Here we go again. In a fairly rambling article written by Katie Crouch and Grady Hendrix (co-authors of The Magnolia League) that appeared on slate.com this morning, another round of generalizations and ridicule has begun. What is absolutely baffling is that the people casting these aspersions are, themselves, writers of a YA series. This does not compute. From the beginning, the article left me with a continuously raised eyebrow as I tried to make sense of the somewhat incoherent rambling that took place. Then, the insulting of my and my fellow readers' intelligence and the writings of the authors we read began.
It's news to me that I don't care about rumination. I suppose the two days I spent thinking about all of the nuances of Maggie Stiefvater's latest novel were a hallucination. I suppose my appreciation for a well-constructed sentence is all in my imagination, as well. What I don't understand is why these two writers thought it would be a good idea to ridicule and insult their readership along with their fellow authors. If they feel themselves to be so superior to YA writing, why do they do it? Why is likening a writer of YA literature to a pedophile A-OK to these people? If they had hoped to come across as tongue-in-cheek, they failed miserably. All they have succeeded in doing is denigrating the readership that includes the readers of their own books. I am just thankful that I hadn't read The Magnolia League yet. I would have hated to have written a review for them only to regret it later.
It seems to me that perhaps they have shed a light on their own writing habits. It is just unfortunate that they thought to drag down their fellow YA authors along with them. Fortunately, authors and readers alike were not content to take their nonsense lying down and made their displeasure known. Crouch and Hendrix summed up my reception of this article very well with their own words: "Of course, we know that eventually they'll turn on us." Indeed. Self-fulfilling prophecy, anyone?
