This semester I am taking a course in the Education Department called Censorship in Children and Young Adult Literature and I absolutely love it. It combines my two academic interests English and Education. It also brings in the theme of controversial texts and censorship in schools and libraries which is, while extremely frustrating to learn about, incredibly interesting. While we have to read a lot of material for the class, a handful of the books we read and/or discuss in class are books that I have read during my childhood and adolescent years. One of those books is Looking for Alaska by John Green.
In middle school, I was friends with the book nerds; the people who read on Friday night, get into heated debates regarding Peta vs. Gale and even had a book fandom Instagram. But unlike a lot of my friends, I didn’t care too much about magical characters or dystopian universes. I just wanted to read about people being people; and more specifically, people my age. But when I was in seventh grade I discovered John Green books and my world completely changed. Green was able to create a story with characters with that teenagers could feel a connection, with while also not diminishing the intellect of those same teenagers. I, myself, would roll my eyes when watching or reading Twilight or Teen Wolf it felt like that since they knew their primary audience was teenage girls they didn’t need to try as hard. It felt like the people who go into creating those shows diminish the intelligence, maturity, and investment of teenagers. Meanwhile, Green utilizes metaphors, symbolism, eloquent language, and emotionally intellectual themes. He also does not stray away from the realities and touches of sarcasm of being a teenager within his novels, making them quite relatable. Discovering and reading John Green early in my adolescent years stimulated me tremendously both emotionally and intellectually as it really allowed me to understand some emotions that came with being a teenager and delve into challenging reading material.
At the time, I saw John Green as some sort of literary genius. Now, I have probably read some authors that might have stolen the cake from him on that one. But I do still think he is a literary genius of sorts. As previously said, John Green utilizes all of these literary devices in his books while still managing to keep an engaging plot for young readers. He has confidence that his teenage readers are smart and deserve well-written books. It is incredibly interesting to learn about his engagement with young readers in this regard because I am now understanding my own experiences as a thirteen-year-old. I did not have the words to express why I loved his books so much, other than that I just did. But now I realized it is because he captured my attention while still making me feel smart.
