Saturday, March 21, 2015

Family in YA


Do you think that family is undervalued, overemphasized, or balanced in YA books? 
Do you think it even matters to readers now a days?

When I first thought about this question, my initial answer was that it was undervalued. But then when I started thinking more about it, I realized that family or at least parents usually make an appearance. And for some (especially fantasy, paranormal, or contemps) either one or both of the parents died or the mom or dad left the house/family (this usually factors in to what state/condition the character is in).
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)
Specifically talking about contemp books, do you think it makes sense for a parent or siblings to not be as involved in the characters's life as they usually are? In my experience, there aren't many stories where we see much interaction between parent/teen or sibling/sibling. The best example that does have it is Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before (READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T YET BTW) Should family only be involved or only mostly involved only if the story really focuses on that as the main aspect or part of the subplot?

And then there are some books where you're like "WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?!" The character should not be facing this alone or there should be a parental figure there that should be taking action. Or the parents are just plain oblivious to what's going on in a character's life. I usually see this in paranormal books (sometimes contemps) and a character can be out super late or coming back home with bruises and the parent is just not there. This is pretty much ridiculous in my opinion. At least have some suspicion or make it known that the parent the type that works too much or just doesn't care. If it seems like they have a pretty decent relationship, I'm assuming that there would be at least some sort of questioning and worry over his/her well being.

SO do you think YA books in general should make more of a big deal over family than it does right now, make it less of a big deal (let's be honest, having parents can be boring especially if they're overprotective and there just won't be a story if the character can't do anything), or is it fairly decent as it is right now? 

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