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a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

05.08.2003

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reads like teen spirit an ode to 
young adult fiction
by Yee-Fan Sun
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continued from page 1
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Nostalgia will only carry my interest so far, though – there’s a reason why I pack up my Austin family books to bring with me whenever I move house, while the Sweet Valley High series has been gathering dust in my parents’ basement since the late eighties. Teen novels, like teens themselves, are often mocked by the adult world for their frivolity. And some – probably even most – really are complete and total fluff.  But my favorite teen books have an emotional weight to them that you’d never expect based on how small they physically are. The characters feel as real to me now, at twenty-eight, as they did when I was half this age; the writing still sends shivers down my spine; the stories still make me laugh, and cry, and feel all happy-sad inside.

Sure, on the surface of things, teen angst seems an overblown melodrama of whining about small things: an overbearing mom, an absent dad, a best friend who suddenly decides you’re not cool enough to hang out with, a boy you can’t stop thinking about.  These are not the sort of big problems that make a huge difference in the future of the world at large: teen novels rarely focus on the issues that adults generally deem important enough to launch into heated debate, like the economy or the government, war and international relations. 

favorite teen books ...
A Ring of Endless Light Madeleine L’Engle
In the third of the Austin family series, Vicky Austin, along with the rest of the Austin clan, spends the summer with her grandfather on Seven Bay Island. Grandfather’s dying of cancer,  and each of the Austins find themselves struggling to come to terms with his rapidly deteriorating state and imminent passing. At the same time, Vicky finds her life further complicated by the presence of three very different boys each competing for her attention: island boy Leo Rodney, who wants more from Vicky than just the friendship she’s willing to extend; Zachary Grey, a troubled rich kid from Vicky’s past; and Adam Eddington, a budding biologist and friend of her older brother’s, who has a pesky tendency to treat Vicky like a kid just when she’s feeling like anything but. The first two Austin books, Meet the Austins and The Moon by Night are also terrific; the fourth, Troubling a Star, is best avoided, unless, like me, you’re so in love with Adam Eddington that you’re willing to slug through a remarkably dull read just to spend more time in the character's company.

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