Children’s Literature Issues. Literature & Language Essay

Respond to the following in a minimum of 200 words and use at least one example from the required readings: (I have cut and pasted chapter 7 of our readings below. Don’t forget to Cite this source via MLA, I have included at the bottom of the chapter)
As with all literature, children’s literature can provide a medium in which to discuss a variety of issues ranging from race to sexual orientation to gender stereotyping. Approaching these issues through a fictional story can allow children to become familiar with new terms and ideas in a less threatening setting. 
Should children’s literature ever be censored? If not, why not? If so, who do you think should be the censors, and how should they decide what topics are censored? What about the case of 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher?
How important is culture in children’s literature? Why should we include works from various cultures in the canon of children’s literature? How does including literature from various cultures influence the discussion on the social issues covered in children’s literature? 
Nonfiction is very exciting for most children and DK Publishing have a great deal to do with this. (don't forget to use your pause button to really check this out!) and post your comments on this book here. (Don’t forget to include citation for this)
Realism in Contemporary Children’s Literature
Realistic fiction may be defined as imaginative writing that accurately reflects life as it was lived in the past or could be lived today. Everything in such a story can conceivably happen to real people living in our natural physical world, in contrast to fantasy, where impossible happenings are made to appear quite plausible even though they are not possible. Historical fiction portrays life as it may have been lived in the past; contemporary realism focuses on the problems and issues of living today. In this chapter we chose the 1950s as the dividing line between contemporary and historical fiction. There are some books in which the time period is relatively unimportant but that address contemporary issues of today’s children. For example, we consider the effects of any war on those left at home, of family conflict, and of self-actualization as most important, as in Gary Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now. The fact that today’s children are affected by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars rather than the Vietnam War is of secondary importance.
Though other genres in children’s literature, such as fantasy, are popular, children consistently are found to prefer realistic fiction. The books discussed in this chapter can be categorized as contemporary realistic fiction for children. Many are stories about growing up today and finding a place in the family, among peers, and in modern society. In addition, aspects of coping with the problems of the human condition may be found in contemporary literature for children. Books that are humorous or reflect special interests—such as animal or sports stories and mysteries—are also classified as realistic literature and so are included in this chapter.
Realistic fiction serves children who are in the process of understanding and coming to terms with themselves. Books that honestly portray the realities of life help children gain a fuller understanding of human problems and human relationships and, thus, a fuller understanding of themselves and their own potential.
This is not a function unique to contemporary realism. Other types of books can show children a slice of the world. Some fantasy is nearer to truth than realism; biography and autobiography frequently provide readers with models of human beings who offer “hope and courage for the journey.” The ability to maintain one’s humanity and courage in the midst of deprivation is highlighted in Number the Stars, Lois Lowry’s historical fiction about Danish efforts to save Jewish citizens in World War 2. Personal bravery and responsible behavior under dire circumstances is also one of the themes of the high fantasy A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. However, most children appear to identify more readily with characters in books of contemporary realism than with those of historical fiction or fantasy.
Realistic fiction helps children enlarge their frames of reference while seeing the world from another perspective. For example, the Coretta Scott King author honor award winner Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes offers a highly realistic account of Hurricane Katrina from the perspective of 12-year-old Lanesha. Like some residents of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Lanesha and her grandmother Mama Ya-Ya are not able to evacuate their home during the hurricane and subsequent flood. It takes all of Lanesha’s courage and determination to facilitate the survival of those around her and to accept that which she cannot change. Children who have had little contact with the problems of the elderly might come to understand the older adults as real people through Patricia MacLachlan’s Kindred Souls or Kazumi Yumoto’s The Friends. Stories like these help young people develop compassion for and an understanding of human experiences.
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In Nikki Grimes’s Planet Middle School, Joy learns that being true to herself is more important than winning over a boy. 2011 Jacket photographs © Digital Vision (sky), © Ocean/Corbis (girl) © Kevin Russ (basketball hoop). Reprinted with permission of Bloomsbury.
