Addicted to YA discussion
Surveys and Quizzes
>
Where is the line drawn when it comes to controversial subjects in YA stories?
date
newest »
newest »
I imagine opinions on this will vary widely. Personally, I see nothing wrong. I read a good YA book recently where a girl is threatened with rape but it doesn't happen, then saw someone shelve it under 'rape triggers'. I suppose some people are more sensitive than others, especially if they've had a traumatic experience or is close to someone who has. To me it's just realistic. Especially in cities.
This is where YA gets sort of tricky. Because there's such a broad range in age with a YA audience, it can be hard to say what's acceptable and what's not acceptable. I'm also a YA author, so I've thought about this frequently too.Personally, I think YA is allowed to have profanity (teens use it all the time), violence, and sex. But the sex can't be too explicit. When dealing with issues like rape, domestic violence, suicide, etc. you can include all these in YA BUT you should provide trigger warnings.
I think what you have is perfectly fine but you might have to include a couple trigger warnings to let your readers know there is things like domestic violence.
I know that some people don't agree with trigger warnings, but when dealing with YA and MG, it's important to warn your readers because some of the readers might be as young as 13 if you don't.
I think including "darker" topics in YA novels can be really important- especially with topics such as rape or physical abuse. By including them, you have the ability to open up dialogue about very real phenomena that people (yes, teens too) experience. Granted, you do have to approach such subjects carefully and sensitively so as not to trigger or upset readers (especially young readers). I think so long as you develop those scenes tastefully and respectfully you aren't crossing the "line."
Where would you place a warning? In the blurb, in the front pages of the book itself? Would you write, "Warning: This novel contains..." or would you allude to it by saying in the blurb, "we follow 'character's name' through her struggles with harsh and at times devious domestic violence as she grows up in a small town. Can an unsuspecting visitor help her break free of the torment? Or will she be trapped forever as slave to the demons of her past..." for example?
Thank you for the feedback everyone.Good stuff.
The problem I have now is how to approach the trigger warning if the taboo subject isn't happening to a major POV character or part of the main plot.
Any suggestions?
Thanks again!
Yeah, like I've asked I am not sure how you'd approach trigger warnings - and if you even need them at all? I've recently read a book which had the rape of a young boy (mid level character), there were no warnings - it was not pivotal to the story - there weren't indicators that the antagoniser had those inclinations, I don't think the scene was truly necessary and it was quite detailed and confronting. It was a historical fiction so not necessarily aimed at YA, but that's not saying a young adult couldn't pick it up for history research etc.
I’m working on a new YA novel and it is taking on a dark and gritty tone.
My question is, were is the line drawn for what is acceptable for YA when it comes to controversial issues such as sex, violence, domestic abuse, offensive language, LGBTQ, and addiction?
For instance, I have a 14 year old character trapped in a truck with her mom’s boyfriend, he is drunk and tries to convince her to have sex with him. The sheriff shows up and gives her a ride home before anything bad can happen. In a later scene the mother confronts her boyfriend and he beats her up. Nothing really gory or anything and of course the mother and daughter escape. The reason for the scenes are to make you crow for joy when the boyfriend is eaten by vampires in the next scene.
What do you consider too much when it comes to the above issues?
I would appreciate any feedback that frequent YA readers have to offer.
Thank you in advance.