems a very stereotypical choice, but perhaps that is just me.

Although both books portray adolescents as the main protagonist, as seems to be a common characteristic of children’s books. Burgess however takes an interesting approach in Junk, by allowing the reader to see the story from each characters perspective. In his article Burgess states that he believes a text should be ‘accessed by the reader’. Burgess argues that ‘the reader has to be able to judge the character, in terms of the characters and the situations, and finally they have to make decisions about it, in as much it might relate to them.’ This is certainly accomplished and I feel that this is key feature of the book which separates it from Wolf and other children’s novels. Burgess gives the reader a lot more responsabilty to make up his or her own mind, and responsibility and decision making is a key part of the transition into Adulthood (Appleyard 1997).

From these books and the pod cast, along with the rest of the knowledge I have gained throughout the module on children’s literature, I have discovered that teenage fiction in particular can be nearly imposable to categorise. Junk can be a prime example of a teenage novel which tackles adult issues, but as Stephen states on his pod cast, is this not the definition of adolescence in itself. I agree with Burgess when he says that we live in a world where nothing is secret. Issues surrounding drugs are splashed all over the media, and very often glamorised. Amy Winehouse can be a role model for children, yet reading a book which tells you the truth about drugs is inappropriate!? I just do not see the logic. I suppose the key feature running through the genre is that a child protagonist is often at the heart at the story, however if someone enjoys reading a book regardless of age than that book has met its purpose.