Category: Females in YA (Page 2 of 4)

Females in YA: Part 10 Hot, Rude Boys

March 9, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Tell me if this sound familiar.

Young woman in a YA novel meets young man. He’s rude to her, maybe even outright mean. He might talk to her in a demeaning or condescending way. He doesn’t seem to care about what she wants because his agenda is the only important one. He’s probably done some things that make him morally questionable. Said young woman notices all these shady characteristics about him.

But he’s hot, and has a mysterious air about him. Maybe she suspects he has some sort of special power. So the young woman hangs out with him willingly or allows herself to be coerced into spending time with him. As she gets to know him, she’s impressed by his piercing eyes or muscular physique. And that time he flashed a perfect smile at her just made her heart skip a beat.

Young woman clings to every small act of kindness he shows her or anyone else. Maybe he even saved her from some terrible fate that was brought on by either her own stupidity or his arrogance. He mostly still acts like a jerk, though. But he’s really, really hot, and now she knows there’s something special/unique/supernatural about him. So she lets him brush a lock of hair out of her face and gently caress her face. Maybe she lets him kiss her because even though the kiss was originally forced on her, once it’s happening, it’s just so magical.

Recognize this scenario? Feeling sick yet? Because I feel like this type of relationship is in soooo many YA books I’ve been reading lately, particularly, but not exclusively, paranormal romances. I blame Stephenie Meyer, but moreover I blame our culture.

(A note on the Twlight series. I’ll fully admit I loved the books. They sucked me in from the start and I devoured them. I’ve read them several times and still enjoy them. Intellectually I can recognize the issues of the whole Edward/Bella relationship, but when I first read these stories, I just didn’t care. I wanted them to be together. Here’s the thing, Stephenie Meyer tackled this type of relationship better than all these other books I’ve been reading and rolling my eyes over. I didn’t roll my eyes when I was reading the Twilight books–though I can’t say the same for the movies! And she did it before all these other books, so they just come across as knockoffs that aren’t nearly as successful. I also found Edward to be a more nuanced character than the young men in other books.)

Back to our culture. We’re raising our young men to think it’s okay to treat women like a means to an end, like objects, like something that is theirs to use as they see fit. And if they’re hot, rich, and white then it’s even more okay. Just as bad, we’re raising our young women to think it’s okay, even desirable, to be treated this way.

And it’s not okay…let me repeat, it’s not okay! A man treating a woman this way does not make a healthy relationship, and it certainly isn’t love, not the mutual, respectful kind of love that is true.

I get that novels serve many purposes and one of their main functions is to entertain. I’m not saying we can’t have dysfunctional relationships in books or that every book needs to set an example for young people. There are certainly YA novels out there that show healthier love than my above example, and it’s okay to read novels with this type of love in them.

My problem with this type of relationship is how normal is has become in YA novels. So normal that it’s almost become a cliche. It feels like every other YA book I pick up has this in it (one of the reasons I’ve have more DNFs–did not finish–on my reading list in the last year than ever before). Yet the characters in these books never seem to think the unbalanced relationship is a problem. No one else recognizes there is a problem, and if they do, they’re opinions are quickly dismissed.

Young women are voraciously reading these novels. I want these young women to know that it might be fun to read about these kinds of relationships, but that it’s not okay to be in one of these types of relationships. I want young men to know that this is not how they should be treating women. I want YA authors to understand that they are writing their characters this way and think about the impact they might be having on young readers.

Okay, I’ve said my peace. Rant over. What are you thoughts on “love” relationships in YA?

Females in YA: Part 9 Feminism

February 3, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Somewhere along the line the word “feminist” got a bad rap, so much so that people seem to be confused about what it really means to be a feminist. Feminism is simply “the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men”. So if you think women should have equal rights as men, then you’re a feminist. No man-hating or bra burning required!

When the heck did feminism become a bad thing anyway? Turns out a simple Internet search turns up plenty of discussion on that topic already. See “When Did Feminism Become a Bad Thing?” by Daisy Lindlar; “Why men have a problem with the word ‘feminism'” by Martin Daubney; and “Feminism: Has it Become a Dirty Word?” by Barbara & Shannon Kelley…just to name a few.