Realistic fiction also reassures young people that they are not the first in the world to have faced problems. In Hilary McKay’s Permanent Rose, Kimberly Willis Holt’s When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, Audrey Couloumbis’s Lexie, and Andrew Clements’s We the Children, they read of other children whose parents have separated or divorced. In Nikki Grimes’s Planet Middle School, Lynne Rae Perkins’s Criss Cross, and Joan Bauer’s Stand Tall, they read about characters who are beginning to be concerned about relationships with the opposite sex. They gain some solace from recognizing the problems a low-income background poses for Reese in Walter Dean Myers’s Lockdown, Livy Two in Kerry Madden’s Gentle’s Holler, Will in Mike Lupica’s The Underdogs, or Jazmin in Nikki Grimes’s Jazmin’s Notebook. This knowledge that they are not alone brings a kind of comfort to child readers.
Realistic fiction can also illuminate experiences that children have not had. A child with loving parents whose only chore consists of making a bed may have a deeper need to read Deborah Ellis’s No Ordinary Day or Andy Mulligan’s Trash than a child of poverty whose life is more nearly reflected in the story. A child who takes school for granted might gain much from Ann Cameron’s poignant The Most Beautiful Place in the World, about a Guatemalan who desperately wants an education. Realistic fiction can be a way of experiencing a world we do not know.
Some books also serve as a kind of preparation for living. Far better to have read Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia or Alan Silberberg’s Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze than to experience firsthand at age 10 or 12 the death of your best friend or the suicide of your mother. For many years, death was a taboo subject in children’s literature. Yet, as children face the honest realities of life in books, they are developing a kind of courage for facing problems in their own lives. Madeleine L’Engle, whose Meet the Austins was among the first works of modern children’s literature to treat the subject of death, maintained that “to pretend there is no darkness is another way of extinguishing light.”1
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Realistic fiction for children does provide many possible models, both good and bad, for coping with problems of the human condition. As children experience these stories, they may begin to filter out some meaning for their own lives. This allows children to organize and shape their own thinking about life as they follow, through stories, the lives of others.
More controversy surrounds the writing of contemporary realistic fiction for children than perhaps any other kind of literature. Everyone is a critic of realism, for everyone feels he or she is an expert on what is real in today’s world. But realities clash, and the fact that “what is real for one might not be real for another” is a true and lively issue. Some of the questions that seem uniquely related to contemporary realism in writing for children need to be examined.
What Is Real?
The question of what is “real” or “true to life” is a significant one. C. S. Lewis, the British author of the well-known Narnia stories, described three types of realistic content:
But when we say, “The sort of thing that happens,” do we mean the sort of thing that usually or often happens, the sort of thing that is typical of the human lot? Or do we mean “The sort of thing that might conceivably happen or that, by a thousandth chance, may have happened once?”2
Middle graders reading the Narnia series know that these stories are fantasy and couldn’t happen in reality. However, middle graders might read stories like Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, or N. D. Wilson’s Leepike Ridge and believe that children can survive any hardship or crisis if only they possess determination. These well-written books cast believable characters in realistic settings facing real problems. Teachers might ask readers to compare these books to Graham Salisbury’s Night of the Howling Dogs, which is based on Salisbury’s cousin’s experience surviving a tsunami. Book discussions can help readers ask whether this sort of thing “by a thousandth chance, may have happened once.”
Night of the Howling Dogs is a thrilling survival story based on real events that were experienced by author Graham Salisbury’s cousin. “Book Cover”, copyright © 2007 by Random House Children’s Books, from Night Of The Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury. Used by permission of Wendy Lamb Boos, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly Random House, Inc. for permission.
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Adding to the question of what is real is the recent trend in literature for children in which fantastical or unexplained phenomena occur in a realistic story. The definition of what is “real” or “fantastical” can vary from culture to culture. Consequently, it could help readers to remember that their own worldviews and ideas may differ significantly from the perspectives and beliefs of the characters in a story. For example, in reading the Hurricane Katrina story Ninth Ward, some readers might need to keep in mind that Lanesha’s ability to see the spirit of her deceased mother is a culturally accepted gift of second sight.
