Had low expectations going into this, but was pleasantly surprised.
Galaxy Brain is the fifth entry in SJ Whitby’s Cute Mutants series and things go from bad to worse when humans declare war on mutantkind. Then a Bible-obsessed artificial intelligence named Michael gains sentience, enslaves the world, and tries to wipe out mutants as it believes they are an abomination.
While this book was the darkest in the series, there was a ton of hope to be found within its pages. I loved this book focused less on relationship drama, which was my issue with Vol. 4, and dealt more with moral/ethical questions and the toll war takes on you.
I also loved how much more action-packed this was than the previous two books in the series and how deftly Whitby dealt with the issues of grief, loss, betrayal, and finding hope in the darkest of times.
I thought the plot went off the rails a bit toward the ends, but not so much that it detracted from my overall reading experience. I also thought the ending was bittersweet, as a main character dies.
Though this book could serve as the series finale, Whitby left things open enough for a sequel.
My biggest complaint is how easily everyone forgave Emma for putting them in suspended animation and using their powers for an entire year without their consent.
I also thought Dylan forgave Emma too quickly for taking away her powers, and I thought Emma was a giant jerk throughout this book and tipped toward Mary Sue territory power wise and how everyone overlooked her crappy actions.
I enjoyed the world building in this book and the back story we got on mutants and how they’ve always been around in one form or another.
If Whitby continues the series, I struggle to see how they can up the ante without going into comic book levels of conflict and the associated ridiculousness that would bring.
But even given Galaxy Brain’s faults, I loved it and bought the other spin-off books in the series and will read them in due course. I give Cute Mutants Vol. 5: Galaxy Brain 5.0 out of 5.0 stars and can’t recommend it enough.
The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants by SJ Whitby is the fourth entry in The Cute Mutants Series and is decidedly darker than the previous books. Volume four finds Dylan and company in West Haven, a clandestine refuge for mutants.
And while Whitby introduces several new characters, they reduce most of them to either cannon fodder or bit players, which was a shame.
I also didn’t like Whitby’s choice to split the Cute Mutants into two groups later in the book, as it robbed the story of the camaraderie and group dynamics that made the previous books so fun to read.
Dylan, Dani, Emma, Alyse, and newcomer Feral (a hybrid of Wolverine and Beast from the X-Men) form the first group and begin robbing banks connected to DainTree, the in-universe version of Google/Amazon. They then donate that money to various charitable causes to improve the PR of Mutant kind, after a group of Mutants claiming to be affiliated with Dylan and the Cute Mutants carry out a terrorist attack on Washington DC.
The second team; that stays behind in West Haven; comprises Lou, Maddison, Gladdy, and Katie.
This could have worked if there were chapters following the second group. Instead, readers only follow Dylan’s group, leaving you wondering about the safety of those back in West Haven.
I enjoyed the political intrigue within West Haven and wished we saw more of Dylan and Dani locking head with Mystic and Far Sight, members of the council that decide what issues to bring up for votes, before the group split.
Dylan’s interaction with memory-erasing therapist Ray, were also nice to read as while they talked about Dylan’s trauma and other issues, Ray also gave them cryptic clues to the dangers hiding in West Haven and the machinations of the council.
It was also nice that we finally learned the mystery behind Emma, her powers, and her parents you in this book. Though, I predicted the plot twist near the end and thought the ending edged into Deus ex machina territory with how several characters’ deaths were reversed, like it was nothing.
Overall, while I did like this book, it wasn’t as fun as the previous ones and it has become clear to me anyone who isn’t Dylan or in their immediate friend circle doesn’t matter, which is sad as it was the OG team that initially drew me into the series.
I will read the next in the series, but I’ll lower my expectations re: other characters getting their time to shine. I give Cute Mutants Vol. 4 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.
The Demon Queer Saga by SJ Whitby is the third entry in the Cute Mutants series and picks up where book two left off.
Now running Jinteki Industries, Dylan and company have turned the evil corporation into a force for good, creating a haven for mutants and their families. However, they must contend with Abigail Tanner, a member of America’s Extrahuman Military Intelligence Department (EMID), that seeks to take control of the Cute Mutants and their operations.
