Comments on: Fall project: http://www.yanewyork.com/2009/08/fall-project/ Young adult fiction news and reviews Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:16:25 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jami B http://www.yanewyork.com/2009/08/fall-project/comment-page-1/#comment-1717 Jami B Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:18:42 +0000 http://www.yanewyork.com/?p=387#comment-1717 I really don't read the character death in Looking for Alaska as a suicide at all. Perhaps there have been heated debates about the death-in-question in other forums out there, but I emphatically interpret it as an accidental death with extenuating circumstances (i.e. potential alcohol, high speed, etc). I'd expect Greene would avoid weighing in on the issue specifically, in order to encourage more debate and discussion about the book. Obviously, as the author, if he'd wanted to specifically address it, he would have. He's told the story exactly as he wanted to: and the death is officially left open for interpretation ... but I just feel like its a stacked deck and his writing leans more to a "not a suicide" ending ... A tangent, of course, this talkback is about questionable content. Brina, I agree with you - LFA offers a non-didactic look at modern teens who (among other things) ask questions about morality and religion of each other and themselves. I think its encouraging to have books out there featuring teens who have sex/drink/do drugs AND engage in healthy moral debates. Really, a book about goody two-shoes teens who sit around debating religion wouldn't be very interesting at all ... I really don’t read the character death in Looking for Alaska as a suicide at all. Perhaps there have been heated debates about the death-in-question in other forums out there, but I emphatically interpret it as an accidental death with extenuating circumstances (i.e. potential alcohol, high speed, etc).

I’d expect Greene would avoid weighing in on the issue specifically, in order to encourage more debate and discussion about the book. Obviously, as the author, if he’d wanted to specifically address it, he would have. He’s told the story exactly as he wanted to: and the death is officially left open for interpretation … but I just feel like its a stacked deck and his writing leans more to a “not a suicide” ending …

A tangent, of course, this talkback is about questionable content. Brina, I agree with you – LFA offers a non-didactic look at modern teens who (among other things) ask questions about morality and religion of each other and themselves. I think its encouraging to have books out there featuring teens who have sex/drink/do drugs AND engage in healthy moral debates. Really, a book about goody two-shoes teens who sit around debating religion wouldn’t be very interesting at all …

]]> By: brina http://www.yanewyork.com/2009/08/fall-project/comment-page-1/#comment-1695 brina Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:42:27 +0000 http://www.yanewyork.com/?p=387#comment-1695 sxott: You're right. There are lots of depictions of teenagers doing stuff that they do. And that there suicide question was never answered definitively, either. There's no point in deeming any of it offensive, though. Andrea: I'm very excited to see those unholy tomes. But of course, it could take seven hundred million years before I get an appointment. sxott: You’re right. There are lots of depictions of teenagers doing stuff that they do. And that there suicide question was never answered definitively, either. There’s no point in deeming any of it offensive, though.

Andrea: I’m very excited to see those unholy tomes. But of course, it could take seven hundred million years before I get an appointment.

]]> By: Andrea Cremer http://www.yanewyork.com/2009/08/fall-project/comment-page-1/#comment-1694 Andrea Cremer Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:40:15 +0000 http://www.yanewyork.com/?p=387#comment-1694 What a great project! I was shocked by the kerfuffle in Wisconsin this summer about a group that tried to get Baby Be-Bop off the shelves. Can't wait to read what you find. What a great project! I was shocked by the kerfuffle in Wisconsin this summer about a group that tried to get Baby Be-Bop off the shelves. Can’t wait to read what you find.

]]> By: sxott http://www.yanewyork.com/2009/08/fall-project/comment-page-1/#comment-1693 sxott Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:39:49 +0000 http://www.yanewyork.com/?p=387#comment-1693 Looking for Alaska... contains sexual acts, drug use, alcholol abuse, foul language, trespassing/breaking and entering, and, oh yeah, suicide. Lots of OMG ways to deem it offensive. Religion seems trivial compared to all the rest. Looking for Alaska… contains sexual acts, drug use, alcholol abuse, foul language, trespassing/breaking and entering, and, oh yeah, suicide. Lots of OMG ways to deem it offensive. Religion seems trivial compared to all the rest.

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