I’ve been thinking a lot about being an outsider as a teen and embracing identity in preparation for a panel I’m on this coming Saturday at NCTE in Chicago.
What I find, after a ton of research on developmental stages (thank you Erik Erickson for identifying the stage of adolescent development), is that most teens, to gain independence, need to break away from what they know through their families and try on new personas and ideas in order to find out who they really are. So, just as I did as a bookish and somewhat disconnected teen, and just as Janis Joplin did as a teen who didn’t fit into the popular groups, each teen seems to go through a stage as an outsider.
But the journey from being an outsider and finally connecting to oneself by embracing a mature identity, has led me to explore a variety of topics that fit within outsiderness and connectedness. I believe these are valuable resources for all middle and high school classrooms. I include my notes and book lists here for Pirate Tree readers:
From Ellen Hopkins; poem “Losing It”
….Am I really
the way
I perceive myself, or
is the person others see
the truth of me?
Embracing Identity:
With Young adults, I see the biggest issues of embracing identity to be those of outsiderness. Outsiderness can be felt when a teen is exploring sexuality and alternative lifestyles. It is observed in those who find themselves economically marginalized, in people with physical and emotional differences, artists, adolescents discovering their cultural differences, teens in war, and people who have been bullied and those who bully. While some level of outsiderness might be experienced by all teens who find themselves in a world in which they’re hyper-critical of themselves and others. Books that portray flawed heroes facing that outsiderness, both nonfiction and fiction, serve to help teens understand the flaws within their world and to understand their own strengths despite personal flaws.
Judith L. Irvin author of Reading and the Middle School Student: Strategies to Enhance Literacy, explains: “The onset of cognitive thinking triggers a host of emotional tasks to be completed, not the least of which is the development of a positive self esteem and some degree of autonomy from their parents.”
Books can help teens explore how they can rise up and become the heroes in their own lives – flaws and all.
That’s why I edited the short story collection, Such a Pretty Face, a collection that was anything but pretty in the way it engaged readers in stories of teens who don’t measure up to our culture’s standards of beauty, teens who must redefine beauty in order to find their place in the world. That anthology included funny stories of hirsute teens and a girl with a Rapunzelike chin hair; it included dramatic stories that showed the consequences of outsiderness and disconnectedness that is so powerful it leads to attempted suicide; it included the story entitled “Farang,” a story of a young blond girl who, in her foreignness as a student in Asia discovers that, while she covets the tiny bodies and almond complexions of her Asian counterparts, the Asian teens are bleaching their skin. Farang which means foreigner, becomes for this character the symbol of how none of us measures up.
But this outsiderness is also why I wrote Janis Joplin Rise Up Singing, tackling the nonfiction story of a young girl who was too plump and loud and acne-prone to be considered popular by Southern standards. She was an artistic and free-spirited girl who, explored the sixties world of free love, drugs and rock and roll. She found herself in painting and then in music, becoming the First Queen of Rock and Roll. She almost saved herself because of her powerful voice. But, as gifted as she was, this talented rock star discovered that she only really felt alive on stage. She craved love. Despite friends who tried to help her straighten out, despite her own efforts to do so, Janis’s vulnerability, her deep need to be loved, led to her demise. There’s a cautionary tale here even as Janis stands as a flawed hero.
Outsiderness is an issue of not feeling good enough, of not fitting in, of recognizing we’re different and possibly becoming disconnected by those differences. Books can help teens explore that disconnect and give them ideas for reconnecting or at least surviving.
But the drama of a major disconnect isn’t the only reason I’m drawn to young adult novels and I’ve chosen to write about these topics. Disconnection isn’t why I agreed to become part of The Pirate Tree blog, a blog on social justice issues. I write about outsiders and being outside in order to connect. I want outsiders to recognize it’s okay to be outside, they don’t have to be part of the popular group and, if they find they’re aren’t, this is an opportunity to explore their hearts and art and talents. They can embrace their unique identities.
The issue of embracing identity is one that I believe most teens tackle on some level and, while that informs my own writing so that recently, I have written a novel about chastity vows and a novel about violence in schools and is leading me, now, to research a book on human trafficking for teens so that they can be the advocates for their peers, it is also an issue that most novels and nonfiction books tackle on some level.
In writing an eihgth grade unit on identity, Sarah Douglas, wrote of the value to adolescents of books that reflect upon differences in her essay Coming of Age and Constructing Identity, with Jacqueline Woodson:
She said, “In her novels, Woodson writes about a broad range of human beings; she writes about girls and boys, black and white and multiracial, only children and siblings, kids with both parents, kids with single parents, kids with divorced parents, Jewish and Christian, straight and gay, bullies and victims, privileged and poor. Rarely have I seen another young adult author that is as inclusive as Woodson; students of all kinds are bound to relate to her range of characters in one way or another, and see themselves reflected in the literature they are reading. She concludes that “Psychologically, it is very important for all students to see a broad range of characters reflected in the literature they read. It is in the books they choose that all students are able to recognize “the diversity that defines this society, learn to respect it, and see it in a positive light.” Woodson, who has written so many award winning books, acknowledges that she often writes about the confusion of adolescents. Her work includes themes of race, religion, sexuality, and the perplexing coming of age journey that all adolescents make to arrive inside their own skin, to uncover their individual identities.
Still, there are some favorite recent books I want to mention because they spoke most eloquently about these issues and have had an impact on me as a writer and reader:
Fiction:
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.
Asher, Jay. Thirteen Reasons Why. Razorbill, 2011.
Brezenoff, Steve. Brooklyn Burning. Carolrhoda, 2011.
De La Pena, Matt. We Were Here, Ember 2010.
Hopkins, Ellen. Tricks. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011.
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010.
Knowles, Jo. Jumping Off Swings. Candlewick 2011.
Lessons from a Dead Girl. Candlewick, 2009.
Lynch, Chris. Angry Young Man. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011.
Myracle, Lauren. Shine. Abrams/Amulet Books for Young Readers, 2011.
Peters, Julia Ann. Luna. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006.
Powers, JL. This Thing Called the Future. Cinco Punto Press, 2011.
Whittlinger, Ellen. Parrotfish. Simon & Schuster Books for Young People, 2011.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Feathers, Speak, reprint edition, 2011.
Hush. Recorded Books, 2011.
Locomotion, Speak, Reprint edition, 2010.
Miracle’s Boys, Speak, Reprint edition, 2010.
Zarr, Sara. Story of a Girl. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.
Nonfiction:
Gantos, Jack. A Hole in My Life. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2004.
Golio, Gary. Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow. Clarion, 2010.
Partridge, Elizabeth. John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth. Viking, 2005.
Nonfiction Books on adolescent identity:
Alsup, Janet. Young Adult Literature and Adolescent Identity Across Cultures and Classroom: Contexts for the Literary Lives of Teens. Routledge, 2010.
Irvin, Judith L. Reading and the Middle School Student: Strategies to Enhance Literacy. Allyn & Bacon, 1997.
Silvey, Anita. Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Children’s Books. Roaring Brook Press, 2009.
The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators. Mariner Books, 2002.
Wolf, Shelby, et al. Handbook of Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Routledge, 2010.
Great Links to more Books:
http://www.alexsanchez.com/gay_teen_books.htm
http://youngadultbookreviews.com/
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/
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