Dylan also has to deal with the pressures of being a mutant leader and role model; and Violet, who’s obsessed with Dylan, can teleport and turn her fingers into blades, and whose stated goal is to kill Dylan.
If that weren’t enough, the Cute Mutants also must fight off Quietus, a group of religious fanatics whose goal is the extermination of all mutants.
Though this book is darker than the previous one, I loved how Whitby depicted Dylan’s reactions to the pressures of leadership and their moral struggles with how to handle the threats of Violet, EMID, and Quietus. I also loved the evolving mystery behind Emma and her powers, and those of the other Cute Mutants.
As with the previous book, Whitby introduced more mutants. However I did feel Lou was once again pushed to the sidelines in favor of showcasing the new mutants and Dylan and her friend group.
It was nice to see Dylan and the others maturing a bit, but I still thought some of their actions stretched my suspension of disbelief, given how dangerous they know the people after them were.
If I had any other criticism it’s that while several characters died in the ensuing fights with EMID and Quietus, I felt like Dylan and the other main characters were never in any danger due to plot armor.
I was also high-key angry the book ended on such a massive cliffhanger. Thankfully the next book is available, otherwise I’d be hella pissed.
I give Cute Mutants Vol. 3 5.0 out of 5.0 stars, and highly recommend it. If you liked the first book, I strongly suggest buying the rest in the series as they only get better.
Cute Mutants Vol. 2: Young, Gifted & Queer is the second entry in SJ Whitby’s YA fantasy series about a group of New Zealand teens who gain superpowers after kissing the same girl at a party.
It picks up several months after book one and finds Dylan and the Cute Mutants under the control of evil corporation Yaxley, who wants to use them as child soldiers for various missions, including capturing and killing other mutants.
While book one was mostly fluffy, book two took a much darker turn, including the deaths of several characters. And speaking of characters, we’re introduced to several new mutants, such as Katie, aka Dragon, who spits fire, and Alex aka Keepaway, a nonbinary teleporter.
I thought each of these new mutants had distinct powers and personalities, though I do think Katie got more than her fair share of page time at the expense of other characters, such as Lou who was barely in the book despite being an OG Cute Mutant.
I also thought the ending was insane, especially the revelation that other countries have mutants and will be after Dylan and her group since they’re now rogue.
However, Bancroft, Valen and Aurora; the Cute Mutants’ handlers at Yaxley; appeared one-note, and the way the kids’ parents reacted to Yaxley effectively kidnapping them to do shady stuff felt unrealistic.
The evolution of the OG mutants’ powers was interesting to read, and I loved the relationship Dylan formed with Onimaru, a samurai sword said to have slain demons. And I found their reaction to being made slaves of the government rang true.
Though, I thought Dylan acted immature, like when she got jealous of the bond Katie and Pear formed, or when Bancroft removed her as team leader for disobeying orders and replaced her with Dani. But she’s only eighteen, so she still has a lot of growing up to do.
I liked the sex scenes between Dani and Dylan as they were the perfect amount of use your imagination and fade to black without being too salacious.
The ending to the book was the definition of crazy; characters dropped left and right and by the last pages I did not know how the series would progress from there, but I’m hooked and bought the rest of the series.
I give Cute Mutants Vol. 2: Young, Gifted & Queer 5.0 out of 5 stars.
Cute Mutants Vol. 1: Mutant Pride by SJ Whitby is the first entry in the Cute Mutants series of YA fantasy novels about a group of teens who gain superpowers after kissing the same girl at a party.
Initially, I found Dylan’s personality off-putting, but slowly I came to love her geeky adorable ass and the rest of the Cute Mutants.
I did think the pop culture references were a bit much and sometimes came off as a crutch for lack of worldbuilding/characterization. And because it’s told in first person with Dylan as the POV character, a lot of the other characters come off a little flat, especially Dani who’s barely in this first book.
However, I did like all the characters, and they acted like how teens are supposed to act: reckless, arrogant, and messy.
This is especially true when it came to the relationships. Lou and Dylan are best friends turned lovers who are the other’s only friend. And when the cute mutants get their powers and Dylan befriends them, Lou’s jealousy was understandable, if a bit over the top.
Likewise, the love polygon between Dylan, Lou, Alyse, and Dani felt authentic without veering into soap opera territory.
