What's the problem with problem novels?

On Diversity Roll Call Susan asks about "problem novels"--books, particularly in Young Adult lit, which focus on one particular social issue.

When you think about it, every novel is a "problem novel" in some form--after all, conflict is the cog that moves a plot along, and the definition of conflict is some sort of problem, right? Robinson Crusoe's problem is survival after a shipwreck; Hamlet and David Copperfield both have enough family problems to keep Jerry Springer busy for a week.

But when the problem or the character confronting it is one-dimensional, it doesn't make for an compelling story. A character who's defining characteristic is bulimia or a drug habit isn't interesting. Add a plot that revolves around MC-has-problem/gets-help/the-end, and you've got a novel whose sole attraction is the sort of rubber-necking that Jerry Springer relies on.

But books can have a social issue at their core, and also have literary merit beyond addressing a particular topic. Nick Hornby's Slam, for example, deals with teen pregnancy, from a guy's perspective--adding Hornby's signature style to the YA shelf for the first time. I'm always impressed with Hornby's ability to offer lighthearted entertainment that also takes a deeper look at life.

Speaking of which, Hornby's A Long Way Down isn't a YA novel, but with its focus on suicide, it could be pegged as a Problem Novel. It also manages to be among his funniest and most heartwarming novels. Four people meet on a rooftop on New Year's Eve, each with the intent to commit suicide--a situation which proves to be exceedingly awkward for all of them, and which bonds them in unexpected and far-reaching ways.


Another pair of books that focus on social issues in a three-dimensional way are the memoirs Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, and Tweak by Nic Sheff. Tweak offers the point of view of a young man in recovery from addiction to meth, and Beautiful Boy is his father's perspective. To read the two of them, one after the other, is a powerful experience for adults or older teens.


One thing I've never found is a novel that deals with anorexia without being a one-dimensional problem-focused novel. Does anyone know of one? What do you think about "Problem Novels" in general?

This post was written as part of the C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll call, which is running until tomorrow on Color Online, and there's even a prize involved this week! The next assignment will be posted early next week right here on Worducopia.

Sunday Salon: Pickiest Reader Award

I seem to be running for the Pickiest Reader Ever prize these days. I've started and set aside five or six books in the past couple of weeks. None of them were bad books--in fact, some were books by authors I've loved in the past. But none of them grabbed me. It was starting to feel like a series of failed first dates.

So it's with great relief that I tell you that I'm on page 89 of my current read and not tired of it yet. I picked up Leif Enger's 2008 book, So Brave, Young, and Handsome because I loved his Peace Like a River. He has a way with the characters, and the adventure-nobody-in-their-right-mind-would-go-on, in which anything could happen next. Also, there's an endearing snapping turtle which I'm hoping won't get eaten.

Have you ever worried you'd gotten too picky about books?

I think I need to go for some good, solid nonfiction after this one. Maybe something about turtles.

Questions of the Day

As we all know, in the digital age blogs are becoming increasingly important sources of information. The majority of my traffic comes from people with questions about books I read a long time ago. I was told in school that there are no stupid questions, so I thought I'd do my part to encourage the education of the blogosphere, by providing some answers.

Q: What is the Eve Brown-Waite / malaria connection?
A: Believe it or not, Eve Browne-Waite titled her memoir First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria, because she fell in love, and then she got malaria! So that would be the connection.

Q: graphic novel literary fiction's halfwit cousin?
A: I beg your pardon? I should say not!

Q: husband wears my clothes
A: Are we talking the extra-large t-shirt you won in that raffle at work? Or the cute little nightie you save for special occasions? In the former case I recommend a book such as Esquire's Handbook of Style, or perhaps Knitting With Balls. In the latter case, I recommend marriage counseling.

Q: Was Phyllis Reynolds Naylor well liked by everyone?
A: No. Nobody is well-liked by everyone. My son sure liked Cricket Man, though.

Q: Which Chris Moore book should i read first?
A: I read Lamb first and loved it, but loved Fluke more. So definitely don't read Fluke first, because none of his others will measure up. Of course, this is only true if you have the exact same reading tastes as I do.

Q: does Will get a girlfriend in any Ranger's Apprentice?
A: Yes.

Q: Is Ranger's Apprentice realistic fiction?
A: No, it's fantasy. But the first couple of books are a lot more fantasy-like, and the rest of the series is more like historical fiction in an alternate universe.

Q: What is ten thangs about the book Skate by Michael Harmon?
A:
1. It is called Skate
2. It be about a boy named Ian
3. Who do like to skateboard
4. It's wrote by Michael Harmon
5. Who spells "thing" with an i
6. Ian done ran away
7. With his lil brother Sammy
8. Which he adores
9. Running away ain't his best ever idea
10. Read that there book 'n' find out why.

I said there are no stupid questions, but that doesn't mean there can't be stupid answers.

