Whew! First year of Tayshas committee is finished...

I haven't been blogging much lately, and here's the reason why. I was reading over 120 books in preparation for the Tayshas committee meeting this past Saturday. I didn't have much time for anything besides furiously reading and making notations about nominated books. I read a number of wonderful books. I also read a number that would fall into a category that I would not label as wonderful. I am concerned at some of the directions I see in Young Adult publishing. Writing edgy stories that need to be told is one thing. Writing things that go WAY beyond the bounds of good taste or good literature is another. Are writers just trying to see how far they can go before someone says uncle? Well, I am saying it. Uncle. I give. I prefer not to read the f bomb on every page. News flash--it doesn't make bad writing better. It doesn't make situations seem more realistic. It just makes you a writer with a small vocabulary. It doesn't even have shock value anymore. Here are two examples of realistic writing without much profanity:

Black Box by Julie Schumacher

Gentlemen by Michael Northrup

Both of these books were extemely realistic and affecting. Both told chilling tales of teens with major life issues. Both were wonderfully well written. At the end of the day I didn't feel like I needed to wash my eyes out with soap when I finished them. But what I did do was think a lot about what these authors had to say. About kids in trouble. About kids who feel marginalized. About forgiveness and redemption. And I didn't even need the f bomb to do it. Hmmm...