The idea of feminism has been so construed to some kind of men vs. women mantra that even these 10 really famous women celebrities (including Madonna and Susan Sarandon) have come out and said point-blank that they are not feminists. Many of whom go out of their way to say they are “humanist” (whatever the hell that means…can anyone who isn’t a sociopath not be a humanist?), but I suspect that they are actually feminists and are simply under the delusion that feminism is a bad thing. There’s even a hashtag on Twitter #womenagainstfeminism. Really?

C’mon, ladies, let’s get our shite together and take back the word. (Initially I wrote “our word” but changed it because men can be and should be feminists, too.) Still not convinced you’re a feminist? Check out the article “Not Sure What Feminism Is? Allow These Famous Authors To Explain” by Maddie Crum. Even as I write this rally cry, it seems someone may have beaten me to the punch.

In September 2014, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson made a speech about gender equality (i.e. feminism) and launched the HeForShe campaign. Among the things she said about was this:

I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.

Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.

Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?”

After this speech, Watson faced both praise and criticism (see the article “Emma Watson’s UN speech: what our reaction says about feminism” by Michelle Smith), and also threats to release nude photos–which didn’t actually exist–of Watson (see “The Emma Watson Threats Were A Hoax, But Women Face Similar Intimidation Online Every Day” by Emma Gray). In my mind, it was yet one more thing to confirm that we do need feminism and that we need to show what being a feminist really is.

So by now you’re probably asking, “Ummmm, Katie, when are we going to get to the part about YA?” Patience, dearies, and you shall be rewarded! Before we get to the YA part, let me point you to one more article, “Teen spirit: young feminist heroes” by Kira Cochrane, showcasing real, non-celebrity young people and their insights on feminism.

Okay, so now we’ve finally reached the YA part of all this. Writers of YA have a huge impact on the lives of teenagers. We can take our own messages of feminism and weave them into our narratives (in a non-didactic way of course). And I, for one, think we not only can, but we should. Let’s not pretend that gender inequality hasn’t infiltrated not only the fictional world of YA but also the real world in which women and men writers are treated differently (see “A Censored History of Ladies in YA Fiction” by Kelly Jensen).

Will feminism be a central issue in every piece we write? Certainly not. But even when we write about something else, like first love or a daring adventure, I think it’s important to understand what messages, even indirectly, we are sending to our readers. Is every character we are going to write be a feminist? Again, of course not. But it’s important to examine our work and wonder if in it we are buying into and maybe even feeding into gender inequality. Let’s not pigeonhole our characters, thereby not pigeonholing our teen readers.

And just in case I haven’t given you enough reading to do already with all those links, here are a few more that make me hopeful for the idea of feminism in YA: “13 Contemporary Novels All Feminists Should Read” by Emma Cueto, “13 Female Young Adult Fiction Authors That Owned 2014” by Caitlin White, and “2015 Is the Year of the Feminist YA Novel” by Kelly Jensen.

Finally, let me state for the record that I, Katie Carroll, YA author, am a feminist.

Females in YA: Part 8 Reading List

July 22, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

With all these posts about Females in YA, I think it’s about time I offered up some reading recommendations for books that I think have female characters who are worthy of reading. Naturally, this list is limited to what I’ve read, which means it’s subject to my personal reading tastes, and is probably skewed to certain genres (like fantasy). Hopefully you all will offer up your own recommendations in the comments section. 🙂 I aimed to choose characters with varying types of personalities and above all those who are dynamic and complex.

(Note to readers: I’ll try to avoid any big spoilers, but it’s hard to talk about these characters without risking a little bit of spoileryness.)

Let’s start with some classic literature. Granted these aren’t technically YA (since the age designation didn’t exist back then), but I think they have the right kind of YA sensibility to be included in the list.

