Happy Valentine’s Day! Or single awareness day if you don’t have a special someone.
Romeo and Juliet, the original dysfunctional teen relationship.
I was planning to do an update today about unhealthy relationships in YA fiction, but I think that topic has been pretty well covered by other blogs out there. Yes, there are some rather stalker-ish and verbally/emotionally abusive relationships out there in YA fiction that are being treated as normal and this a problem. However, it doesn’t have to be the norm. In fact, it really shouldn’t be, so since today is Valentine’s Day, I’m going talk about YA fiction that does relationships right.
Being a reader and writer of primarily fantasy, I’m going to start this off with Alanna and Prince Jonathan from the Lioness Rampant series by Tamora Pierce. I picked them not only because I love books by Tamora Pierce, but because over the course of the 4 books we see these two form a friendship, which blossoms into love, and then the relationship runs its course. Most first loves do not stay your first love forever. Very few teen romances last at all. In that respect, their relationship resembles a real relationship. What I also like about it is that it is equal and respectful. Alanna is not stalking Jonathan or mean to him and vice versa. They care for each other without having to get mean or creepy, and when their relationship ends, they still manage to be friends. Continue reading →
I have found a flaw in my blog every day for 40 days plan: it requires the internet. In fact, it is very difficult to log in and post something when you don’t have the internet. Is it just me or when you make a plan to do something, does the universe always find a way to mess it up?