What are the novels which you feel accurately portray teen pregnancy? Ali at Ypulse, citing a recent string of popular films such as "Knocked Up" and "Waitress" in which an unplanned pregnancy occurs, is a little miffed that the "cool factor" seems to come into play.
The cool factor is that ineffable movie-shtick which crops us in blockbuster films which makes everything okay. As in, Ooh, I had everything going for me, and I was a hockey player, but an injury meant I had to go out for pairs ice dancing and meet an annoying but beautiful girl who piqued me into vicious fights with her -- until we inexplicably fell in love. It was The Cool Factor!" Or, as Ali amusingly puts it, "I had everything going for me, and oops I accidentally slept with an annoying stoner. Hey, with a good soundtrack anything can work."
Yes? No? Is dealing with teen pregnancy too "after-school special" to matter anymore? Especially those of you reading YA for Cybils -- wha'ts out there? Is it all neatly and easily dealt with? What titles accurately reflect reality? Or is the reality that bad? Join the conversation at Ypulse.
Meanwhile, Bloomsbury publishing is concentrating on international book rights to find life after Harry Potter for their company. At least they're not going around saying they're looking for the next J.K. Rowling. How sick I am of that.
2 comments:
Teen pregnancy is one of those issues that's always going to be around, because it's one of the really major, life-changing things that can happen to you (or your girlfriend, or your best friend). And writers like (and need) to write about major, life-changing events. It can be done well or poorly, just as with any other topic. While there is less social stigma nowadays for a teenage mother keeping her baby, and there is more social support to help her do it, dealing with morning sickness, colic and 2AM feedings is as hard as it ever was, and not that cool.
At the moment, I'm drawing a blank on teen pregnancy books, but give me time-- I'm just sipping my first coffee. I am reminded that there is a film called "Juno" that I'd like to see-- it has promising reviews, and it's about teen pregnancy. By the way, I just saw "Waitress," and appreciated the time-lapse signals to indicate that labor was taking a long, long time. The baby still emerged clean, tidy and three months old, but hey, this is movieland.
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