Fanny Price from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen–though pretty much any of Jane Austen’s novels will offer up some worthy female leads and usually a few females who aren’t exactly role-model material, I wanted to highlight a lead that wasn’t among the most well-known (i.e. a character other than Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice). Fanny is a great example of a female who doesn’t fall into the whole “strong female character” trope. She is extremely shy, often fearful, and has a weak constitution, yet she shows an inner strength of character in her morals, she is intelligent, and as she grows, she gains confidence and self-esteem.
The March sisters from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott–this is one of my favorite books of all time (of course, as I’m so partial to stories about sisters). Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are so different from each other despite being sisters. Meg, the oldest, is beautiful and a bit vain but also loving and dotes on her younger sisters. Tomboy Jo, the principal lead and second oldest, is a passionate, willful, and outspoken. The next sister Beth is a lot like Fanny Price in that she is shy and has a weak constitution, and it is her unselfish and giving personality that is so compelling and ultimately tragic. Yougest sister, Amy, is something of a brat as a child but grows into a talented artist who appreciates the beauty around her and more often than not gets what she wants. What I love about the March sisters is that even when readers identify most with one particular character, it’s easy to see parts of themselves in each of the girls.
Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee–Scout’s young age would peg her more as a middle grade character, but the subject matter of the book and what she is dealing with is mature in nature, so I think it’s fair to include her in this YA list. A tomboy like Jo March, Scout is also highly intelligent, confident, introspective, and moral. Despite facing the evils of the outside world for the first time and losing much of her childlike innocence, Scout maintains an optimist outlook on life at the end.

Honorable Mentions: Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

YA speculative fiction is getting its own category here, in part because it’s one of my favorite genres to read, but also because it’s full of great females characters. Though many females in speculative fiction fall into the stereotypical “strong” female role, I think each of my examples offers something more.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins–do I even really need to mention this one? Probably not, but for those of you who may not have read The Hunger Games books (and even if you’ve seen the movies, I still recommend actually reading the books), Katniss is female character to be reckoned with. She is physically strong, mentally tough, a skilled hunter, independent, and a survivor. Yet she is often clueless when it comes to reading emotions and has a narrow world view for a good part of the series, not realizing her own role in the revolution until long after it was evident to many others.
Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore–though possessing many of the same characteristics as Katniss (“What’s with all the ‘K’ names?” I ask with irony because the name of the main character of my own novel starts with a “K”), Katsa is one of my favorite female characters of all time so I had to give her a shout out here. She is intense, independent, a natural-born killer (her special talent, called a Grace, is killing), skilled in combat, brave, and a leader. And yet another female character who is somewhat clueless about not only her own emotions but of others’ as well. As you get deeper into the story, you find there is more to Katsa’s Grace than she thinks and it ends up softening up her personality a bit. I found her views on sex refreshing as well.
Beka Cooper from Terrier by Tamora Pierce–pretty much any female character written by Tamora Pierce is worthy of this list. I chose Beka because she is a more recent creation among Tamora Pierce’s long list of characters and is one my favorites. Born into poverty and adopted into a better life, Beka has just joined up with the Dogs (the nickname for law enforcement members). She is skilled in fighting and brave, but interestingly she is also very shy and has a hard time talking to strangers and even reporting back to her superiors. Despite her shyness, she is very confident in her abilities, bordering on arrogant. Beka also has a strong sense of right and wrong and fights very hard for justice.

Honorable mentions: Alina from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Elisa from The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, Quintana from Quintana of Charyn by Melinna Marchetta, Tris from Divergent by Veronica Roth

Let’s now take a look at contemporary YA.

Hazel Grace from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green–this is another one of those “duh” choices that I’m not even sure needs a mention. Frank about her cancer and prognosis, Hazel approaches life and the inevitability of dying young with a realistic attitude and a dose of humor. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but she still maintains a wonderful sense of innocence, particularly as you watch her fall in love. With a fervent love of reading, Hazel is also highly intelligent, attending college classes at the age of sixteen.
Lennie Walker from The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson–I love, love, love this book and Lennie. Mourning the sudden death of her sister, Lennie is a hot mess for a good part of the book. A talented musician and poet, Lennie comes from a quirky family and has some adorable quirks of her own. Even with the emotional turmoil she is feeling, she maintains a much-needed level of humor. It’s her realness and her flaws (she makes some truly ill-advised decisions in the story) that make her so wonderful. Ultimately she is able to see that she has flaws and has made mistakes and tries to make amends for that. Seriously, I can’t recommend this book enough.
Lia from Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson–suffering from anorexia and having recently lost her best friend to the disease, Lia is a heart-wrenching character. She tries so hard to overcome her crippling body image issues, but keeps sliding down the self-destructive slope that is anorexia. You root for her to succeed and cry for her when she doesn’t. She is a frustrating and beautifully flawed character, so desperate for love yet also almost incapable of accepting it.