Increasingly, authors feel no compunction in blending fantastical elements with realistic fiction. As with the question of whether a book belongs in the chapter with contemporary realism or historical fiction, in this chapter we include books that speak predominantly to contemporary real-life concerns. For example, Skellig by David Almond examines 10-year-old Michael’s experience of having a seriously ill baby sister and moving to a new community, although the book contains the presence of an unexplained phenomena in Michael’s new garage. We suspect that as the twenty-first century moves forward, the lines between traditional genres will become more and more blurred.
How Real May a Children’s Book Be?
Much controversy centers on how much graphic detail may be included in a book for children. How much violence is too much? How explicit may an author be in describing bodily functions or sexual relations? These are questions that few would have asked until the 1960s. But there are new freedoms today. Childhood is not the innocent time we like to think it is (and it probably never was). In addition, authors of young adult literature (defined in the American Library Association’s Printz Award as ages 12–18) have been more willing to tackle issues for adolescents as frankly as they would in a book for adults. In this book, we focus on children ages 6 to 14. It is therefore often difficult to make decisions about what literature is appropriate for those adolescents in middle school. Basically, we have worked under the assumption that although these youth might not need protection, they do still need the perspective that good literature can give. A well-written book makes the reader aware of the human suffering resulting from inhumane acts by others.
News coverage of local killings or the body count in the latest “peacekeeping” effort seldom show the pain and anguish that each death causes. The rebuilding of human lives is too slow and tedious to portray in a five-minute newscast. Even many video games are based on violence. The winner of the game is the one who can eliminate or destroy the “enemy.” Reasons or motivations are never given, and the aftereffects of violence are not a part of the game.
By way of contrast to the daily news, a well-written story provides perspective on the pain and suffering of humankind. In a literary story the author has time to develop the characters into fully rounded human beings. The reader knows the motives and pressures of each individual and can understand and empathize with the characters. If the author’s tone is one of compassion for the characters, if others in the story show concern or horror for a brutal act, the reader gains perspective.
A story that makes violence understandable without condoning it is Suzanne Fisher Staples’s Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. In the Pakistani desert culture in which 12-year-old Shabanu lives, obedience to rules has enabled many tribes to live in peace in an environment that offers little material comfort. When Shabanu runs away to avoid an arranged marriage to a middle-aged man, she discovers her favorite camel has broken its leg. In choosing to remain with the camel, Shabanu tacitly agrees to the rules of her clan. Her father catches up with her and beats her severely. But she is soaked with his tears as he does what he must, and the reader realizes both are trapped in roles their society has defined for them.
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James Giblin, a former children’s book editor, suggests that a book can be realistic without being overly graphic:
For instance, if the young detective in a mystery story was attacked by a gang of bullies, I wouldn’t encourage an author to have them burn his arms with a cigarette to get him to talk (although that might conceivably happen in an adult mystery). However, I would accept a scene in which the gang threatened to do so: that would convey the reality and danger of the situation without indulging in all the gory details.3
Giblin maintains that very few subjects are inappropriate in themselves; it is all in how the author treats them. The facts of a situation, ugly as they might be, can be presented with feeling and depth of emotion, which carry the reader beyond the particular subject.
The same criteria are appropriate for evaluating explicitness about sex and bodily functions in books for children. Chris Crutcher presents a situation regarding censorship issues in The Sledding Hill. Here, a controversy is sparked by the reading of a young adult novel that includes a gay character. Crutcher’s work is more heavy-handed in its message about censorship than is Miles’s, but it will certainly prompt interesting discussions. Furthermore, the essence of the book is about friendship and healing rather than sexual orientation.
Bias and Stereotyping
Children’s books have always reflected the general social and human values of a society, so it is not surprising that they are also scrutinized for implied attitudes or biases of that society. Contemporary realistic fiction is examined for racism, cultural inaccuracies, sexism, ageism, and treatment of people with physical or mental impairments. Because consciousness generally has been raised in the world of children’s book publishing, there are now more books that present diverse populations positively and fairly.
