How Far Can Teen Fiction Go?

Posted by Laura L. Johnson Nov 17, 2008

What would Carolyn Keene and Jerry Spinelli say to the Stephanie Meyers and Cecily von Ziegesars of this world? I'd imagine that they'd all have a lot to discuss with one another. Though certainly times have changed since the days of Nancy and Ned's courting, we have to wonder, have teenagers changed so much that they'll now only be entertained if they're reading about the sex lives of Manhattan teens and the voracious habits of vampire families?

It's not that I'm bashing either set of books or their authors - they've all become immensely popular and are both very entertaining, but I wonder at what it says about our world. I also wonder about the teens who choose to live their lives in different ways than the characters in these books and who want to read about something a little less edgy - is there any decent fiction out there for them still?

To those teens, I dedicate my next few postings here at Suite101 - to let you know that, while the pickings may be slim, there are still books out there being written for you. To those Edward Cullen/Blair Waldorf fans out there - never fear, there's still more to come on them. But for once, in our society, let's stop and remember that not everyone gets caught up in the latest craze, not all teen readers and not all teen authors.