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sanguinity4. Cynthia Kadohata, Outside Beauty.
It looks like I may have stumbled across the single non-agony YA that Kadohata has written. (I don't know what her actual ratio is, but the books I see talked about most suggests that she's a master of the problem novel. Let's just say I'm scared to read the one about the dog.) Outside Beauty isn't uniformly kicky and upbeat -- there's a sad, lonely bit through the middle -- but it doesn't scream "Problem Novel" at me, either.
And just let me interject: oh, but Kadohata writes some beautiful prose.
So, in Helen Kimura's world, women exist to be beautiful and men exist to support them. Helen is raising her four daughters to that philosophy, and their lives are a whirlwind of boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, fathers (each of the girls has a different one), and staying one step ahead of whoever is pursuing them now. That comes to a crashing halt when Helen is in a Terrible Accident, and the four sisters are individually shopped out to their respective fathers while their mother recovers. (I know, it sounds like a Problem Novel...)
I love the portrayal of the four sisters. There's a deep and unselfconscious love and loyalty between them, and while they do view each other with envy -- Marilyn is stunning; Lakey has the best father -- they don't view each other with jealousy. That things are uneven is just the way things are. They're similarly non-judgemental about their mother, in a way that rings true to me. Everyone else judges their mother -- and our narrator, the one "plain" girl in the bunch, has her own private doubts about the "women exist to be beautiful" philosophy -- but she's their mother, and their loyalty lies with with her. Plus, it's a pretty good, if crazy, life.
Until the Terrible Accident, that is.
As to why I don't consider this a problem novel, ( Spoiler! )
5. Benjamin Alire Saenz, Sammy & Juliana in Hollywod.
This novel, on the other hand, would be an excellent contender for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rachelmanija's YA Agony Award.
( Not even going to TRY to be judicious about spoilers here. )
I'm pretty sure there was a clearly stated Moral to all this, but I got distracted by the carnage. Also, I, um, kinda forgot that this was a Serious Problem Novel and started regarding it as a Spectacle, and thus was too busy laughing at the predictability of the onslaught to pay attention to the Moral when it went by.
...it got really good reviews, though?
(Hm. Although I do see at least one reviewer likened it unto the Book of Job.)
But seriously, there was a lot of good stuff there. I liked the portrayal of the neighborhood, of the era, of the kids. I liked the way the characters played together, and I gained an abiding affection for Sammy. It's just, wow. If only the author had been a little less predictable, or if he hadn't tried to crowbar twenty Problem Novel plots into a single volume and had restrained himself to a respectably modest five Problem Novel plots. Or something. Just... wow.
It looks like I may have stumbled across the single non-agony YA that Kadohata has written. (I don't know what her actual ratio is, but the books I see talked about most suggests that she's a master of the problem novel. Let's just say I'm scared to read the one about the dog.) Outside Beauty isn't uniformly kicky and upbeat -- there's a sad, lonely bit through the middle -- but it doesn't scream "Problem Novel" at me, either.
And just let me interject: oh, but Kadohata writes some beautiful prose.
So, in Helen Kimura's world, women exist to be beautiful and men exist to support them. Helen is raising her four daughters to that philosophy, and their lives are a whirlwind of boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, fathers (each of the girls has a different one), and staying one step ahead of whoever is pursuing them now. That comes to a crashing halt when Helen is in a Terrible Accident, and the four sisters are individually shopped out to their respective fathers while their mother recovers. (I know, it sounds like a Problem Novel...)
I love the portrayal of the four sisters. There's a deep and unselfconscious love and loyalty between them, and while they do view each other with envy -- Marilyn is stunning; Lakey has the best father -- they don't view each other with jealousy. That things are uneven is just the way things are. They're similarly non-judgemental about their mother, in a way that rings true to me. Everyone else judges their mother -- and our narrator, the one "plain" girl in the bunch, has her own private doubts about the "women exist to be beautiful" philosophy -- but she's their mother, and their loyalty lies with with her. Plus, it's a pretty good, if crazy, life.
Until the Terrible Accident, that is.
As to why I don't consider this a problem novel, ( Spoiler! )
5. Benjamin Alire Saenz, Sammy & Juliana in Hollywod.
This novel, on the other hand, would be an excellent contender for
rachelmanija's YA Agony Award. ( Not even going to TRY to be judicious about spoilers here. )
I'm pretty sure there was a clearly stated Moral to all this, but I got distracted by the carnage. Also, I, um, kinda forgot that this was a Serious Problem Novel and started regarding it as a Spectacle, and thus was too busy laughing at the predictability of the onslaught to pay attention to the Moral when it went by.
...it got really good reviews, though?
(Hm. Although I do see at least one reviewer likened it unto the Book of Job.)
But seriously, there was a lot of good stuff there. I liked the portrayal of the neighborhood, of the era, of the kids. I liked the way the characters played together, and I gained an abiding affection for Sammy. It's just, wow. If only the author had been a little less predictable, or if he hadn't tried to crowbar twenty Problem Novel plots into a single volume and had restrained himself to a respectably modest five Problem Novel plots. Or something. Just... wow.
