I remember being a gawky late elementary, early middle school student. My pre-teens and early teens were some of the weirdest times of my life. I was changing physically and emotionally. I wanted to try to fit in with a select group of people and because of this I changed the way I dressed, the way I did my hair, the way I talked, what I watched on T.V., what kind of music I listened to, and the list goes on and on and on. But one thing that didn’t change for me is what I was reading while growing up. I specifically remember reading tons and tons of “The Babysitter’s Club” books and also an assortment of “Sweet Valley High” series books. There was a “Making Out Series” by Katherine Applegate and also a “Fearless” series by Francine Pascal that I couldn’t stop reading. These books are places n the Chick Lit genre. Why was I so interested in these series of books? What made them so interesting and enjoyable that I couldn’t put them down? I searched my Google Reader in hopes of finding some answers to my questions.
According to Dana Yates who writes in the Daily Journal: San Mateo County’s Homepage:
“There is also a new proliferation of chick lit, a genre that gives this generation their own version of Nancy Drew, Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. The new generation of teen chick lit has the same salacious plot lines with a definite older vibe, which caters to today’s fast growing teens. It’s Judy Blume to a higher level. The stories are compared to a toned down Sex and the City or Paris Hilton escapades.”
Yates also interviewed Jennifer Laughran, a buyer for Burlingame Books Inc., who claims that she has
“stopped short of calling them [the new books] trashy”
when she acknowledges that she read the same kind of books when she was that age.
“I wouldn’t be as big a reader today if it weren’t for those books. There’s nothing wrong with them. It teachers them that reading doesn’t have to be hard. It can be fun,” Laughran said.
This I thought was a great ending article to heave read. It sums up how chick lit can be about some questionable topics and is often seen as trashy. But even with it’s negative drawbacks, Chick Lit is here to stay and is seen as a positive genre considering it engages it’s readers (promotes reading) and is also seen as enjoyable, fun, and not a text book, which I’m sure many enjoy.
Teen lit enters ‘golden age By Dana Yates
Posted by murphkel2003 