Christy Lusiak, counselor and Lecturer in English and Women & Gender Studies, spoke about “triggering,” which might be of interest to those of you who had such a good discussion about it back on my original post. She defined a trigger as something that “retraumatizes a victim of abuse, or any traumatic event.” I like her use of the word “retraumatize” — as distinct from ordinary kinds of being upset.

Christy also noted that the flip side of triggers is that a different victim of the same sort of trauma might read the same book and find comfort in it. One of the many reasons why content warnings would have been a better idea than removing the books entirely.

Panelist Amy Pattee, my Children’s Lit prof from library school, and moderator Kelly Hager, interim Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies (both super-smart women for whom I have endless respect) discussed the more theoretical aspects of creating a list of books “for the feminist reader.” What does that mean anyway? Are readers feminist just because they’re female, or because they’re actively working for women’s equality, or because they’re girls who the writers of the Bitch list hope will do so eventually, or what?

And what is a book meant to do for such a reader? The word “empower” shows up predictably on this list and others like it, but empower whom to do what? As Amy asked, is it only feminist to read books with “kick-ass teens,” or can you still be a feminist reader reading Sweet Valley High? Does being a “feminist reader” mean something about how you critically interact with texts, all texts? (In other words, are you a feminist who is reading, or are you reading in a feminist manner?)

And who cares anyway? What’s the point of lists? It’s easy to sniff at the authoritarianism of list-making in this era of crowd-sourcing, but a list from people or an organization with authority in the field has value, I think. There are simply too many books in the world (movies, albums, restaurants…); sometimes we want to enjoy serendipity, but sometimes we rely on those with experience to narrow our choices down. One problem — the biggest one, I’d say — with the Bitch list is that it wasn’t clear who wrote it or what their criteria were. But with those specified (“we are the editors of a feminist magazine, compiling a list of stories that we hope will inspire teenage girls to be thoughtful about their role in the world as women,” to toss out my hasty, poorly-written attempt), and with some annotations on the books themselves, Bitch could have created something really valuable.

As usual, I parked my obnoxious little self in the front row and talked too much. Sorry, Kelly (and everyone else). I made too much of a concern that many of the books aren’t “YA.” To be clearer about my issue with this: yes, there isn’t a clear definition for what YA means, but it seems to me that a list that includes both Harriet the Spy and Hunger Games without being clear why, and puts both under the banner “YA,” hasn’t thought things through. There’s overlap, yes, but these are not books for the same readers at the same point in their lives.

Simmons took a survey and ended up with its own list, which has exactly the same problems as the Bitch list: it isn’t clear who wrote it and the criteria and goals aren’t clear. A crowd-sourced list from the general Simmons community asked to choose their “favorite” feminist YA books from the Bitch list garnered a fairly predictable top 10 of mostly classics we adults would have loved as kids (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphins) and a few modern classics widely read by adults (Hunger Games, Speak, Golden Compass). Books like The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and Climbing the Stairs, which might have something even more compelling to say to the modern feminist girl, were overlooked, probably because they were unfamiliar to most of the voters from outside the YA lit field. There’s an interesting list of write-in votes (from Little Women to the Abhorsen trilogy), but it’s just as unmediated as the rest.

Simmons College, a reputable women’s college with an outstanding library school and Children’s Literature department, is in a position at least as good as Bitch Magazine’s to create a meaningful list of “books for the feminist reader.” I would really, really love for that to happen. And in the meantime, the discussion was utterly fascinating and an hour wasn’t nearly enough. Thanks, Kelly, Amy, and Christy, for making it happen!

The middle school section at the beginning is the part you helped with. (And those yellow highlighted books, by the way? Are links to YouTube videos of booktalks by my colleagues and me. I can’t bear to watch mine, but feel free to mock my ridiculous facial expressions and hair-fiddling.)