I loved that Dylan and many of the other Cute Mutants were LGBTQ+ and how organically Whitby incorporated that into the mutant plot.
Another thing I loved was how the characters had to face the consequences of their actions and deal with real world moral and ethical decisions. So often in stories like this, issues like mortality, collateral damage, and interference from police/government agencies are either ignored outright or severely downplayed.
My biggest complaint is that the book’s antagonist, Tremor, was very two-dimensional and at times was outright cartoonishly villainous in his motives and actions.
That said, I liked this book a lot and already bought the next in the series. I highly recommend this book if you like YA books with sarcastic geeky humor and diverse queer characters.
I give Cute Mutants Vol. 1: Mutant Pride 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
This week’s post is a profile of David Green, pone of the minor characters introduced in my novel Palingenesis. He’s BFFS with Jason, and Josh (one of the three POV characters).
Description
His full name is David Adam Green. He’s 16, 6’2, 210 lb of solid muscle, with brown hair and eyes. He has a lip ring and his right eyebrow pierced.
Personality
David loves hooking up with girls, pulling pranks with Jason, is big into hip hop and Black culture, and is a chill dude to be around. He takes his education seriously, often having to tutor Jason, and is a regular attendee of his local synagogue. He’s also big into gaming, working out and staying active.
Likes
He loves video games, rap music, and going to Detroit to hear up-and-coming artists; and exercising by working out, jogging/running, and hiking in local metro parks. David also loves making people laugh at his pranks and antics, even if he must play dumb. He’s also big into going out with Jason to pick up girls. And when he can get away from his family, he loves cutting loose by going to parties and smoking a fat blunt.
Dislikes
David hates having to be the model student, big brother, and mensch, and wishes he could do what he wants in life without worrying about disappointing his family or rabbi.
Goals
David’s number one goal is saving up to get a car, so he, Jason, and Josh aren’t stuck riding the bus anymore. Second, he wants to become a politician to change things, but will get a degree in something practical like law or medicine to appease his parents.
Desires
David wants to change the world for the better, to help his community, and be happy. He also wants to live his life the way he wants, free of expectations from his family and religion.
Fears
David fears disappointing his parents and losing their support, being shunned by his religious community, and losing contact with Jason and Josh once he goes away to college.
Morality/Religious Beliefs
Morally, David is Lawful Good and obeys the rules even if he disagrees with them. He takes his Jewish faith seriously but follows Reform Judaism.
Political Alignment
David is a progressive liberal, and often butts heads with his more conservative parents and relatives.
Call to Action
Thanks for reading and let me know if you enjoy these types of posts. Next week’s post will be on my mental health journey, so reader discretion is advised.
Also, be sure to sign up to my newsletter if you haven’t already here. And if you haven’t bought Palingenesis yet, you can snag a signed paperback copy here.
This post will discuss Hi no Pueriel, one of the most sacred Torin holidays. It falls on October 31 of our calendar and in the middle of Avis’s summer rainy season. It’s a day set aside to honor Lukarus and Pueriel, The Golden Child.
According to Torin legend a plague befell their people, and nothing they did stopped it, So one day the chief’s son, Yahiko (|yah| |he| |ko|), which means “summer child”, fell ill. The chief cried out for help and Lukarus (|loo| |car| |us|) appeared to him and healed Yahiko and the others. In exchange the chief was to rename Yahiko “Pueriel”(|pure| |ee| |el|), The Golden Child, and forevermore pay tribute to Lukarus on that day.
Hi no Pueriel is celebrated by lighting three candles symbolizing Lukarus, Pueriel, and the First Emperor of Avis who it is claimed was a descendant of Puerile. Children are told the Tale of the Golden Child, given small gifts, and encouraged to confess their wrong doings in the hopes Lukarus will bless them.
Once the candles have burnt out, a feast is held, then everyone sings songs praising Lukarus before the festivities are called to a close with the ceremonial marking of foreheads with ash in the shape of Pueriel’s symbol, which looks like an ankh.
Conclusion
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Rachel Aisha An Chen is 14, 5’0, 101lb, with black hair and green eyes. She’s Afro-Chinese with a light brown complexion, biromantic and asexual.
Personality
She’s friendly, dorky, and passionate about all her ships. She can be silly but knows when to be serious.
