Are young adult books becoming too dark?

I remember when I first read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson a few years back and it left me reflecting on a lot of things. There have been times where I wasn't able to find my own voice because of the situations I was put into. I felt a sense of guilt in those situations even though it wasn't necessarily my fault. After reading the book Speak, I felt like I related to the character in a way because she was alienated and neglected by the people who were important in her life. In the end, she was able to find her voice and speak out and tell her story. In Alexie Sherman article "Why The Best Kids Book are Written in Blood", he talked about how he had visited dozens of high schools with students that have suffered from a lot things such as attempted suicide, sexual and physical abuse, depression, and poverty (1). His book "The absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" had inspired many of those students to speak out and tell him their stories. In Meghan Cox Gurdon article "Darkness is Too visible" she believes that young adult literature has "distorted portrayals (2)" She says that libraries in the young adult section are filling up with stories to gruesome for young adults. That books about violence and darkness are become too available. Gurdon states, "No family is obliged to acquiesce when publishers use the vehicle of fundamental free-expression principles to try to bulldoze coarseness or misery into their children's lives (4)." It is true that not everyone shares the same objective, however, it's all about free choice.

If a child decided to pick a book about suicide or rape, then it's their choice to put the book down or continue to read it. It is up to the parent to have these discussions with their child. If we begin to censor books, then how will that child learn about what's happening around them. In Sherman's article he states," there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read because they live in an often-terrible world. They read because they believe, despite the callow protestations of certain adults, that books-especially the dark and dangerous ones-will save them (4)." Everyone reads a book for a different reasons. The world is full of dangerous things and not everything in the book section can be rainbows and sunshine because we don't live in a perfect world. There are people who haven't experienced certain things but reading about them opens their eyes to the world around them. They learn to feel empathy for people who go through these life struggles. Then there are people who connect with the story and relate to characters and feel like they aren't alone. The purpose of literature is to make us think about the world and the issues surrounding it. Books are meant to leave us reflecting regardless of genre. 

The viewpoint I side with is Sherman Alexie. One of the main things he said that stood out to me the most was when he stated, "and now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that (4)." I've experienced a lot of things in my childhood and teenage years. When I read books that connect to my experience, I feel like there's someone out there that understands. When Sherman says that he doesn't write to protect teens because it's far too late for that, I felt like I understood what he was really saying. We live in a world where we can't change every bad things that goes on. We can stop the inevitable because we're not all heroes. However, reading about them gives us a sense of understand.