Thanks to all of your for your fantastic suggestions! Special props to those of you who suggested:

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Susan Cooper
Lloyd Alexander
Watership Down
Island on Bird Street (replacing one of the seven — yes, really — Holocaust books on last year’s list)
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (which I’d never heard of and totally want to read now!)
Of Nightingales That Weep
Hatchet

…all of which I included. Many of your suggestions were already on the list, and some were (sorry) too old or too young. But I loved hearing what all of you read in middle school, and your ideas definitely helped round out my list!

I’m updating the list, and it really needs a facelift. In particular, I want some older books — I’m pretty on top of what’s new, but I forget about the classics. Bonus points if it’s not fantasy or science fiction, because I’m a bit overloaded in those categories. (Shocker.)

If you’re in the MG/YA lit world and you have a favorite recent (paperback) suggestion, I’d love to hear that, too. Especially if it’s historical fiction, realistic girl fiction, and/or involves characters of color.

(These aren’t required books, in case you’re wondering — you don’t have that much power. Each kid has to choose a couple from the list. I try to shake it up a little every year, so the options don’t get stale. They should have some literary merit, but we’re looking more for enticing than Great Works of Literature.)

Thanks for doing my job for me!

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For the grown-up who wants something packaged as Actual Literature:

• Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco X. Stork — Marcelo relates to people as though he has Asperger’s (the book eschews an easy label) and has spent his whole life in a special school. For his last summer in high school, his dad sets Marcelo up with a job in the “real world”: the mailroom in his dad’s law firm. The real world turns out to be full of grey areas, moral complications, and a lot more growing up than Marcelo or his dad had counted on.
• Nation, Terry Pratchett — Mau’s island village is wrecked by a tsunami; he is the only survivor. Daphne’s ship runs aground on Mau’s island during the same storm; she, too, is alone. As survivors start to stream in from nearby islands, the two become leaders, adults, and entirely different from who their societies intended them to be.

For your favorite bad-ass girl (or boy):

• Graceling, Kristin Cashore — Katsa is Graced with superhuman fighting abilities, which her uncle the king forces her to use for his petty vengeance. Under his nose, though, she starts a Council of Robin Hoods bent on protecting the common people tormented by the whims of the kings. In the process of doing the Council’s work, she meets a prince who shares her Grace and uncovers the horrible secret behind a distant king’s rule. This book has it all: violence, romance, adventure, perfectly plotted mysteries… ok, I sound like the grandpa in A Princess Bride, but trust me, you’ll love it.
• Rapunzel’s Revenge, Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, & Nathan Hale — This graphic novel sets Rapunzel in the Wild West, with a greedy mine-owning wicked witch, an endearing outlaw sidekick named Jack (of Beanstalk fame), and a Rapunzel who climbs down her own damn hair.

For absolutely everyone 9-14 (and plenty who are older):

• A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Linda Urban — Zoe dreams of being a piano prodigy, of playing classical music at Carnegie Hall in a long, elegant dress. But her agoraphobic dad has trouble saying no to salesmen, so instead of a piano, what she gets is a Perfectone organ and a chance to compete at the Perfectone Perform-A-Rama. This book will make you laugh, cry, and gain a new appreciation for Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans.”
• When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead — Miranda walks home with her best friend every day, helps her mom study for her $20,000 Pyramid debut, and reads A Wrinkle in Time over and over again. But suddenly her life is full of odd characters: the crazy man under the mailbox on her street, and the kid who punches her best friend for no reason. And then she starts getting the notes… This is the sort of book you’ll need to read again the minute you finish it, just for the pleasure of seeing how all the pieces fit into place.
• The True Meaning of Smekday, Adam Rex — When the Boov invade, they herd everyone in America to Florida. How much space do all these humans need, anyway? Tip and her cat road-trip south, joined by an outlaw Boov named JLo… until even scarier aliens show up and they have to save the world. It sounds silly, and it is, but it’s also secretly brilliant. Not to be missed.