Likes
Rachel loves rap and Black culture, BL and yaoi and K drama. She’s also big into immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, the environment, and is a vegan foodie.
Dislikes
She hates meat, animal abuse, bland food, entitled people, and anyone who questions whether she’s Black or Chinese enough.
Goals
Rachel wants to be president of the US and start her own vegan Chinese-southern fusion restaurant.
Desires
She wants to live up to her parents’ high expectations of her, but also wants to do her own thing. Ultimately, Rachel wants to be a force for change in the world.
Fears
She fears disappointing her parents and not being good enough at whatever she does.
Morality/Religious Beliefs
Morally, she’s Neutral Good and does the best she can. Religiously, she’s agnostic
Introduction Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen is a YA West African-inspired novel about Simidele “Simi”, a Mami Wata ( a West African mermaid), who is charged with ushering the souls of those who die in the sea to the land of the dead. Mami Wata have two rules they must follow: never save anyone and never fall in love or they will turn to sea foam. Simi breaks both rules when she saves Adekola “Kola”, the son of the chief of Oko, who was captured and thrown overboard by slavers.
In saving Kola, Simi upsets the cosmic balance and must go on a quest to find two rings to summon Olodumare, the supreme god of the orishas, and beg his forgiveness. If she fails, it’ll be the end of her and the other Mami Wata.
The Good I loved the world building, the lush imagery and prose, and learning about the various orishas, the yumboes (fairies), and other creatures of West African cultures. I also liked that the romance between Simi and Kola wasn’t the focus, like in so many YA novels. It was also a joy to see Black characters in a fantasy setting, as it’s a genre not known for being diverse.
The Bad That said, this book just wasn’t for me. Bowen spends so much time world building that the plot is an afterthought. It isn’t until sixty pages in that inciting incident takes places, then the plot lurches along at a glacial pace until the last fifty or so pages, when everything kicks into high gear.
The problem with this is two-fold. First readers are forced to slough through chapters were little to nothing happens, aside from all of Simi’s flashbacks. Second, by trying to cram half a book’s worth of plot into the last fifty pages, the writing is rushed, and the plot threads are resolved with Deus ex machina after Deus ex machina. This made me feel like the book wasted my time, when it didn’t bore me.
Moreover, all the characters lacked any depth. Simi spends most of the book being the cliché amnesiac, trying to recall her past life, that I never got a sense of her personality, if she had one. And the other characters don’t fare better. Kola is the stereotypical hot-headed young warrior, Bem is the strong silent type, Ayinka is the try-hard girl power warrior often seen in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and Issa is the annoying little brother type who wants to prove his manhood. I felt nothing for theses characters, so when the bodies piled up at the end of the book, I just shrugged.
Another thing I took issue with was the inclusion of the African slave trade in this book. You mean to tell me Bowen created this fantasy world whole cloth, but couldn’t imagine a world in which Black people weren’t enslaved by Europeans?
Come on!
The Verdict Overall, I give Skin of the Sea a 2.0 out of 5. Check this out if you’re into West African-inspired YA, but rent it from your library instead of buying it. I might read the next book in the series when it comes out, but I’ll rent it from my local library.
Today’s post will deal with moral guardians and how writers shouldn’t censor topics deemed controversial for young readers to handle.
First, let me say right now that yes, children should read age-appropriate books, but it’s up to their parents/guardians to determine that.
Furthermore, it isn’t the job of writers to shield them from the harsh realities of life; bad things happen to good people, good doesn’t always win, people aren’t always nice, and they say bad words.
There have always been those who, like Holden Caulfield, try to erase all the “fucks” in the world. “Think of the children!” they cry in their best impersonation of Helen Lovejoy. It’s not enough for their kids not to read these “obscene” books. No, everyone’s child must be spared such a loss of innocence and hence why said books need to be banned.
As I alluded above, The Catcher in the Rye is a perennial favorite on banned book lists. Others include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Moreover, in recent years books featuring LGBTQ+ characters—such as And Tango Makes Three, about two gay penguins who raise an orphaned penguin chick—or that deal with race justice issue, such as The Hate U Give have also been banned. And right now, there has been a push to ban any book that talks about race and America’s racist past and present, under the guise of preventing the teaching of critical race theory; something which no public school teaches and is only available at law schools as an esoteric elective course.
