Let's go back a bit...

So, I'm reading my book for this week, Newbery Honor Book, To Be a Slave compiled by Julius Lester, and I'm wondering a few things. The book is a piece of historical non-fiction (I know, I'm bending the rules) that deals with actual slaves' experiences in the middle passage, at auction, and on the plantation. Lester did a great deal of research on the topic and composed his book by writing a brief paragraph or two describing one aspect of slavery then proceeds to supply several personal stories written by slaves who experienced what he just talked about. (If that makes any sense). I find this book interesting for a couple reasons. As a YA book, it is neither a novel, nor is it fiction, nor does it include any distinct "teenage" narrative voice. This led me to question, as we have all semester, what makes a YA novel, a YA novel? Does the absence of YA characters in any way take away from its YA status? Or, rather does the YA classification stem from the material in the text or perhaps the manner in which it is written? If we answer yes to the latter, then how do we differentiate between material unique to YA and material that is accessible to everyone regardless of age. If no visible distinction exists, then what is the value of YA novels over other novels? If the appeal to YA novels lies strictly in their subject matter, how are YA identities affected when we, as instructors (or, more appropriately, the Anti-YA) essentially dictate what is and what is not the typical YA experience. Is our seemingly altruistic desire to provide therapy and a voice to YA's causing just the opposite result to emerge? Rather than helping problems, we diagnose systems that we ourselves created and rather than providing a voice, we simply supply a vacuum. Hmm...Interesting. By the way, I'm working on this for my paper and presentation because while I am certainly in favor of helping students learn and grow and be happy and never ever ever hurt their self esteem because feelings are the sprinkles on the cake of life (sorry, I just threw up a little) I sense a danger in conflating YA novels with therapy. This danger exists not only insofar as the formation of a true identity is concerned but also in the idea that we're not doing kids any favors by not allowing them any room to challenge themselves if we simply celebrate their current circumstance without attempting to move forward. Ho hum, I'm tired. Anyway, I know this doesn't have anything to do with world events but I'll write on that once I read the articles. TTFN, have a great break.