Classic Young Adult Literature

Welcome!  I’m kicking off this blog with a discussion of classic YA literature with a few reviews of classic YA books.  So what exactly is a ‘classic’?  Everyone has their own opinion so I’ll share mine and that of a few friends and leave you do decide if I’m right or I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about J. Many have the conception that a ‘classic’ is simply a book that has been around for a long time or that it has to be something with a lot of thees and thous in it (Shakespeare anyone?).  When I think of a ‘classic’ I think of a book that can still impact a reader’s emotions and give something to relate to no matter how different culture and styles in the story are from what we know today.  Patricia, a fellow graduate student, mentioned that “Classics can be read again and again with the reader remembering the emotions that it brought about when you first read the story.”  In other words a classic is read “once to enjoy and twice to remember.”  I also consider a book a ‘classic’ if I can read it and ‘see’ myself in whatever time or culture is depicted – whether that is a poor inner-city neighborhood in the 1970’s or 18^th century England.  That’s something to chew on as I talk about Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Alice Childress’ A Hero ain’t nothing but a Sandwich. 
 

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson begins with the arrival of an old seafarer (self-styled ‘The Captain’) at the Admiral Benbow inn near Bristol, England.  The son of the owners, Jim Hawkins, soon takes note of the ‘Captains’ odd behavior.  He always keeps a close eye on the coast, drinks rum like a fish and never opens his old and battered sea chest.  Events proceed at a fast pace after the Captain dies following a confrontation with the vicious Pew and, upon searching his old sea chest, Jim and his mother discover a map leading to the vast treasure of the notorious pirate Flint.

Jim brings this to the attention of Squire Trelawney who, with the assistance of Dr. Livesey and veteran sailor Long John Silver, forms a crew to voyage in pursuit of this vast wealth.  At first the crew seems to be hard-working and loyal, but Jim soon discovers that a mutiny is growing in its midst with Silver at the forefront.  Upon reaching the island the mutineers and loyalists face off with only one emerging the victor.

The story takes place against the backdrop of 18^th century England when sailing the seas was common and pirates or ‘gentlemen of fortune” abounded.  Colorful and ‘salty’ language abounds and terms like gully (dagger) and songs such as “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum” that drew me into the story and made this world of the high seas and adventure come alive.

Some may criticize the relatively underdeveloped character of Jim but I think that this was a brilliant move on Stevenson’s part.  Jim has no detailed description, no deep and troubled past and no age (unless I missed something).  Basically he is a blank slate that the reader is free to reimagine in their own image and develop a closer relationship with the character.  In this way, I was able to ‘feel’ Jim’s anguish and guilt after abandoning his companions, his courage in facing the mutineers and his rebellious spirit as he defies the order of his captain.   While I am not likely to take up cutlass and musket and go adventuring on the high seas, I felt what is was like to be an adventurous youth during a very interesting period of history.
 

The setting is a poor urban community in early 1970’s America.  Wounds from the hotly debated and tension filled Civil Rights Movement are still fresh and blacks still feel oppressed by a white-dominated society.  Thirteen year old Benjie Johnson is struggling to find himself in this turbulent time period and overcome the emotional scars left by the father who abandoned him.  He convinces himself that his family, and especially his new stepfather Butler, don’t care about him and turns to drugs to ease his loneliness.  At first he sticks to marijuana but soon is drawn into using the far more deadly drug Heroin.

His family and friends watch his slow decline into full-time junkie and desperately reach out to him.  His step-father attempts to take on the role of confidant, his mother Rose tries to recapture the closeness they once had and his teachers take a direct approach by putting him in a clinic.  Benjie continuously pushes everyone away, convinced he is unloved and beyond redemption.  It is not until a dramatic confrontation between himself and Butler that he finally opens his eyes to the truth.

Despite being born many years after the time period depicted in this book and never touching drugs, I felt a connection to Benjie.  I think most of us at that age have felt that loneliness that Benjie struggles with.  Some of you reading this may even have been abandoned by a family member yourselves.  The author also made good use of the unique blend of black slang which helped me to immerse myself in the story.  ‘Hearing’ Benjie talk about being a chile (child) or his boons (friends) made my connection with the character that much stronger.

I also enjoyed Childress’ method of switching between character viewpoints after each chapter.  Instead of experiencing the thoughts and emotions of each character secondhand through a main character I had the opportunity to see events directly through their eyes.  This resulted I what I believe is an amazingly well-written and fleshed-out story that fully captures the angst and loss of innocence that results of using drugs for the first time as a teen.  The use of authentic slang and fully developed characters and emotions made this a ‘classic’ in my mind.