by Florencia Villaverde
Teenagers are often reluctant to read certain kind of stories, especially those which had nothing in common with their own lives. On the other hand, they enjoy reading stories that deal with real life events that are related to their own experiences. Young Adult Literature offers teenagers between the ages of 12 and 20 a wide range of stories that contain several characteristics that make them appealing to teenagers. The content of Young Adult stories usually deal with contemporary issues and the language and plot of these stories are similar to what teenagers are accustomed to find in everyday life. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the story Amber, which is a Texas ghost story excerpted from “Spooky Texas” and retold by S.E. Schlosse, and to compare its features with the ones included in the definition of Young Adult Literature coined by Small, so as to prove that this story does contain all the characteristics mentioned by Small and can be used to attract teenage readers.
According to Small, there are certain characteristics that are specific to YAL. Some of them are that the main character is a teenager, the events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers, the main character is the center of the plot, dialogues in the story reflect teenage speech, the point of view presents an adolescent´s interpretation of events and people, the teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature, and independent, the novel or story is relatively short and the actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict.
The story Amber tells the experiences of four teenagers who decide to play with the Ouija board at night. They start playing and make contact with a little girl who asks for help. They try to help her but it is worthwhile. This story can be considered as a case of YAL because it contains all the characteristics listed by Small.
As regards the characters in the story, we can infer that they are teenagers because the plot of the story deals with the Ouija game which is usually related to teenagers. Teenagers often feel attracted to this kind of games because they are risky.
Moreover, the point of view of the story presents an adolescent´s interpretation of events and people as the narrator is a teenager who included herself in the story.
“Mary waited until midnight to begin our little game, and the four of us—Sarah, Jessie, me, and, Mary, started by asking all kinds of silly questions.”
Besides, the characters are perceptive, mature, independent and sensitive. We can realize this in the following excerpt of the story:
“Call 9-1-1,” Mary cried suddenly. “Quick. Amber is in danger.”
The characters in the story show a mature behavior as they insist in calling the 911 urgently to help the little girl. They also show that they are sensitive as they worry about her.
What is more, the actions and decisions of the main characters are essential in the outcome of the story as the four teenagers decide to play a dangerous game and do not take into consideration the consequences.
Besides, the story is really short, just a page and a half. It is one of the characteristics pointed by Small as relevant to Young Adult Literature because teenagers prefer reading short stories or novels.
Taking into account everything, we can say that Amber is a case of YAL since it contains the characteristics listed by Small. These characteristics make Amber a good option to be presented to reluctant teenage readers because they will feel represented in the story and will enjoy reading it.
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