Every now and again I wonder if there should be an expiration date for reviewers of MG & YA books. I know this is an over-the-top statement but it seems to me that they do tend to cover the same themes. I'm not talking about the obvious, like vamp books, but other trends both small (am I the only one to notice that photography has been showing up all over the place lately?) and large. Specifically, it seems like novels set during the Civil Rights era have been telling the same story for quite some time. This could be me (and forgive me if it is) but I can't help but think maybe there are just a limited number of stories to tell to kids about this period. And maybe authors need to be thinking about this before they start writing another book about a white kid who learns a very big lesson about racism while living in the south during the 1960s.
(I should pause here to note that what is particularly annoying about reading the same thing again is how some stories from the period are so ignored, such as the Black Panthers which Kekla Magoon wrote about in The Rock and the River.)
I just read Sources of Light and while it is finely written story - no complaints about character development, setting, plot, etc - I knew what was going to happen within the first thirty pages. It's 1962, Sam and her mother have moved to Mississippi after her father's death in Vietnam. They are going to live near his family even though Mom is very progressive and open-minded and artsy and thus could not possibly fit into Mississippi in 1962 but somehow is oblivious to what Mississippi in 1962 is all about so they think it will be fabulous. The in-laws are fine although certainly not progressive (except Grandma who loves everybody because that is what grandmas do). A photojournalist friend (who might be more than a friend) of the mother gives Sam a camera so she can start seeing her surroundings better and through the lens she captures racism! She sees racially motivated violence! She is in a lunch counter when Black people try to get served and are abused for it!
See what I mean about no surprises?
Sam and her mother resolve to change the world (or at least their corner of Mississippi). Sam is protected by her black maid (who is Regina Taylor circa I'll Fly Away) and yet no one can save her from the tragic loss of someone who matters thus teaching her that racism is a very bad thing. She uses her new found knowledge to enlighten another classmate who is white and southern and thus oblivious to the evils of racism until Sam shows him how wrong it is and then he is changed! And the bad guys are found out! And the innocent are set free! And Sam and her mother whisk out of town having learned a lot and taught folks a thing or two and determined to never ever forget it all, never ever ever.
I knew who would die the minute the character walked into the pages. (Okay - wasn't sure if it was going to be death or beating, but violence for sure.) I knew who the bad guys were. I knew Sam would be just fine, thank you very much, and I knew she and her mother would leave. But having said all that - the book is perfectly fine. It's an easy read, it's interesting, it sticks to history, it's an after school special from the way back machine. So is the fact that I found it so repetitive my fault from reading so much MG & YA fiction? Have I reached a tolerance level on this subject or have authors (and publishers) just gotten too stuck in a rut when it comes to the Civil Rights era?
At what point (hello, Holocaust fiction) have we told the same story one too many times - and is that a different point for reviewers then it is for readers?
June 2
2010
06:38 AM
Bonus Extra Question!
Do we need to keep telling the same story over and over again so that each new crop of twelve year olds can read a book that has just been written (and therefore fits their unconscious linguistic and cultural comfort zone) that covers this topic?