| Traditionally, young adult lit involves themes like | | | | procedure called a tesserract. Yeah, we've all been |
| forging your own identity and building self-acceptance. | | | | there. |
| Recently, however, we've seen a noticeable increase | | | | Through her travels, Meg learns to let go of |
| in themes of forsaking your family to become | | | | everyone's helping hands (literally - she was practically |
| undead, changing your personality to the point of | | | | glued to the things), see her "faults" as things that |
| unrecognizability, and feasting on human blood to | | | | could "come in very handy," and ultimately fly solo to |
| nourish a fetus that your husband will eventually have | | | | solve her own problems. The story climaxes with |
| to chomp out of your womb. (No, we aren't making | | | | Meg defeating a giant, pulsating brain through the |
| this up). For those of us who miss the good ol' days | | | | power of love. If that ain't symbolism... well, we're |
| when reading teen lit made you feel better about life | | | | actually kind of hoping the whole thing is symbolism. |
| (as opposed to in need of a long shower), it might | | | | Sixteen years later, Ellen Raskin published The |
| be a good investment to pick up some of the | | | | Westing Game, challenging the then-prevalent idea |
| following classic reads. | | | | that young adults couldn't follow stories with |
| Despite the countless ways in which Ray Bradbury | | | | ridiculously complicated plots. (Clearly, publishers were |
| can put us ill at ease, his 1962 coming-of-age novel | | | | unfamiliar with Tolkien.) Its heroine is Tabitha-Ruth |
| Something Wicked This Way Comes actually has a | | | | Alice "Turtle" Wexler, a thirteen-year-old who is |
| wholesome message at its core. Beneath all the | | | | trapped in her pretty sister's shadow but |
| carnies and funhouses, that is. The story follows two | | | | nevertheless gets major kudos for being nicknamed |
| thirteen-year-olds named Will and Jim, whose visit to | | | | after a lumpy reptile. Turtle and her family are |
| the traveling circus gets them involved with a wicked | | | | involved in an elaborate inheritance puzzle that sets |
| witch, a magic carousel, and a guy who has tattooed | | | | an entire apartment complex's worth of people |
| both their faces on his hands. (Clearly, this predates | | | | against one another for $200 million in loot. |
| the cameraphone.) | | | | Amidst the endless characters, unexpected |
| For whatever reason, Jim is drawn to all things | | | | bombings, anonymous tips, and false leads, Turtle |
| dangerous, creepy, or both, and desperately wants | | | | demonstrates business savvy, goodheartedness, and |
| to ride the carousel that can instantly turn him into an | | | | independent thinking; she invests her "incentive" funds |
| adult à la Tom Hanks in Big. Will, on the other hand, | | | | to profit independently of the riddle, attempts to fall |
| enjoys being thirteen and has absolutely no desire to | | | | on the sword for her mad bomber of a sister, and |
| pursue adulthood through unnatural means. (Clearly, | | | | solves the puzzle even though the game ends and |
| this predates VH1.) With the help of Will's father, the | | | | the prize is withdrawn. By befriending and impressing |
| two learn how to kill evil with a smile - literally - and | | | | the benefactor, Turtle then goes on to prove that |
| laugh in the face of insecurity, even when that face | | | | you don't have to be a beautiful young thang to get |
| is your own. Only Ray Bradbury can pull off | | | | your mitts on an old man's multi-million dollar |
| something like that while still managing to scare the | | | | inheritance. |
| crap out of you. | | | | Growing up is hard enough as it is without television |
| Published in the same year, Madeline L'Engle's A | | | | and magazines telling kids to hurry up and buy into |
| Wrinkle in Time is a similarly offbeat novel that reads | | | | adult things. Admittedly, literature is as bound to |
| like something out of a David Bowie acid flashback. | | | | market trends as anything else, but until books start |
| Our teen heroine is Meg Murray, a self-proclaimed, | | | | selling ad space between chapters, we'd like to think |
| self-loathing freak whose face is horribly disfigured by | | | | of them as a refuge for the mind. And if novels |
| - get this - braces. (Okay, so standards were | | | | about black-magic carnivals, interplanetary time |
| different in 1962.) Also noteworthy is the fact that | | | | warps, and pyrotechnic treasure hunts can somehow |
| she travels to a planet called Camazotz with the help | | | | present well-balanced young adult characters, any |
| of four exploded stars and a time/space-folding | | | | story that doesn't is definitely not trying hard enough. |