Young Adults Books - Case Study Example

Order 282763 Topic: Young adults’ books Introduction: The books discussed are Shattered, The Fallen and The Bully. The youth become directionless and destination less if at the young age, they are not guided properly. This guidance has to come from parents first and from the school next. If parents have their own personal problems and have made a mess of their lives, it adds to the misery of the life of children. The open society and the unrestricted love affairs, in the name of individual freedom, wreck the psyche of the young adults, when lovers become defeated lovers. When love is not tempered with faithfulness and sincerity, it is likely to run into serious difficulties. Social and economic problems make the situation still worse. Shattered: Shattered is one of the Bluford Series book, by Paul Langan. The story is weaved around the problems of teens in a predominantly black school. It is the same old problem that has confronted the younger generation through the Ages—it is between him and her! Darcy Wills is the prime character in the story. By dating a boy named Hakeem, who has a stuttering problem, she derives instant sympathy from the readers. But not for long! Hakeem leaves Bluford for a short break to Detroit and then returns. In the meantime, Darcy has knowledge that he has another girlfriend and she is kept in dark about this relationship. The love-transaction is not over. Darcy too has been seeing another boy, and he loved her so intensely and as the proof of his desperate love, made a daring attempt to rape her, but her Dad rescued her from the dastardly act well in time! Perhaps that was his only contribution for the welfare of the family, by the otherwise drunkard father. When Darcy’s parents have their own personal problems, what family ideals they can impart to the children? The story makes an interesting read for the adults for obvious reasons. They may see part of their own perverted aspects of personality in the story. If one tries to extract some moral from the story, it could be—don’t keep anything hiding from your intimate friends, especially the boyfriend. Don’t come to judgment about any individual unless you verify the facts. As for your parents, try not to interfere in their problems. Love them both, if possible. Soon, the compulsions of the circumstances will bring them together, and they will understand that it is in their own interest not to create fresh problems and solve the existing ones. The Fallen: How the parents can cope up with children like Martin Luna? How students like him can pay attention to studies, haunted with the killer instincts? What would be the lifestyle of the parents at home constantly worrying about the possible day to day scenes their ward is likely to commit at school and the possible consequences? Martin’s progress towards his academic doom is very quick. Within two weeks after his admission in the school, he is engaged in fights with other boys and is facing the expulsion proceedings. The superintendent of Bluford High School is convinced that Martin should be expelled. Martin’s mother got him admitted in this new school, after his younger brother was shot and killed. The expulsion proceedings in the school were too harsh for the mother to bear. Langan writes about her condition, “My mother, sits down, crosses her-self, and quietly wipes her eyes. She’s never backed down from anything, but this time I know she expects the worst. So do I.”(Langan, 2006, p, 3) The moral of the story is: How small issues create confusion among the young adults, and lead to disastrous consequences! Losing a son in the shooting incident is not an ordinary issue for the mother. Friends should not jeopardize their friendship by misunderstandings and blowing small issue out of proportion. One confusion leads to the next and Langan weaves the story like the suspense-thriller. How youngsters spend their energies and initiatives for causeless causes! The Bully: The title of the book is the dream title. Some students are the real bullies in the school, and every student, male or female, in a secret corner of the mind, wishes to be recognized as a bully in the school. A bully demands special attention in the school campus, for good or bad! The central character of the story is a 9th grader at Bluford, Darrell. How he looked like? “Darrell had always been short for his age. At fifteen years old, he was just under five feet. He was also skinny, without a respectable muscle in his small body. (Langan, 2002, p, 3) He finds a challenger, Tyray Hobbs, the freshman class bully. The question is whether to run away from the bully or to fight back. Bullying or being bullied is nothing new for the students. Each one of them has undergone the bitter experience. This book reveals the true worth of a bully- how it does not work sometimes, and how bullies can be successfully challenged! Some bullies are internally cowards! The life in California becomes difficult for Darrell; he finds it tough to face Tyray Hobbs. To avoid him, he finds alternative routes to the school and at the same time he is mentally and physically preparing to challenge him. He joins the wrestling team that makes his muscles stronger. They say, meet good with good