Ranting about reviews
Normally, it just isn't "done" for an author to complain loudly and publicly about a review. HOWEVER, if said review is about other writers' books? And if the reviewer goes so far to say that "I sometimes wonder how any self-respecting author of speculative fiction can find fulfillment in writing novels for young readers." Well, then authors are inclined to get mad, and say so in public (or on the blogosphere, which is pretty much the same thing). kt literary client Matthew Cody responds:
Them's fighting words! To say that speculative fiction writers are somehow above YA writing, is like the band geek throwing spit wads at the mathlete. Just sad.GalleyCat links to several other commetns on the piece, as well as adding his own interpretation of the review.
What's your opinion?
I agree with Matthew’s comments especially about wanting to develop a love of reading in children and young adults. As a high school English teacher in New Zealand and the mother of a teenage boy, I know how important good books are to switch kids on to reading- especially when kids struggle with it and view it as an unpleasant activity. My son was primarily a non-fiction reader (despite me reading fiction to him since he was a baby). Once I got him onto a series he enjoyed, there was no looking back. I had a dyslexic student (13 years) last year whose father read him the Harry Potter series and over the holidays he read the entire Narnia Chronicles on his own. How lucky for his future as a reader that Rowling stumbled across the right ‘formula’! Also some of the most memorable books in my life have been ones I read as a child, and it’s great to have children to read them to- like visiting old friends. To downgrade the importance of writing for children by claiming there’s no dignity in it is patronizing and pretty ignorant. Or maybe the reviewer was just trying to get a reaction?