For thinkers who aren’t afraid of adventure, and adventurers who aren’t afraid of thinking:

• The Knife of Never Letting Go & The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness — Prentisstown is a human settlement on an alien planet. In a war with the natives, everyone was infected with the Noise. Noise killed all the women in Prentisstown and left the men able to hear each others’ thoughts, whether they want to or not. Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown, about to become a man when he turns thirteen in a month. But shit is going ill, and even though he doesn’t understand any of it, he and his dog need to run, now, into the rest of New World beyond the swamp. He’d always been taught there was nothing beyond Prentisstown, but it turns out that a lot of what he thought he knew is a lie… You won’t be able to put it down, or even take a breath, until it’s over.
• Hunger Games & Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins — In a post-apocalyptic U.S., now called Panem, the merciless Capitol rules the twelve Districts. The Capitol gets all the good food, all the advanced technology, all the comforts; all most District people get is work and hunger. To remind the Districts who’s in charge, every year the Capitol forces each District to choose at random a boy and a girl as tributes. The twenty-four lucky kids are contestants in the Hunger Games: a fight to the death, broadcast throughout Panem as the ultimate reality show entertainment. Deeply disturbing, but worth it.

For anyone at all (seriously):

• The Arrival, Shaun Tan — The story of a man who escapes his threatened home to start a new life on foreign shores, leaving his wife and daughter behind until he has enough money to send for them, is told wordlessly in rich sepia-toned pencil drawings. It’s the most beautiful book ever, and works on appropriate levels for all ages.

Let me know if any of these suggestions work out for you and yours!

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Except books, of course! The new year is traditionally a time for “best-of” lists, and this blog is no exception. These 5 books have the whole package: believable, endearing characters; stories that keep me turning pages; humor that doesn’t work too hard; real moments of gut-wrenching emotional intensity; sheer can’t-put-it-down-ness. They have solid literary chops and are worth a look even for those of you who think you don’t read YA.

My 5 favorite YA novels I read this year are:

Graceling, by the lovely and talented Kristin Cashore
As Katsa, a young woman Graced with fighting ability, and her new friend Po unravel a mysterious kidnapping, it leads them to the dark secret behind a distant king’s rule. If you love fantasy, adventure, romance (…do I sound like the grandpa in Princess Bride yet?), and especially if you are one of those who shows up at my house and says, “Sam! Feed me good YA!” (you know who you are)… well, consider yourself fed.

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
After being dumped by his 19th girlfriend named Katherine, a former child prodigy and his slacker best friend take a road trip in search of adventure, romance, and themselves. Whether you think you like YA or not, read some John Green this year. You can thank me later.

Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin
Eli discovers that his new boss, a famous geneticist, has a mysterious past which is somehow entangled with Eli’s own. Creepy science mystery, with bonus points for familiar Cambridge settings!

The Off-Season, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
DJ Schwenk, the only female football player in Wisconsin, has her life complicated further by a boy, an injury, her family farm’s financial troubles, and a terrible accident (among other things). DJ is one of my favorite characters in YA lit. This is a sequel; read Dairy Queen first. (Ooh, apparently the third DJ book is coming out next fall! Also, Murdock’s sister is Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat Pray Love fame. Who knew?)

Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb, by Kirsten Miller (annoying sound/Flash animation alert!)
The further adventures of Kiki Strike, “butt-kicking girl superspy,” and her band of “delinquent Girl Scouts” as they solve another mystery in the tunnels under New York. This is younger and therefore a tougher sell for adults who don’t already love YA, but if you read a lot of Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden as a kid — or if there’s a badass 10-14-year old girl in your life who needs a present — give Kiki and her Irregulars a whirl.

(I didn’t include any of the Cybils nominees in this list — not because there weren’t a few that would have been in the running, but because they’ve already been whittled down to top-5 lists of their own.)

Thanks for the title, Brian!

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