This week's reading, M.T. Anderson's The Feed, is quite a leap forward from our other readings and thankfully so. We generally find ourselves seeing children's literature as only fairy tales, picture books, and sweet, simple novels. The Feed, which is more of a young adult sci fi book, breaks the traditional image.
Obviously, we wouldn't read it to our five year old, but young adult fiction needs to have it's place in literature as well. Possibly the best part of this book is the fact that it forces teenagers to look into difficult and even very plausible questions that we face in society every day. There is the constant bombardment of advertising, even though it is not as extreme as the world in the book, we all face it every day. Teenagers need to learn early on how to fight the conformity that advertising tries to force on us and this book helps push that lesson. Teenagers are facing questions of their lifestyle choices and the culture around them.
And is that not what literature should be doing? While yes, we all enjoy our guilty pleasure readings that are just for fun and aren't cause for much thought. It's good to know that not all young adult books are fluff. It's important to start learning to question early on, especially during an impressionable time such as one's teenage years.
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