Young Adult Reading
Literature does reflect the time period it was written in and I believe that the two young adult books that I read for this assignment do a just job in showing this. Love and Other Four Letter Words sounded like it would be, somewhat, scandalous, but in fact it was just the opposite, and was very conservative. The book is about a sixteen-year-old girl, who is pulled out of her surroundings to live in New York City while her parents have a “trial separation”. This results in one very unhappy teen who finds herself lost in such a big, busy city with a psychotically depressed mother and a father living over three-hundred miles away. The book shows how teens do have feelings about what their parents do; they care about what happens in their lives, even if they don’t show it. Although teen years are a rough time to be pulled from your normal surroundings, Sammie, the main character, demonstrates how well teens can also adapt to situations they are put into. This novel displays teens as good people, not troublemakers as most adults think of them as, and accurately portrays most of today’s teens. The parents and adults in this novel are illustrated in several ways. The mother is depressed, trapped in her s . . .
Colleen is the last person that Ben ever wanted to get close to, in fact the only reason anyone got close to her was to get weed, but he does and he doesn’t regret it. Colleen, Ben’s unwanted crush, is a sixteen-year-old drug addict, who turns clean and realizes she is having no fun. Colleen shares her wild side: drugs, clubs, and sex life with Ben, and Ben shares his passion for the movies, his lovingness for others, and his clean, drug-free attitude. Marcie, Ben’s middle aged neighbor, is truly his saving grace. I do agree with the authors’ view in both novels. This is truly what high school is like, many different people all trying to get along and succeed in life. Love and Other Four Letter Words was written from a girl’s point of view, which would be like mine, and Stoner and Spaz displayed the wide variety of people in daily teenage high school life, which I would also show. Ben and Colleen are from opposite sides of life yet they are attracted together and give each other different experiences in life. All in all the authors wrote very believable stories that echo this era flawlessly. She always has a smile on her face and encouraging words for Sammie. Shira is Sammie’s mother’s best friend; she is truly there to help at all times. Colleen’s mother is said to be a “crummy” parent, and her father is never mentioned. There is one truly good adult in this book, Shira. The father is shown as the good guy turned bad, he runs away from the problem instead of working on it, causing his wife and daughter many problems in the long run.
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Acceptance Essays