and evil with justice. Darrel decides to stand up for himself. He will not take issues lying down, nor will he ignore them. He will no more tolerate humiliation. He has to prove his mettle in view of another interesting twist Langan has brought into the story. Both of them, the original bully Tyray and the bully-in-the-making due to compulsions of the circumstances Darrell love Amberynn Bailey, a beauty in the school. The other feud was Tyray demanded lunch money from Darrell. The theme of abuse is very well tackled by Langan in this story. Historical perspective-how does the author work may have influenced society or history. How history or society influenced the creation of the book and period of time it was written. Name any problem, and the young adult community has it. When it is said young adult community, reference is to student community in particular. Blacks or whites, in this internet age, the parents are enlightened enough, that their children must be properly educated. Parents and teachers are the dominating influences for the impressionable minds of young adults. Particularly in USA, uncomfortable issues often sprout as students engage in reader-response activities of history, and it is impossible to ignore many problems confronting today’s adolescents. Students do not wish to discuss their problems openly. A sexually abused student would not like to get the books from the library issued on such topics, because that will create suspicion in the minds of the teachers/fellow students. When Paul Langan authored books on the problems of young adults he had the impact of the past history of USA in his mind. How the blacks were discriminated, and the white dominated in all the areas like politics, education and even religion. The after- shocks of such discrimination affects the family life of even the affluent black families, they are unwilling to respect hard work, they feel that they have been exploited too much on that count, and look out for easy ways to earn money. The search for such short-cuts leads to impatience, intolerance, drug addiction, sex-oriented and other types of crimes. Langan has made the wise selection of young adult problems. So to say, there are no choices for an author who intends to write for this audience, but to deal with these subjects. The listing of problems indicates the negative tendencies that have engulfed the younger generation of the day and the total collapse of moral codes, in the name of individual freedom. The concept of social responsibility stands washed out. The problems confronting adolescents are: “abused children, adopted teens, AIDS, alcohol and drugs, alienation and identity, anorexia nervosa, children of divorce (or being raised by a single parent), children of poverty, death and dying, delinquency, handicapped youth, homosexuality, multicultural concerns/prejudice, stress and suicide, teenage pregnancy, and teenage sexuality.” (Using…..) Langan has chosen different problem situations and weaved the stories, and in each story, he has a value-based character that appeals to the emotions of the reader. That character has the principled approach and reveals the ethical standards. In his books you find intelligent weaving of the negative effects of slavery to the contemporary problems faced by African Americans. The important issues are youth violence (on flimsy grounds), juvenile delinquency, low achievement motivation and family instability. Paul Langan was born in 1972 in Philadelphia. He spent his early child hood there, before moving to New Jersey. Bluford Series is collection adult novels. They are fifteen in number and the focus on the lives of high schools students and their families. The stories are in set in contemporary urban America. Their explanations relate to the present context. They discuss family, trust, friendship, violence, isolation and peer pressure etc. The books cater to the need of every individual, and the literary genres range from suspense, romance, mystery, and a touch of fantasy. The reading level is between 5th and 6th grade. The topics selected by the author are relevant to student’s real-life experiences and this arrests the attention of the student-readers. The reading serves the twin purposes—value and pleasure! Discuss the benefit and use of the book in a classroom or audience (author point of view) what are they trying to get across. African-Americans are the prime characters in every story. The diversity seen in many of the present-day urban schools is reflected through the characters. What in reality happens in the class is shown in the plots of the stories. The stories reflect the real-life experiences of the students. Male and female protagonists and their interaction make the stories interesting. Research-oriented gender equality has been deliberately maintained in the stories to make both the genders happy. Both sexes, therefore, find the contents appealing. Six books of the series have female protagonists and seven male! What happens to a book or a series of books when the students, both male and female support and the teachers also join the chorus? The impact will be stupendous! This has happened with the Bluford Series, and the result is a comprehensive Teacher’s Guidebook created by and