An update from the front lines of misery writing

I am not a keen enthusiast for the general prevelance of dark writing for children, particularly problem novels for Young Adults (YA). I strongly feel that there is a much more positive spin that can be put on life without being too Pollyannish and that there is benefit to "always look on the bright side of life." Much of this misery writing is done under the banner of being real, reflecting the world in which children are growing up. This is at best a fictional flag of convenience. While there are many challenges facing children, the world is incomparably better for almost all children than it was even only twenty-five or fifty years ago. Finally I cannot escape the perhaps too judgmental sense that a disproportionate number of these authors are not really writing for the entertainment or edification of children but are seeking in some ways to draw attention to their own self-perceived struggles - that they have never escaped self-regarding teendom into resonsible adulthood and are forever miserable YA wannabees.

Was that too harsh?

Anyway, here is Julie Just's essay in the April 4, 2010 New York Times, reporting on the latest developments in misery writing; The Parent Problem in Young Adult Lit.