Where have all the good books gone?
Finally, someone who agrees with me: Bob Hoose at PluggedIn said exactly what I’d been thinking for a while. Where are the choices in teen fiction? Where can you get a book that doesn’t have witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, zombies or deep psychological problems?
Well, probably not at your local bookstore, that’s for sure.
Fairy tales were gruesome enough in the old days to scare kids pretty good (why do you think they were called Grimm?), but then along came Disney (and others) who tamed the old stories down. And because of that, we started getting more and more horrific tales (thanks Mr. King!), and eventually we thought this was great stuff to give to the kiddies. Here you go, kid! Good luck sleeping at night!
I guess my complaint is not really about the books, but the trend these days of teens wanting to change who they are, based on a book or movie. They don’t just read or watch and say, “That was entertaining, but that would never be me.” Now they indulge, and say, “I want to be all that.” Instead of clinging to the person God created them to be, they ditch it to be another goth, another vamp, another clone of Miley Cryus. It’s a shame.
I’m reminded of 2 Cor: “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” And when you go to the bookstore, what fellowship will wholesome books have with unwholesome ones? None at all, I hope. None at all.
But keep looking. There’s good books out there somewhere.