Zombies, aliens
and monsters are characters generally categorized as appealing for teenagers.
But do they really enjoy all the stories in which these creatures appear? In
fact, it is not like that. For parents, teachers and adults in general it is
difficult to find a suitable book for adolescents. In order to choose which the
appropriate stories for them are, we can consider as a reference the
characteristics introduced by Robert C. Small Jr. He is the head of Radford
University, and wrote about YAL in an article entitled “The Literary Value of
the Young Adult Novel” in 1992. The acronym YAL refers to literature written
specially for adolescents. Small grouped certain elements that should be
taken into account when classifying stories for teenagers.
As adults, we
should know that not all novels and books are appealing for adolescents. For
example, “The Visitor,” a short story written by Jack Ketchum, definitely does
not follow Small’s characteristics. In this short story, Will, the protagonist,
is an old man who is married to Beatrice. This woman is bitten by a zombie and
then she is hospitalized. Will starts to visit her wife and to tell her
memorable anecdotes about their past together.
As human beings,
we generally tend to identify ourselves with what we read. Teenagers might do it
in a higher degree because they are shaping their personality. For this reason,
they will probably not feel the desire of reading something they cannot
identify with. According to Small, the main character of the story is a
teenager who is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and
independent. The first controversy that “The Visitor” presents is that the main
character is an old man and not an adolescent. This is one of the reasons why
this story might not be appealing for young adults.
When selecting a
story we should take into account what Small says about the main character.
He/she is a teenager, and also the center of the plot. His/her dialogues
reflect teenager’s speech, including slang. In “The Visitor” there is only one
character who is an adolescent, but she does not speak. Also, Will, the
protagonist, shows difficulties to speak to this young adult. When he is at the
hospital, he observes her lying on a bed, and it is problematic for him to find
out the way of talking to her. He solves this problem reading a magazine for
her. This scene exemplifies the difficulties
Will faces when communicating with young adults and also the lack of teenager’s
participation. This is another reason why teenagers will probably not be
engaged when reading this story.
Taking into
account Hertz and Gallo’s proposal, the theme of a young adult novel or story
should be appealing for YA. It is important to mention that the central topic
of “The Visitor” is a zombie apocalypse. While reading this story, the author
describes that Will and his wife Beatrice have to face an unexpected problem
when the old woman is beaten by a zombie-friend in her collarbone. We could predict that this story will fulfill teenager’s
expectations. However, the sadness and nostalgia that the author transmits
deliciously, seems to change the target audience from teens to adults, focusing
on deeper emotions rather than on blood and innards.
In conclusion,
it is difficult for adults to find out if a story is meant for adolescents or
not. In order to identify this, we have to pay attention not only to the topics
and characters in the story, but also to the manner it is written. We can
consider that even though zombies appear in “The Visitor,” this fact does not
make it appealing for teenagers. For the reasons previously mentioned, this
story cannot be proposed as a case of YAL. Not all literary texts are addressed
for teens, but luckily we can follow the features that Small provided us with
to fulfill their needs and expectations.
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