The Sunday Salon: Wordstock

I spent most of Saturday at the Wordstock Festival, which dubs itself an annual festival of books, writers, and storytelling. Quick rundown of my day's one of the highlights (there would be more, but then it wouldn't be Sunday anymore):

Michael Rosen, author of I-gotta-read-this memoir, What Else But Home, the story of how an upper-middle class Jewish family of four in Manhattan came to befriend--and eventually to take into their family--five boys of different races and ethnic backgrounds. Mr. Rosen gave a moving and hilarious reading of a scene where he and his wife decided to go out for Chinese food with the seven boys in tow, some of whom had never experienced a restaurant before. Later, he talked more in depth about the complicated process of honoring Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant beliefs equally within one family, and the responses of other people to their large, multi-colored family. I heard one excerpt and feel like I know these guys. Can not wait to read this.

Faloorie Man--Eugene McEldowney (book review)

Eugene McEldowney's Faloorie Man has been out for ten years, but Gemma Media brought it to the U.S. in 2009. This charming semi-autobiographical novel is the coming-of-age story of a Catholic boy growing up in Belfast in the post-World War 2 era. Here's one of my favorite moments, when young Martin McBride decides, for the first time in his life, to go and have a look at the Protestant Taylor boys, who are rumored to live nearby. Martin's never seen a Protestant before, and he's in for a shock.

I didn't know what to expect, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they had horns on their heads. I remembered what Sarah had told me about the Titanic and the way the Orangemen had cursed the Pope and how God had let the sea drown them. It seemed to me that these Taylors would be bad pills altogether.

We finally tracked them to the waste ground at Butler Street. There were two of them and they were kicking a football around. They looked exactly the same as us. They had the same scuffed shoes and snotty noses and torn cardigans. There were no obvious signs that they were Protestants. I was disappointed. We took a good look at them and then got on our bikes and went home.

Such a simple scene, and yet, it says so much. This is McEldowney's strength. Scenes such as this leave a stronger impact than the more dramatic plot developments later in the novel.

The Soundtrack: Oh, how I wanted to find the song the book's title is taken from! I couldn't find it online. But the narrative is full of music, including the lyrics to Boolavogue. The narrator recalls his teacher, Brother Delargey, teaching the class rebel songs, "which he said the English had tried to suppress, but they lived on in the hearts of the people because the Irish were indomitable and would never be put down."

The stalking ends now. Or, rather, tomorrow.

I have a small crowd following me around. They've spent most of the time lurking on extra chairs in the dining room, and hanging out near my unread books in the den. Lately they've taken to riding around town in my car. They're perfectly friendly most of the time, but after months--months!--of tolerating the pitiful pleas of some ("Aren't you going to mention me to your friends? Ever???") and the demanding tones of others ("Hey, I got here first, you gotta talk about me first!" and "Whadya mean, you got nuttin' to say about me? You said you loved me!"), I've considered requesting a restraining order.

So as not to tax the judicial system, I've decided to go with the alternative: mini-reviews that probably don't do the books justice. I have one almost finished--in fact I was going to post it this afternoon--but the sunshine calls, my boys are itching to go to a skatepark, and my computer is in a bit of a snit today, so I'll let it take a rest and go read at the skatepark for a while.

This post may hold the world record for highest ratio of anthropomorphized inanimate objects to word count. Will let you know if Guinness calls. The world record people, that is. Not the stout.

Was it something I said?

I asked Weekly Geekers to look at diversity in the blogs they read, and . . .

Wait, what was that?

Was that a pin I heard?

I do believe it was a teeny, tiny pin, dropping on the floor of the blogosphere!

Yes, it was a quiet week over at the Weekly Geeks headquarters. And I've been mulling over the many possible reasons for that, none of which are exactly giving me the warm fuzzies I'd hoped for.

But, it's time for me to do my part and write about some diverse bloggers. I'm not doing anything fancy here. I picked two bloggers who are different from me: Rich Watson, and C. Jane.

Rich Watson's Glyphs focuses on the black comics community. Given that I'm a white woman who reads just the occasional graphic novel, you might think that I'd find myself without the foggiest notion of what Rich is talking about some of the time, and you'd be right. But at Rich's first response to the Diversity Roll Call, I felt at home with him. Rich and I could be considered opposites in many ways, but in the ways that matter, we have much in common.

Next up: C. Jane blogs about her life as a young wife and mother, and a devout Latter-Day Saint. After her sister was devastatingly injured in a plane accident, C. Jane, brand new mother of her first baby, took in three of her sister's four young kids. That's a boatload of extra kids for a new mommy to take in. Thinking back to my early days of motherhood, I believe that this was insanity personified and at the same time, that it's the exact same thing I would do for my own sister. C. Jane and I are at opposite ends of the religious spectrum, and yet, beneath that is a fundamental sameness that keeps me reading.

And this was the point of my original question. Because I truly believe we're all connected, and that those surface differences are insignificant compared to the humanity at our core. If we limit ourselves to only those people who share the surface similarities with ourselves--if we skim a blog and don't return because that person Isn't Like Us--we're missing an opportunity to see that. But, if we gloss over the ways in which we're different, claiming that they don't matter or that we don't notice, then we're also missing an opportunity. Because others are living different lives and seeing the world from a different viewpoint from our own, and noticing those differences leads to a greater understanding of our world.

'K, I'll get off my soapbox now.

C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll Call questions are answered over the course of two weeks instead of one. So, if you missed that opportunity last week, another week stretches ahead of us and there is still time.