Belong in the Page

        Young adult literature and its market continues to grow. Readers connect to the characters and themes on a deeper level than many other genres geared toward other audiences. Critics and educators have been trying to determine why young adult literature has been so successful. Katy Waldman, in her article “Everyone Knows Where They Belong”, attempts to decipher what aspects of young adult literature appeal to readers most. While there are many factors that impact the reception of this genre on the market, Waldman believes she has pinpointed the most compelling factor. This literature creates a sense of belonging by categorizing characters into the groups that fit their personalities, jobs in their societies, or place in their worlds. Although young adult literature is a diverse grouping of texts, Waldman’s article effectively explores the community and group mentality that it fosters.

            As students develop and grow through high school, they experience a need for a community. Puberty, changing social dynamics, and maturity create an upheaval that many young adults do not know how to cope with. High school is a formative time in which students begin to develop an idea of self. In Eleanor and Park, Park begins to experiment with make up as he attempts to find his place in the social hierarchy of his school and family. “Self-invention is hard” Waldman states “and it helps to have a blueprint. Enter stereotypes: the Gryffindors, Givers, and Geeks who turn the chaotic terrarium of high school into a taxonomist’s paradise” (Waldman). Readers find common characteristics between the groups in these texts; those commonalities help young adults categorize themselves within the fictional realm they are stepping into and quantify their status within their own world. These texts show other young adults engaged in predetermined social groupings set by uncontrollable forces. In the Harry Potter series the uncontrollable force is the Sorting Hat; Divergent relies on a test; Brown Girl Dreaming sorts by race. These texts provide a scaffold for readers to use as a platform in their own development and understanding of who and what they are.

            Since young adults experience a great deal of change, not only do they seek some form of community, they also seek similar groupings that are described in young adult literature. As Waldman explains, “as family dynamics shift in confusing ways, a lot of teens hunger for community, YA fiction mines that wish with its visions of deep group cohesion” (Waldman). In Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Steve gets into trouble as he seeks out that group cohesion. By associating with Osvaldo and James, Steve finds himself on trial for murder. His lawyer, Ms. O’Brien, says “The prosecutor’s strongest point against you is the connection between you and King” (Myers 224). Steve’s need for a group and community work against him. Waldman notes that “Resisting categorization becomes central to the mythology of each universe” and “In the end, these heroes confront not just the beauty but the terror of labels, and they come to know both the terror and the beauty of standing apart” (Waldman). Steve learns the terror of being labeled as another thug. Dante, from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, is beaten because of his otherness. Eleanor is forced to run away because she stands out against her stepfather. Holden, in The Catcher in the Rye, doesn’t fit with anyone. Even Bella from the Twilight Series strives to fit in but is constantly reminded of her difference. In the end, Waldman explains that “We don’t feel like anybody else. So our fictional avatars flirt with categories and then reject them, striking out on richer and lonelier quests for identity” (Waldman). These texts do not solve readers’ need for belonging, but they give readers the power to step out into a world they may not belong to.

            Young adult literature is a complex grouping of texts that provides readers with a platform to explore and discover a community within a book and find their way in the “real world.” The communities and categorizations that can be found in young adult literature are accessible enough that readers can identify with the groups. They view the world through mirrors and windows. They see themselves reflected back at them as they read about Aristotle and Dante; they understand a deeper level of the social stratum of their schools through the lens provided in Eleanor and Park. They are sorted, tested, and given identities as they escape into these worlds strictly governed by sets and groups. Young adults may not belong in their communities yet, but they belong within the pages of the books they love. Through these texts, young adults are given the language and tools to self-create. They are given blueprints to the bigger, wider world of adulthood and set out to continually remake themselves. Young adult literature has such an appeal to young adults because of this fact: they find a safe place to belong.

Works Cited

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins e-books, 2008.

Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor and Park. Google E-book, 2013.

Waldman, Katy. "Everyone Knows Where They Belong." 21 March 2014. Slate.com. Web. 23 June 2015.

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014. E-book.