The Dark Side Continued

Not long ago, I shared a post about darkness in children's literature.  I've been thinking again about that question lately.  I've been revising a YA novel that is magical realism.  The plot is constantly out of control and elusive, but there's something about this piece that keeps pulling me back to it.  I've been bringing the existing pages to my YA critique group and mulling over their comments.  Somehow those comments recently led me to rewrite a pivotal scene into a much darker direction, opening up an almost sinister side to my protagonist, a side she's probably frightened of in herself, the destructive hatred of her parent.  Matricide comes to mind.  (Mom, if you read this, don't worry.  I love you.)

If I'm being honest, I think a lot of teens have these feelings.  So, introducing this element more explicitly into my story feels exciting, and terrifying.  Those of us who are not teens are understandably uncomfortable with a teen's capacity to do real harm to another human being.  But when I was a teen, my own dark sides terrified me and obsessed me.  So, venturing down this road with my protagonist interests me.  How do we manage to come through the other end of those huge feelings of rage and those destructive tendencies?  How do we explore them, harness them, process them?  What happens when we try to ignore them or avoid them?

In the end, I think this story will be infinitely stronger when I take it in this direction.  But I'm worried.  I'm pretty confident the teen readers will have no problem with this darker vision.  I wonder if the adult gatekeepers will be able to handle it.  I wonder, frankly, if I will be able to handle it.  Time, as Virginia Woolf would say, to strangle the angel in the house.

Turn To the Dark Side, Luke

I am developing a nasty habit of letting other people do the work for me!  I blame the end of the school year and its collision with dragon boat race season.  Plus the fact that other bloggers have great things to say that are absolutely worth sharing.  With that in mind, this week I'm sharing a link to a post by Kell Andrews at Operation Awesome about the role of darkness in children's literature.  With the popularity of THE HUNGER GAMES, this topic has become a hot one in many discussions, but it's really not a new one.  Ever since humans first began attempting to identify childhood as a time of protected innocence, and define children's literature as a genre separate from adult literature, the debate over its role, over what's appropriate for young minds, over moralizing versus adventure, has simmered, raged, bubbled and percolated.  (Okay - I'm having fun with verbs - so sue me!)

Anyway, Kell's post is a great one to tickle this discussion back to life.  Check it out and jump into the conversation.  While you're at it, drink a toast to LEMONY SNICKET, a champion of the dark side if ever there was one.