Historically, the political and social activism of the 1960s contributed to an awareness of racism in children’s books. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, children have been able to find fully realized characters from diverse cultures in books such as Virginia Hamilton’s Cousins, Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk to Water, Julia Alvarez’s Tia Lola series, and Jacqueline Woodson’s Peace, Locomotion, Still, adults need to be alert to reissues of books from an earlier era—such as the 1945 Newbery Honor Book The Silver Pencil,4 which contains many racist descriptions of people in Trinidad. Books like this help us recognize the gains of recent decades.
Jacqueline Woodson’s Peace, Locomotion is a beautifully written story of an African American foster child who loyally writes his sister after they are separated. Cover image from Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson. Used by permission of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.
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Because scholars have made us more aware of the subtle ways in which literature has perpetuated stereotypes, contemporary realistic fiction now does a much better job of portraying the complexity of gender expectations and roles. Girls can find caring female role models outside of the family; intelligent, independent, and strong girls and women; and romance as a consequence of strong friendship are all found in realistic fiction of today. They can also find characters like Frankie in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart or Joe in James Howe’s Totally Joe, who are willing to challenge traditional role models and expectations.
Boys, too, can get beyond such beliefs as “men don’t cry.” Modern realistic fiction shows that everyone may cry as they grieve, as do a boy and his father following the drowning of a friend in On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer. The issue of presenting multiple role models in books for boys has led to a campaign by popular author Jon Scieszka. Scieszka’s website, called Guys Read has suggestions for books and activities that will appeal to boys. Scieszka has also selected various male authors to contribute to Guys Write for Guys Read, a collection of short stories for boys.
People with mental or physical disabilities have in the past been depicted as “handicapped.” Books such as Tracie Vaughn Zimmer’s Reaching for the Sun or R. J. Palacio’s Wonder provide more enlightened views that suggest that the person is more important than the condition; one can be differently abled without necessarily being “disabled.” Older people (and other adults) in children’s literature have often been dismissed as irrelevant in a young person’s life, as ineffectual in contrast to the vibrancy of young spirits, or as unable to do certain things because of their age. High-quality contemporary realistic fiction stories depict adults and older people in many ways—as mentors to young people, for instance, and as having their own romances, problems, and triumphs.
Children’s books have made great gains in the depiction of our changing society. However, today’s books need to continue to reflect the wide ranges of occupations, education, speech patterns, lifestyles, and futures that are possible for all, regardless of race, gender, age, ability, or belief.
In R. J. Palacio’s masterfully written Wonder, August’s story of starting school for the first time ever in fifth grade with mandibulofacial dysostosis is told from several points of view. “Book Cover”, copyright © 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf, from Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly Random House, Inc. for permission.
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The Author’s Background
The subject of an author’s racial background has become another source of controversy in children’s contemporary realistic fiction. Must an author be black to write about African Americans, or Native American to write about Native Americans? As Virginia Hamilton states:
It happens that I know Black people better than any other people because I am one of them and I grew up knowing what it is we are about. . . . The writer uses the most comfortable milieu in which to tell a story, which is why my characters are Black. Often being Black is significant to the story; other times, it is not. The writer will always attempt to tell stories no one else can tell.5
It has been generally accepted that an author should write about what he or she knows about his or her own culture. But Ann Cameron, an Anglo-American author who has lived in Guatemala for many years, is the author of many books about children from diverse places and cultures, including The Stories Julian Tells, Gloria Rising, The Most Beautiful Place in the World, and Colibrí. Cameron maintains a different point of view:
It seems to me that the people who advise “write about what you know” drastically underestimate the human capacity for imagining what lies beyond our immediate knowledge and for understanding what is new to us. Equally, they overestimate the extent to which we know ourselves. A culture, like a person, has blind spots. . . . Often the writer who is an outsider—an African writing about the United States, an American writing about China—sees in a way that enriches him as an observer, the culture he observes, and the culture he comes from.6
Moreover, although it may be true that Cameron and other writers who have spent years living and working in other countries (Elizabeth Laird, Jane Kurtz, and Nancy Farmer, for example) may not be able to give a culturally authentic picture of the characters they write about, they do Western children a great service by pointing out issues of social justice and human rights. As world cultures become more and more interdependent in the twenty-first century, offering such service is surely a worthwhile goal. We agree with children’s author and scholar Alma Flor Ada who suggests, “The merit of a book is determined not by the heritage of the author or illustrator, but by their intention, knowledge, sensitivity, responsibility, and artistry”
Evaluating Contemporary Fiction
The hallmark of fine writing is the quality of imagining it calls forth from us. Imagination is not the exclusive trait of any race or gender but is a universal quality of all fine writers. No authors or artists want to be limited to writing about or portraying only the experiences of persons of a single race or cultural background, nor should they be. We need to focus on two aspects of every book: (1) What is its literary merit? and (2) Will children enjoy it? For additional criteria to keep in mind, see Guidelines: Evaluating Contemporary Realistic Fiction.