for the teachers. This indicates the strength and popularity of the stories. The guidebook’s presence can be seen in learning centers, school libraries and classrooms. The educators are excited about these books. The books have created reading enjoyment with the urban children, a noteworthy achievement in this internet age, when the children mostly remained glued to the TV screens. In the American schools, children are discussing the stories and they swap books. This shows their deep interest. The series have made a huge difference in the reading habit of the students. It is a rare thing to see that the interest of the students stands kindled, to a degree rarely seen in recent times. The stories have mesmerized them. The students engage in animated discussion about the plots of the books and characters. Apart from the popular opinions of the lay-students, the experts vouchsafe for the quality and popularity of the books. They opine that anyone interested in contemporary urban fiction, will find the treasure in Bluford Series, featuring African American high school students. Male and female teen readers have the stuff that actually belongs to their experiences. The tender feelings of the budding romance, how children have to cope up with the marital conflicts of their parents, the cravings of social popularity and the ways and means to achieve it, the male violence and stray cases of female retaliation in appropriate measures, the fighting spirits that develops amongst the teens due to disappointment and disillusion in relationships are explained beautifully. The emotions relating to teen romance are as volatile as trading in the volatile share market, were nothing can be predicted. The school life for the teens is like participation in a first grade drama, with all its thrills, cruelties, opportunities, losses, injustices and gains! One mostly builds and breaks one’s life here. Foundations for many permanent relationships are also laid here! Develop 3 questions with answer related to the author. 1. What are the special parameters that you appreciate in the writings of Paul Langan? Langan has rare sociological and psychological insights. The characters act true to the demands of the situation. His characters are value-based and fight for principles. With this approach, he touches the emotional chord of the reader. He weaves the negative effects of slavery to the present-day problems faced by African Americans. He doesn’t miss the smallest details regarding working of the young minds in love. In the story “Shattered” he tries to understand the goings on in the mind of Darcy and how intensely she cares for her looks when she prepares to meet her boyfriend, Hakeem. “Darcy listened as Tarah started hollering at Cooper. She put the phone down to inspect her face again, paying special attention to a tiny pimple just above her right eyebrow.” “Why does it have to be there now, she thought dabbing it with a bit of cover-up? She’d already covered it once, but she wanted to make sure it was invisible to Hakeem.”(Langan, 2006, p, 2) 2. Where do you think that Langan got inspiring and interesting topics for his stories? Perhaps writing skill and talent is inborn with Langer. Some authors are born and some are made. Langan seems to be the combination of both! He changed jobs several times, and those jobs seemingly had no relation with each other. He was born in Philadelphia, where he spent his early childhood and then moved with his single mother to southern New Jersey. His jobs included a salesperson at a shoe store, a horse ranch attendant, landscaper at a mental hospital, in a warehouse as a night-shift stockperson. In 1991, he joined Camden County College and then to La Salle University to study creative writing and literature. He did B.A. in English, interacted with international students. All these experiences shaped into an interesting author. His stories reflect the trails and tribulations of his own life. 3. What are the sterling achievements of Langan in the field of literature? After quickly changing small-time jobs, Langan joined Townsend Press as an Assistant Editor. His contribution to TP books is noteworthy and at the same time he taught English at a community College. The head start to his literary career came when he began to take active interest in creative writing with Bluford Series. Initially he joined as an assistant and rose to become the editor and the series author. In 2001, he took Master’s degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. ============ Works Cited: Langan, Paul ;Book: The Shattered. (Bluford Series, Number 12) Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: Townsend Press (June 15, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 1591940699 Langan, Paul: Book: The Fallen (Bluford Series, Number 11) Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Townsend Press (June 15, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 1591940664 ISBN-13: 978-1591940661 Langan, Paul: Book: The Bully (Bluford High Series #5) Paperback: 190 pages Publisher: Townsend Press (January 7, 2002) Language: English ISBN-10: 0944210007 ISBN-13: 978-0944210000 Using Young Adult Problem Fiction and Non-Fiction . . . 1 Nov 2005 Retrieved on March 22, 2009 Read More