Boskone Program
is here
Of those, the panel that interests me most is: YA Matters More
Expanding on a remark by Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld recently said: "The teen years are a time of irrevocable first experiences. Not just your first drink or sexual experience, but the first time you tell a significant lie, stand up to a bully, or betray a friend. The consequences of our actions are huge in those years-or at least feel that way-so it's not surprising that YA lit reflects that intensity. A fantasy where a protagonist has to save the world is fundamentally more believable to a teen. Adults don't think they can save the world anymore, and they rarely feel their setbacks as acutely." Discuss, with feeling.
Stuff I think about a lot--and I've seen discussions touch on here and other places--the intensity of first experience, and also the craving to matter, to be able to act and make a difference, and not get shouted down. I sometimes think that this is one of the biggest draws of YA, that we can indulge that craving, which we don't get in more adult works that remind of us of futility of action, or the humiliation of thinking one right and trying to act, to general scorn and backlash. We know life isn't simple--that there isn't an easy right and wrong--but sometimes it's so nice to relax into a story where the villains are clear--and the heroes have a chance of winning.
There are a bunch of other excellent panels, though the one where editors can crab about writers made me laugh. I didn't see one for writers to crab about editors. I see plenty of posts expressing frustration at being left twisting in the wind for years, no mail or calls answered, instant turnarounds expected after months of silence . . . the pain of seeing favored writers being sent flowers and feted at occasions when others can't even get their mail answered. But who would dare sit on a panel at a con and crab about being treated with indifference and even disrespect, because who wants to risk being blacklisted?
Of those, the panel that interests me most is: YA Matters More
Expanding on a remark by Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld recently said: "The teen years are a time of irrevocable first experiences. Not just your first drink or sexual experience, but the first time you tell a significant lie, stand up to a bully, or betray a friend. The consequences of our actions are huge in those years-or at least feel that way-so it's not surprising that YA lit reflects that intensity. A fantasy where a protagonist has to save the world is fundamentally more believable to a teen. Adults don't think they can save the world anymore, and they rarely feel their setbacks as acutely." Discuss, with feeling.
Stuff I think about a lot--and I've seen discussions touch on here and other places--the intensity of first experience, and also the craving to matter, to be able to act and make a difference, and not get shouted down. I sometimes think that this is one of the biggest draws of YA, that we can indulge that craving, which we don't get in more adult works that remind of us of futility of action, or the humiliation of thinking one right and trying to act, to general scorn and backlash. We know life isn't simple--that there isn't an easy right and wrong--but sometimes it's so nice to relax into a story where the villains are clear--and the heroes have a chance of winning.
There are a bunch of other excellent panels, though the one where editors can crab about writers made me laugh. I didn't see one for writers to crab about editors. I see plenty of posts expressing frustration at being left twisting in the wind for years, no mail or calls answered, instant turnarounds expected after months of silence . . . the pain of seeing favored writers being sent flowers and feted at occasions when others can't even get their mail answered. But who would dare sit on a panel at a con and crab about being treated with indifference and even disrespect, because who wants to risk being blacklisted?