Genres that Don't Exist

I don't believe in children's books. Or young adult fiction. I believe in everyone books. In creating a special section for children or young adults in our book stores, are we not limiting the books they are exposed to? What young adult will go to the barnes and noble Classics section when they can see across the way an array of candy colored books sporting images of hot guys and girls in mini dresses?

I'm not saying that books defined by that genre have no credibility, merely asking what makes it embarrassing if a not so young adult reads that same book? Teen Fiction is, in general, a genre written by grown ups who have forgotten. They don't remember how frustrating it was when they were teens, reading books about people who didn't resemble them at all, hardly resembled humans. This is in turn due to the forgetting; a dangerous spiral. The genre feeds on itself.

Oh, sure, there have been special books through the years, books labled as "transcending genres", but shouldn't all books be like that? What is wrong about adults reading children's books for their own enjoyment? Why would we read them to our kids if we did not believe them to contain some sort of intrinsic value? Similarly, why is it that at some point reading a book like

Gossip Girl or The Clique turns from being respectable into being a guilty pleasure? Those books, while enjoyable, shouldn't morph with the age of the reader. They are trashy no matter at when you read them.

So many times in my life have I heard the words "Isn't that a little mature for you, Phoebe? Aren't you too young for that?" NO, I always wanted to scream. No.

Just the other day I was talking to my brother's girlfriend about Jane Austen. "I was kind of a pretentious kid," says she, "I read all of Austen in Middle School." "Yeah." I answered, "I did too." Why is that pretentious? I was asking within myself. Because Jane Austen doesn't suck?

I believe in everyone books. When I was three and four I would sit quietly and listen to the chapter books my brothers and mother were reading aloud, all of us transfixed by the story. A story transcending generations, age devides, everything. Where do you find that story in the book store? I'll tell you where I would look. In the literature section. The sad thing is, though, I don't think that that is where I would find it.

Vampires, what's up with that?

I know it's been a while, well all right, a long while since my last post, which was also my first post, and I apologize.
This post may offend you. Just a warning.
But only if you like bad books.
Recently, I have been embareced in bookstores to even be seen in the section of books set aside for people of my age group, namely: the young adult section. Granted, some decent books remain, but I can't help longing for the days when The Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders and such like were the most popular "teen" fiction books around. And I didn't even exist in those days. Now you walk into the young adult section and this is what you see:

Now maybe I'm judging books by their covers, but...really? I think the main problem with these books is that they were written by people who have forgotten what it means to be young, thus they turn to how teenager-dom is presented in the media, which was in turn created by people who have forgotten what it feels like. Thus the genre feeds on itself. And possibly is creating, not abolishing, the lack of avid teen readers. But I could go on like this forever. It will have to be a different post. On to the subject of the post at hand:
The main perpetrator of this, and the one I take most issue with, is possibly the most famous: Twilight. I read Twilight, it was fun, it was fast, it was a guilty pleasure. But once you take it seriously, and start to look for symbolism and deeper meaning that's not there, and get offended when it's not someone's favorite book, you've taken it to far. Once you won't be happy unless you're boyfriend is Edward Cullen, it's too much. Girls, just a thought, but your boyfriends are probably going to want to do more than just watch you while you sleep. And, while vampires do have a certain "bad boy" appeal, I'd take Mr. Darcy and Heathcliff anyday.
Apart from the books prevailing disconnect with true teen life (the charactors are flat, the highschool doesn't exist, the romance is unbelievable), there is the problem of the way Bella can't exist when Edward's not around. Neither of them are individuals, they are basically codependant. That's not healthy. And when this dependence filters through the pages and into the readers, so that they can't exist without Edward, then that's become a problem. A disgusting, dehumanization, of thousands of preteen girls. They can't exist without a vampire lover. They need their vampire love to save them. If you absolutely have to read a book about obsessive love, why not read one that doesn't have the side effect of, when taken to far, turning you into an idiot? Read Wuthering Heights. At least that's well written.