Honorable mentions: Melinda Sordino from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Anna from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Hannah Baker from Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher, Caitlin from Hold Still by Nina LaCour

And finally with all the discussion in the kidlit world lately about diverity, I thought I would include a section devoted entirely to diverse female characters in YA.

Ash from Ash by Malinda Lo–in this Cinderella retelling, Ash lives half in a fairy tale world of the fairies and half in the human world. Very much a dreamer and with little ties to the human world, she is challenged to stay there by another great female character in Kaisa, the King’s Huntress. The most rewarding part of Ash is her transformation throughout the story, which is largely due to her relationship with Kaisa, who is not only a skilled huntress but brave, beautiful, strong, and confident.
Ai Ling from Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon–never one to be defined by the men who have rejected her, Ai Ling is another wonderfully independent female character in a fantasy novel. On a quest and faced with challenge after challenge, Ai Ling’s bravery, ingenuity, and powerful inner self rises to the occasion again and again. It was also so refreshing to read about how much she enjoys food because there are some girls who, ya know, actually like eating.
Dellie from The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante–though this story is a little more on the middle grade line than most of the other examples, I think it’s worth being on this list because of Dellie. Despite having to face down the dangers in her neighborhood and her own personal grief, Dellie’s big heart shines through. She is courageous, curious, kind, and not afraid to defy her mother’s protective ways take a chance to help a young boy in need.

Honorable mentions: June from Legend by Marie Lu, Cinder from Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Saba Khan from The Art of Secrets by James Klise

So that’s my shortlist of females in YA, though I know there are many more worthy of reading. Now it’s your turn to share who’s on your list…

Females in YA: Part 7 Unlikable Girls

May 7, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

In my Internet trolling, I’ve come across so many articles recently related to females in YA or women in writing. They’ve inspired a lot of thoughts and I was going to do a quick round-up (with a few of those thoughts) today. But then I started writing about one article and came across some more related articles (as tends to happen in the wormhole of the Interweb) and it turned into enough material for an entire blog post. So I guess those other articles will have to wait until another day to have their moment on my blog.

This post in particular was inspired in part by the article “Why Talking About Girl Really Matters” on Stacked Books. The article begins with the thought that we need to talk about girls reading and ways to encourage them to read (not just focus on getting the so-called reluctant demographic of boys reading).

The part of the article that really struck me was this statement, “Girls are as complex as boys, but so often, we let girls be placed into one of two categories, based entirely on our preferences: likable or unlikable.These aren’t critiques of story nor are they critiques of character. They are preferences. There’s nothing wrong with preferring a likable or unlikable character, but there is something wrong when that becomes the means through which we critique a story and thus the way that we then present those stories to readers — especially to girl readers who may identify as unlikable or as likable vis a vis those books.”

I can look to my own character Katora in my YA fantasy Elixir Bound. In reader reviews, she has been called self-centered, couldn’t quite be liked by the reader, whiny, selfish, a bit of a pill, stubborn, and a control freak. Yikes! Based on those comments alone, I’d probably make some pretty harsh judgments on Katora.

Yet one reviewer said Katora was her favorite character because she was strong-willed and the novel benefited from Katora’s personality, another adored her, and a third was enchanted by her. She is also described as driven, hard working, likable, a great heroine, having a side of her that really cares for her siblings, self-dependent, strong, and brave. A bit of a different picture of the character of Katora.

(Please note that I appreciate all reviews written of my book, even the unfavorable ones. I’m not saying any of these reviewers are wrong—and many of them mentioned liking her even though they also used unfavorable descriptions, some of the positive and negative descriptions came from a single reviewer—just pointing out that my beloved character can be seen as unlikable by some standards.)

Given in many ways that Katora is a reflection of myself (in a weird fictional way), I could take that to mean that people see me as unlikable. Yikes again! Now what if a teenage girl saw something of herself in Katora and then read a review that described Katora as unlikable or selfish or something much worse. She might make the mistake of thinking herself unlikable or worse. Triple yikes!