This is problematic for several reason. First, there is nothing wrong with kids reading age-appropriate books about these topics. Second, banning these books doesn’t make these topics go away. Third, in the case of books like Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, hiding America’s racist past isn’t helping anyone.
If we as a nation are to address our racism problem, then it means we can’t whitewash history, nor the current reality of racism in America. But this is often the case in YA.
Racism and Race
When race and racism are addressed in YA they are often sanitized so as not to offend white readers. Case in point, in Yes No Maybe So, by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed, Maya’s being a Pakistani-American, Muslim girl comes off as an afterthought. She says a few lines about how hard it is being a woman of color, but this topic isn’t fully explored, even though a pivotal plot point hinges on the republican candidate for her district’s special election wanting to pass a law banning the wearing of hijabs in places like banks and the DMV. Moreover, the racism is contained to people putting a bumper-sticker of a poodle with a teacup and “88” on the cars of the democratic candidate.
In reality, racism is more than bumper stickers; it’s financial redlining, the school-to-prison pipeline, racial profiling, and worrying whether your name will be added to the list of those murdered by police.
It’s the trivialization of the issue that I object to. Kids should learn about racism in all its gory details, so they know where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. We’re doing a disservice to them by keeping them blind to these facts.
Yet, books on antiracism and race have been challenged when educators have tried to teach them. So, what then is the solution?
You can’t count on schools to do this, so it must be up to parents and guardians to teach their children about race and racism. But don’t patronize them. Kids are smarter than you think. I know this as I was a precocious kid and picked up on things fast.
I get that certain topic like sex and sexual orientation can be embarrassing to discus, but that doesn’t mean we ignored them and pretend they don’t exist.
Sex and Sexual Orientations
It has become an industry cliché in YA that sex, if it happens, it happens off screen. This is ridiculous; sex is a natural, normal part of being human and growing. I’m not saying it should be full-on porn, but don’t act like teens aren’t having sex, and that if they aren’t that they aren’t thinking about it.
Sex shaming does no one any good, lest of all young teens who are already hyper aware of themselves and their bodies.
The last thing we want to do is make them more self-conscious, especially about a natural bodily function. Yet The Diary of Anne Frank has been challenged and banned because of passages that mentioned sex and masturbation and prostitution.
This leads me to my next point
LGBTQ+ YA
Books dealing with LQBT+ themes are also often challenged and banned simply for having queer characters. The refrain from moral guardians is usually something along the lines of, “Learning about LGBTQ+ people will turn kids LGBTQ+.”
First, if that were the case everyone would be heterosexual since we’re flooded with media depicting straight couples from birth.
Second, no one can make you LGBTQ+. You either are or you aren’t.
Third, before people are LGBTQ+ adults they’re LGBTQ+ kids. Having representation of people like you in the media is crucial to being comfortable with your sexual orientation. So, by trying to expunge any queer character from children’s books you’re just hurting queer kids.
But having LGBTQ+ characters isn’t enough, especially if those depictions are hetwashed. They may be in relationships but rarely are they shown doing anything beyond kissing. Likewise, these stories almost always feature allo, cis, white characters whose primary goals are coming out and falling in love.
Don’t get me wrong. I like a good romance, but there’s more to being LGBTQ+ than coming out and relationships. LGBTQ+ kids need stories where that show them that they can do anything they want, including saving the day.
But it’s not only characters that fall prey to censors. Their words do, too.
Obscene Language
The irony of The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield appoints himself the moral guardian of young children, yet as I mentioned above it is frequently banned for obscene language. Likewise, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also banned in many schools because of its use of the N-word. The objection to them is that such language isn’t appropriate for kids and will stunt their vocabulary.
To that I say bullshit.
First, what stunts vocabularies is banning words and phrases. Second, even if you could ban all offensive language, who decides what is and isn’t on the list? Third, telling kids they can’t do or say something only makes them want to do it more.
Instead, works like Huck Finn and Catcher should be explained in the context in which they were written, and that such language while common then isn’t appropriate now. Anyone offended can opt to read another school-approved book.
However, that might be easier said than done as politics is often involved in which books are banned and which aren’t. Which leads me to my next point.
