Response: "Darkness to Visible" By Megan Cox Gurdon

Hana Jang
803
ELA

     
             In the article "Darkness to Visible" By Megan Cox Gurdon written in the wall street journal on June 4, 2011, the author explains how young adult books have drastically changed for the worse. Gurdon states that her and many others feel "thwarted and disheartened" at the sight of the current young adult books on display and are being sold now. She wants the reader to understand that these types of topics are not appropriate for these books targeted audience of young teens. She describes young adult literature as a "fun-house of mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is". This shows me that the author wants me to believe that the current topics of many young adult books are unacceptable and much too negative for someone so young.
           The author wants the readers to feel just as aggravated and upset as her. She does this by doing things like spinning the retells of some young adult books. By doing this she only highlights and displays the negative and dark themes portrayed in these books. When she does this she tries to further prove her claim of being against young adult book topics, instead of telling a full retell of these books including the positive parts. Gurdon also constantly repeats words like dark in her article to represent her negative opinion on teen novels. By doing all of these things she makes the reader constantly look at these young adult books in a negative way.
            I personally totally disagree with the way Megan Cox Gurdon sees and writes about young adult books. Not only does she not get the opinion of the targeted audience of these books but it seems more like these book disturb her more than any teenager. Just because she personally doesn't like a book topic shouldn't give her the right to take it away from a young reader who may enjoy it. Throughout the article she never states the good aspects to these somewhat darker books. They teach important lessons and whether there extremely unlikely to happen or happen to every teenager they show how wrong choices can lead to better decisions in the future, the consequences of some serious mistakes, and more. I think that every reader knows their own limit, and no adult, teacher, or anyone has a right to control what teens or anyone reads.