I can think of many YA books in which I didn’t always “like” the female character at some point in the book (one in particular that comes to mind is Samantha in Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall), but that didn’t mean I didn’t “like” her in general. Usually a “dislike” moment stemmed from some action she took. In the case of Samantha, she is a popular girl who doesn’t always treat people nicely, but there are many sides to her and part of her journey is learning to treat others better.

So just because Samantha had “unlikable” moments didn’t mean she wasn’t a good character lacking any redeemable qualities, and it certainly didn’t make for a bad book. In fact, Before I Fall was one of my favorite books that year and came highly recommended. Again, it comes back to the fact that so much of what is considered likable or unlikable is subjective and not necessarily a good means of evaluating a character or a book.

And if writing good characters is in part writing characters that are dynamic and realistic, then all characters should possess “unlikable” qualities. In fact, a character who is totally likable would probably be pretty boring to read and would ring untrue to life. The best characters have flaws. Maybe we need to rethink the terminology and stop pegging female characters in YA as “likable” or “unlikable” because those terms hardly encompass what a character’s (or person’s) true personality is.

What females in YA have you found to be either likable or unlikable (or both)?

For more reading on this topic, check out:

“The Girl Myth in YA (And Beyond)” on Book Riot

“UNLIKABLE FEMALE CHARACTERS IN YA FICTION: A READING LIST” on Stacked Books

“Boys Will Be Boys, and Girls Will Be Accommodating” by Laurel Snyder

“The 10 Most Annoying Teenagers From Books” on Huff Post Books, though these are not all girl characters and not all from YA books, still a worthy—and fun—read

Females in YA: Part 6 the Bechdel Test

March 10, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve mentioned the Bechdel Test a few times in conversations recently and most people have given me a “huh?” look and proceeded to listen to my explanation of what it is with a glazed look of disinterest. But stick with me for a few minutes because I think it’s worth a moment of thought.

So what is the Bechdel Test? Originally used to evaluate films and now used for other works of fiction, it is a quick and basic way to look at a film or book or whatever to see if it fails a very simple gender bias test. The criteria: Two named women characters (let’s revise this to females b/c with kids’ books we’re not always talking about grown ups) speak to each other about something other than a man (let’s revise this to male for the same reason stated above).

Seems like a pretty basic test to pass, but it’s amazing how many films don’t. Just taking a look at this year’s Oscar nominated movies for best picture, only four out of nine pass. (Here’s a website where you can explore what movies pass/fail the test and a thoughtful article about women in movies by Frank Bruni called “Waiting for Wonder Woman”.)

Now I realize the Bechdel Test isn’t a perfect way to evaluate the gender biases of a work of fiction and certainly isn’t a good judge of whether or not a piece of fiction is good. The test is too simple to be a comprehensive look at gender bias, but I think think the point is that it’s simple and it’s a good jumping off point. And there are many, many works of fiction that are brilliant that don’t pass the test. (I’m thinking of The Shawshank Redemption, one of my favorite movies, which happens to fail all three of the Bechdel Test’s criteria and probably shouldn’t pass the test given the setting and time place–an all male prison in the past.)

So it seems Hollywood isn’t doing a great job at representing the–ahem–better half 😉 of the human race. But how are we doing in YA? I think a pretty good job. If there’s one form of fiction that is female-centric, it’s YA. There are so many different genres, topics, issues, and characters in YA, and it is this diversity (when I say “diversity,” I’m not talking about race here…that’s a whole other topic) that is one of my favorite things about YA.

Sure YA has lots of books about boy-girl romances and there are those books where the regular girl falls for the hot, often non-human, guy for no more compelling reason than he’s hot and maybe not totally human. Beyond that, though, there are romances where the female character has real conversations with her female friends about things other than the male love interest, there are books about female friendships, and there are books where females are taking on the world together. (Now you want some specific examples, right? Hmm…maybe I’ll have to pull some recommendations together for another blog post.)

If you haven’t seen my past Females in YA posts, you can find them all in this link. So what are your favorite YA books that pass the Bechdel Test?