Politics and Social Justice Issues
Regardless of an author’s politics, they will often get criticized for “indoctrinating kids” if they include politics in their work. The problem with this is writing, like all art, is inherently political.
Moreover, millennials came of age in the post 9/11 world, and Gen Z has lived most of their lives in a world where the US has not been at peace. Furthermore, they themselves are political; they took to the streets protesting police brutality, global warming, and the last president
So to have books devoid of politics is not a reflection of reality. However, when politics have been included in YA books, it’s often reductionist. For example, the core theme of The Hunger Games is down with the oligarchs and up with the proletariats.
Likewise, the themes of several dystopian YA novels can be boiled down to anyone over thirty can’t be trusted. The problem with such stories is that it teaches kids to see the world in binaries. Instead, we should have stories that show there is nuance to politics and life. Kids can handle the facts without us dumbing things down for them.
Conclusion
The truth is kids can handle any subject, when it’s presented to them in the right manner, be that the origin of our species or death. And we’re doing a disservice to them by not keeping it real. The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and the sooner they learn this the sooner and better equipped they will be to function in the reality of our world.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to hold onto their innocence, just not forever.
Call to Action
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“My eyes traced over his pale white features: the hard square of his jaw, the softer curve of his full lips—twisted up into a smile now, the straight line of his nose. The sharp angle of his cheekbones, the smooth marbles expanse of his forehead . . .” –Bella, New Moon.
Sorry for torturing you like that, but my point is the characters in YA novels, especially the love interests, are often not just attractive, but modelesque.
Raise your hand if you’ve read YA novels where the teenage characters never have to deal with acne, bad breath, being under or overweight and it not being played for laughs.
Moreover, raise your hand if you ever felt like you were reading a personal ad the way some of these characters are described in such excruciating details. Sure, everyone enjoys some eye candy, but by making all or most of the cast attractive it teaches young readers the wrong lessons, which I’ll discuss in turn.
The Plain Jane
Photo by
Ramsés Moreno
on
Scopio
This first body type is the most common in YA and are usually the main female character and their basic descriptor is being average looking; some famous examples include Bella Swan form Twilight, Hermione Granger fromThe Harry Potter series, Clary Frayfrom The Mortal Instruments series, and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger games. The problem with this body type is that it teaches girls not to be okay with their looks. Often in these stories the message is, “OMG! that super cute guy likes me despite my plain looks.”
Instead, we should teach girls to find a partner who values them because of who there are, not despite it.
The Plain Jane also trains girls to view girls more attractive than them as enemies, and that paradoxically looks do matter.
Mr. Perfect
Topless man in blue denim jeans with yellow flower on his chest
Likewise, the male love interests are almost always some Adonis who knows exact what to do or say to sweep the female protagonist off her feet.
This teaches girls to objectives male bodies and and gives them unrealistic expectations when it comes to relationships, especially when said male love interests are physically, emotionally, or psychologically abusive.
YA novels need to have a more diverse spectrum of beauty standards for everyone and stop romanticizing abusive and toxic behavior like stalking.
Sadly, this is not the case, as I will show next.
Model Land
In these stories everyone is attractive, they can eat whatever they want, never work out, and still be in perfect shape. They never have to face the issues we mere mortals do. These characters’ defining trait is their attractiveness and they often fall victim to the designated love interest, and in the worst offenders, such as Tyra Banks’ (yes, that Tyra Banks) Modelland, they are literal models.
The problem with this is many-fold.
First, it teaches young readers to be superficial and that if they don’t meet society’s and the media’s expectations of beauty, then they don’t matter. That they have to strive for perfection in their appearance or no one will like them.
Second, it contributes to negative body image issues and issues with disordered eating. Young readers, girls in particular, are constantly being bombard with the message they have to be hot or they won’t find love and happiness.
Third, it’s unrealistic. People come in all shapes, yet rarely do you see protagonists who aren’t attractive, in shape, and sexually appealing and this needs to change.
We need to see more diversity across the board, not only in appearance but in race too.
But not too Black: Colorism, Featurism, and Eurocentrism
Man and woman smiling
Anyone who’s followed this blog for a while now knows the lack of diversity in the media is a pet peeve of mind.
