No, I'm not looking at my hair in the mirror. You're Reading...What?, an article in today's online Wall Street Journal, came up on one of my listservs and I decided to check it out. If you are a reader of YA literature you should definitely check it out. I don't know what was most disturbing:

1) The fact that the article actually had the phrase It's the summer book season: Do you know what your child is reading? in it. I hate alarmist garbage like this.

2) The fact that one mother after discovering her daughter reading a book from the Gossip Girl series decided she would keep closer tabs on her daughter's reading material. The women wen on to say that wished publishers would help out by rating books. "It would be nice if they had a big rating on it, like at the movies." Oy vey. What is wrong with people? I think I would have to stop being a librarian if this were to actually happen.

3) The fact that WSJ elected to offer parental guidance on some of the newer YA titles that are out. I know I'm not a parent, but if I was I don't think I would be turning to WSJ for parenting advice. That's not their forte.

4) The overuse of the word risqué in this article. I hate that word. I know I've used it a time or two in classes, but I absolutely hate it and don't use it in everyday life. Why? Because when someone tells me a book was risqué all that means was that it was challenging to them or was something outside their comfort zone. Get. Over. It.

I could keep bitching and moaning, but that does nobody any good. If your interested take a look at the article and let me know your thoughts. And don't worry, I'm not going to ask your to rate them before I read them.

To quote Ang: Grrrr, just, grrrrr.

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