For the entire month of April, we'll be participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Our theme for the month? CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS IN YA. Check out the link above for other awesome blogs participating.
 |
| Taken from www.ryan-patrick.com |
Imagine a world where the jocks and cheerleaders rule the school. Where quiet loners are shoved into lockers at every turn. Where the rank in popularity is apparent by the seating arrangements in the cafeteria.
You say this world doesn't exist anymore? I say you're right...kind of.
No, the cliches from the eighties don't exist anymore, and I think that the new 21 Jumpstreet movie does a fantastic job of proving this. It isn't so cool to be--well, cool. The students that go against the grain are in now--the ones that love the environment and want to do well in school.
But only in some areas.
I've worked in public schools for six years, and let me tell you, you can walk into a classroom and notice which students are popular and which are not. It's not always apparent. The popular kids aren't wearing letter jackets, and the outcasts aren't in trench coats or eyeglasses. But that divide is there--it's just more subtle.
Here are some YA novels that take a look at cliques:
- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
- The Clique by Lisi Harrison
- Popular by Alissa Grosso
- Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison
- How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
4 comments:
I think teens have moved somewhat away from these cliches, at least that's what I saw when I was teaching junior and senior high. I think that's why I feel irked when I read books that deal in stereotypes and cliches. It feels cardboard and inauthentic, and who wants to read that? Unless of course it's all tongue in cheek. I'm sitting here trying to think of a book that deals with cliques, and my mind is completely blanking. It'll come to me later, I'm sure. :) Great Y post, ladies!
I think part of this was me going to a really huge school and now teaching at a really huge school, but I never saw those typical cliches of popular kids and outcasts. There have always been so many kids that even the "outcast" kids had a huge group to hang out with. No one was totally ALONE.
And I always feel like it's just lazy when the cheerleaders are the mean girls. I seriously cringe when I see that. I wasn't even a cheerleader, but UGH. It bugs me so much.
Cliques do exist, except not as exaggerated. At my school, the football players, band kids, cheerleaders, they are all friends with each other and those clique lines are blurred. But that may not be the case at every school.
awesome point of view about cliches and its consequences!
Post a Comment