As I wrote here, YA and publishing in general has a race problem. Namely, they value whiteness above everything, and the result is European features are prized above those of people of color.
This Eurocentrism result is colorism, which is where Black and brown people with lighter skin are seen as more attractive. This manifests in YA by having the love interest of color be either mixed raced or very light-skinned, sometimes to the point of getting mistaken for being white.
The problem with this should be self-evident: proximity to whiteness has no bearing on attractiveness and arguing otherwise is just racist.
This in turn results in featurism, wherein certain features such as straight hair, fair skin, and light-colored eyes are considered more appealing than those of Black and brown people.
The message readers of color get when they don’t find people like them in these stories is that 1) they don’t matter, and 2) they can’t have their happily ever after if they’re too dark or don’t have “good” hair.
The solution to this issue is simple: have more Black and brown people of every shade in your stories and call out writers when they engage in any of the above isms.
I wish race and appearances weren’t the only issues, but there’s more.
You Must be This Tall to Ride
Height discrimination is also rampant in these stories. Short people are often played for laughs and deemed unattractive—if they’re there at all. The issue here is that young readers are often themselves short, so having stories that exclude them, or worse make fun of them for something they can’t control, is bad form.
The solution is to not have a character’s height matter to the story. Why must every story be about the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome guy?
Short guys are hot too.
Similarly, stop with the stories that make fun of girls for being taller than guys, when girls mature faster than boys. Tall girls rock!
As I previously mentioned, another body type that often gets mocked is bigger people.
No Fats (Sizeism and Fatphobia)
Photo by
Vanessa Vasquez
on
Scopio
In book after book, the fat best friend is relegated to the sidelines while their thin, attractive friend goes after their equally thin and attractive love interest. Moreover, fat characters wanting to pursue anyone smaller in weight than them is seen as comedic, again this is if they’re included at all. This is problematic for several reasons.
First, many teens and young adults struggle with weight issues, so to trivialize and reduce the problem to their not eating right and getting enough exercise is complete bs.
Growing up stories were one of the only safe places I had. But I was quick to notice that people like me, Black and fat, were either absent or made fun of.
The truth is no one likes to be picked on, so stop with the fat jokes, fat-shaming, and fat phobia.
Conclusion
As cliché as it is to say, it’s true: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No one should feel excluded or less than because they aren’t a ten or even a five. Everyone is worthy of love regardless of their looks, height, or weight, and it is incumbent upon us to make sure everyone knows this.
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“Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” by Adib Khorram, is a YA coming of age novel about Iranian American teen Darius Kellner. But unlike his namesake, Darius is far from great. He’s bullied at school, his father is always disappointed in him, and he deals with chronic depression, feelings of isolation, alienation, and suicidal ideation.
Most of the novel deals with Darius’s struggles to fit in and his budding friendship with Sohrab, a local boy he meets while his family is visiting his mother’s parents in Iran, following the news her father is dying from a brain tumor.
At first, I found Darius’s speech pattern and mannerism loquacious and pretentious, but it grew on me, as did his geeky, poetic personality. I really connected with Darius’s struggles, as I dealt with chronic depression, suicidal ideation and being bullied too. And as a fellow biracial guy (Black and white), I know what it’s like trying to find where you fit in.
Darius reminded me a lot of Charlie from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which I also loved. He was both sensitive and geeky while being realistic, funny, and relatable.
Sohrab was the perfect counterbalance to Darius’s shyness and introspectiveness, and I loved how he was able to bring Darius out of his shell and show him that he is worthy of love and would be missed if he weren’t around anymore.
Though it’s not explicitly stated in the text, my interpretation is that Darius and Sohrab are gay and in love with each other. But you could also interpret their relationship as purely platonic. Either way, it was a joy to see such a great example of positive masculinity.
If I had one criticism, it’s that the ending was a bit too Disney for me; one argument/conversation couldn’t magically fix everything between Darius and his father, given that Darius has harbored years’ worth of resentment against his father and believes his parents purposely conceived his sister Laleh to replace him.
But aside from this minor issue, I loved the book and give it five out of five stars. I highly recommend you read it.
Often compared to “The Catcher in the Rye,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky, is a coming-of-age novel told in a series of letters sent from the protagonist Charlie to you.
