In defence of grit lit – YA writers dealing honestly with the modern world

Our world is changing at a phenomenal pace and more often than ever we feel we need to be on constant alert to keep up. It’s also becoming a scarier place and the desire to protect children growing up in this new dynamic is stronger than ever. With this comes the urge to shelter them from things we feel they are too young to understand, to allow teens to be teens and to help them find their own place. But at what point does being protectiveness become patronising and coddling? I believe sooner than we might think.

There has been a large amount of criticism of late aimed at teen and young adult (YA) fiction as it enters a phase of dealing with darker and more adult themes. It seems that the days of sparkly vampires are behind us and a new era of mental illness and exploration of sexualities and identities is now to be expected. Many are completely against this with media outlets such as the Daily Mail leading the charge, running articles demanding we return to the Pride and Prejudice era of teen fiction where the problems of the world are eclipsed by lesser teenage problems such as romance and etiquette as dictated by your elders. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this type of fiction and it has its place but to imply that it should be seen as more important and therefore placed above more modern and realistic works is completely beyond me and, in all honesty, extremely patronising to these young people.

When we look at the bestselling Irish YA writers of the moment – Louise O’Neill, Claire Hennessy and Deirdre Sullivan, just to name a few – they are writing about huge issues which young people are encountering every day whether we like it or not. Maybe instead of complaining that teens are reading books that are dealing with issues that are too mature for them, we should be asking ourselves why these books are so popular and what that can tell us about the mindset of young people in Ireland today.

Access to the internet has given this generation an information overload, where all questions can be convincingly answered by a few clicks of a mouse, with no need for sources to be authenticated. Because of this, in many cases communication with parents has broken down. Why have an awkward discussion about difficult things when the answers can be found online? The generation gap is larger than ever and it would be tough to find a group of young people who feel that their parents don’t understand them quite as overtly as the current one.

In the past, bullies could be left at the school gate and sanctuary could be found at home but now, thanks to modern technology, it follows you everywhere and there is little room for respite. To suggest that teenagers delete their Facebook or other social network accounts to make this stop is completely inconceivable to them as their online lives have become just as legitimate as their physical ones. To turn their backs on their phones, tablets and computers is to isolate themselves completely from their peers.

We are living in a country where abstinence-only sexual education is the only discussion some children are having with adults about safe sex, sexuality and peer pressure as to have the conversation at home can be met with discomfort and rebellion. When you mix in the regular confusion and difficulties of being a teen, it is no wonder youth mental health services and the need for the highly criticised “safe spaces” are in such demand.

Only recently, research gathered by the University of Arizona revealed that Ireland has the fourth-highest teen sexing rate in Europe, a very worrying statistic not least because of how surprised we were to find out how high we ranked. Children as young as nine years old are sending sexually explicit material to each other and so to suggest that our young people are not ready to read stories about these issues is nothing short of delusion. If anything we should be pushing these books into their hands and letting them know that what they are feeling is normal and then using them as a resource so that parents can understand the unique pressures their kids are under. The wonderful thing about the texts and perhaps one of the reasons they are so popular is because they do not speak down to their audiences and they do not presume to know more than them. They simply present scenarios which, even if they may seem fictitious to us, are the terrifying reality for so many young people.

Imagine living in a world where every embarrassing mistake you make could be recorded and held without your consent and then presented to the world at any moment. Where anyone sitting behind a computer can put on any face and present themselves as a friend only to betray your trust. Friends can be found all over the world and people are brought together to share common hobbies and interests but these relationships are not seen as legitimate by others and are hindered by space and time zones. Thus they find themselves stuck in a contradiction; the ability to feel completely isolated in a world of connections.

The YA book community has done a wonderful job at bridging this world. The real and honest conversations which are open to all but anchored by a story. Books like Louise O’ Neill’s Asking for It have started a nationwide conversation about the importance of consent and many campaigns have been inspired by this discussion. Unless these stories are speaking to the right people, how would results like these happen?

LGBT youths count for a startling proportion of the homeless in our country as many feel safer being out on the streets than coming out to their families and yet some believe that they are too young to read stories that represent people like them? Many of these books tell them that there is life beyond their pain and confusion. So even if they can’t see it, there are people that will accept and love them. Why would we want to take that away from them?

Sparkly vampires and swooning romance still exist in the book world if you look for it and if you have a child who doesn’t want to read about dark and tough issues that is completely fine too. But don’t try to censor and don’t convince yourself that you saying no is going to stop them. Because they are the only ones who will be hurt by the ignorance of the adults around them and surely our duty of care extends to us making an effort to understand their world as they attempt to adapt to ours.

Lorraine Levis has worked as a bookseller for seven years and is currently a seller and buyer for Dubray in their Blackrock branch