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Guidelines
Evaluating Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Consider the following when evaluating realistic fiction:
•Does the book honestly portray the realities of life for today’s children?
•Does the book illuminate problems and issues of growing up in today’s world?
•Does the story transcend the contemporary setting and have universal implications?
•Are the characters convincing and credible to today’s child?
•Are controversial topics such as sexuality dealt with in an open and forthright way?
•If violence or other negative behavior is part of the story, does the author provide motivations and show aftereffects?
•Does the author avoid stereotyping?
•Does the book truly represent the experience of the culture depicted?
•Does the book help children enlarge their personal points of view and develop appreciation for our ever-changing pluralistic society?
Categorizing Literature
Reviewers, educators, and curriculum makers often categorize books according to their content. Categorizing serves textbook authors by allowing them to talk about several books as a group. It serves educators who hope to group books around a particular theme for classroom study. While one person might place Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia in a group of books about “making friends,” it could just as easily be placed in other groups, such as books about “growing up” or “learning to accept death,” or “well-written books.” It is a disservice to both book and reader if, in labeling a book, we imply that this is all the book is about. Readers with their own purposes and backgrounds will see many different aspects and strengths in a piece of literature. It is helpful to remember that our experiences with art occur at many different, unique, and personal levels. Even though teachers might wish to lead children to talk about a particular aspect of a book, they will not want to suggest that this is the only aspect worth pursuing. Author Jean Little argues that teachers need to trust children to find their own messages in books:
Individual readers come to each story at a slightly different point in their life’s journey. If nobody comes between them and the book, they may discover within it some insight they require, a rest they long for, a point of view that challenges their own, a friend they may cherish for life. If we, in the guise of mentor, have all the good messages listed or discussed in small groups . . . the individual and vitally important meeting of child and story may never happen.7
A second issue in the categorizing of literature is age-appropriateness. Realistic fiction is often categorized as being for upper elementary or middle-grade and junior high or young-adult readers. Yet anyone who has spent time with 9- to 14-year-old readers has surely noticed the wide ranges of reading interests, abilities, and perceptions present. Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and Matthew Quick’s Boy21 have challenged and entertained readers from fourth grade through high school. To suggest that these titles are only “for 10- to 12-year-old readers” would ignore the ages of half the readership of these popular authors.
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The story of every man and every woman is the story of growing up, of becoming a person, of struggling to become one’s own person. The kind of person you become has its roots in your childhood experiences—how much you were loved, how little you were loved; the people who were significant to you, the ones who were not; the places you’ve been, and those you did not go to; the things you had, and the things you did not get. Yet a person is always more than the totality of these experiences; the way a person organizes, understands, and relates to those experiences makes for individuality. Childhood is not a waiting room for adulthood but the place where adulthood is shaped by one’s family, peers, society, and, most important, the person one is becoming. The passage from childhood to adulthood is a significant journey for each person. It is no wonder that children’s literature is filled with stories about growing up in our society today.
 A Sampling of Contemporary Realism for Children, books are arranged according to categories based on theme and content merely for convenience of presentation. They could have been arranged in many other ways. The ages of main characters are noted, as a clue to potential readership.
Kiefer, Barbara Zulandt, and Charlotte S. Huck. Charlotte Hucks Childrens Literature: a Brief Guide. McGraw-Hill, 2019