Set in the early ‘90s in the Midwest, it follows Charlies through his first year of high school and his struggles with anxiety, PTSD, other mental health issues, and his quest to “participate” in life.
Charlie’s heart is a big as the universe, but he’s often naïve to the point of being cloying, the exact opposite of Holden Caulfield. As for his best friends, seniors Sam and Patrick, while they did get Charlie to come out of his shell, they also had the habit of using him as their emotional support and ignoring his boundaries.
This goes especially for Patrick who, following the breakup with his boyfriend, kisses Charlie multiple times without his consent. Then he leaves Charlie, a minor, alone at cruising spots while he hooks up with random guys.
The other issue I had with this book was the lack of characters of color. Sure, we’re told a few times there are Black students at Charlie’s high school, but he never interacts with any of them, nor are they ever mentioned except in a few offhand remarks toward the end of the book.
I loved this book when I first read in the early 2000s, but now that I’m older I picked up on a lot of toxic and problematic elements I listed above.
Ultimately, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a product of its time, and while still enjoyable to read, it’s left a bitter aftertaste upon rereading it. I give it a 4 (3.8) out of ten.
“The Catcher in the Rye,” by J. D. Salinger, is a coming-of-age novel about Holden Caulfield, who runs around New York City for several days following his flunking out yet another private school.
A perennial entry on the banned book list, Catcher remains in pop culture largely due to English teachers continuing to assign it, despite Holden and his world being so far removed from teens today.
I never read it in junior high, high school or college. So out of curiosity, I listen to the audiobook on YouTube when I was 25.
I loathed Holden and just wanted to slap him. My visceral hate of him, I realized was due to being too much like him, always complaining and generally being a jerk to everyone.
I vowed to change myself after that first reading, and while still a work in progress, I’ve gotten over my Holden ness.
I’m now pushing 40 and decided to read the book.
While I still think he is the epitome of white male privilege and all his problems stem from his pushing everyone away and not wanting to accept his brother’s death and his growing up, with the distance of age I didn’t completely hate him.
Granted, he’s still the whiny brat I remember, who constantly throws fits or leaves when he’s not the center of attention. But with the distance and experience of age, I see him fir who he is, a scared little boy playing at being an adult until things get too real for him.
Also, he’s suffering a psychotic break and is screaming for help from everyone. However, this doesn’t excuse his bad behavior such as narcissism, superficiality, hypocrisy, negativity, and habitual lying.
Holden and the other characters are as one-dimensional as they come, and so much of the story is made up of Holden’s inane ramblings about things he thinks are profound but are mundane and boring.
Holden says he hates people who repeat themselves yet does so himself, often only adding his favorite words (crumby, damn , goddamn). For someone who claims to be smart, his vocabulary is stunted.
While I get the importance of this book, I just didn’t like it and don’t see why it’s a “classic,” especially when the topic has been covered better on countless other books.
I give The Catcher in the Rye 1.0 out of 5.0 stars.
If you’ve never read this book, you aren’t missing much.
“The Boy Who Chased After His Shadow” ( Broom Closet Stories #3), by Jeff Jacobson, is an LGBTQ YA fantasy novel about Charlie Creevey, a gay 16-year-old witch.
Charlie along, his Aunt Beverly, and the witch community of Seattle, Washington, must stop Grace and her rogue group of witches from killing young witches to increase their power.
I wanted to love this book but it just didn’t do it for me.
First, there were the pacing issues. It took o we 80 pages for the plot to get going, largely because Jacobson spent so much time retreading the events of the previous books.
And when events would happen, you were treated to pages after pages of exposition with that ground the plot to a stop.
Second, I never feared for Charlie or any of the other main characters. The stakes were never high enough. While Grace and company were there, they were mostly a minor inconvenience.
So, when we’re told the Seattle witch community is terrified of Grace, this rings hollow.
Moreover, the final confrontation between Charlie’s group and Grace group was the definition of anticlimactic, and then the story just stops a few chapters later leaving a ton of loose threads.
Most of the characters came off as one-dimensional and had zero development. The only reason I didn’t give this one stars is because Charlies and Diego’s scenes together were so adorable. But that alone couldn’t save this book.
Overall, it read more like a first draft and desperately needed more work before being released.
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